Mainers living in mobile and manufactured homes in rural areas will soon be eligible to benefit from a $10 million federal grant designed to get more heat pumps into homes, Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday.
“Mobile homes are a critical source of affordable housing, especially in rural areas in this state,” Mills said. “And heating costs are a top concern for the folks who live in those homes.”
The U.S. Department of Energy grant will cover the heating and cooling systems for about 675 low-income Mainers who live in mobile or manufactured homes. For this program, “rural” is defined as towns or cities with fewer than 10,00 residents.
Mills and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-1st District) touted the benefits of heat pumps for Maine homes, especially considering that 56% of Mainers continue to rely on home heating oil.
The new program will help boost a goal Mills announced last summer to get heat pumps installed in 275,000 homes, an effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, cut costs and decrease carbon emissions.
The heat pumps will save 600 gallons of oil or kerosene or more than 900 gallons of propane per home per year, Mills said.
Pingree said the funds come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
“Climate change is around us all the time,” Pingree said. “It’s not something we can talk about in the future.”
She said recent severe storms in Maine have served as a reminder that the climate is changing quickly.
And she said even for those who are skeptical that climate change is real, heat pumps will save them money.
“You can hate this conversation until the end but it’s going to save you a lot of money,” she said. “This is going to save the people in these homes a lot of money.”
The federal funds are part of $336 million awarded to 17 projects in 20 states and 30 tribal nations to support community energy projects. In addition to the installations, the funds will help pay to train more workers through the state’s community college system.
Michael Stoddard, executive director of the Efficiency Maine Trust, said his office has already completed a pilot project installing the systems in mobile homes and will be reaching out to residents of manufactured and mobile home parks to let them know about the program.
While the grant will pay for installation in low-income homes, those who receive a heat pump will be expected to pay a share of the ongoing costs, which could be as low as $50 a month for 50 months, he said.
“We will be contacting all of the potentially eligible homeowners,” he said.