INVESTING IN EFFICIENCY

As federal support dwindles, California is allocating funds for small heat pumps and battery-equipped induction stoves

- BY TODD WOODY

LISA MERCADO watches television as Daniel Melo checks on a window-mounted heat pump in her apartment in Queens, N.Y.

As the Trump administration eliminates incentives for energy-efficient appliances, California is joining New York and Boston to spur a market for affordable electric heat pumps and induction stoves to reduce the climate pollution that comes from housing.

The California Public Utilities Commission has allocated $115 million over six years to generate business for makers of small heat pumps and battery-equipped induction stoves that can be plugged into standard outlets without requiring expensive electrical upgrades.

The project is part of a program approved in 2019 to lower barriers to the adoption of new energy-efficient technologies, which are often more expensive than their less-efficient counterparts. The program is particularly focused on improving accessibility for lower-income residents.

The new project follows a New York City program that staged a competition for window heat pumps and induction stoves, and then awarded contracts to the winners to install the devices in 10,000 public housing units.

"With New York, we are together the third-largest economy in the world, and that’s a very powerful demand signal in and of itself," said Lynette Curthoys, vice president of Resource Innovations, the firm that runs the California initiative for the utilities commission.