On September 21, 2023, numerous governors engaged in the U.S. Climate Alliance announced commitments to quadruple heat pump installations by 2030. This included a commitment from Maine, a state leader in heat pump deployment, which aligns with an announcement from Governor Janet Mills In July 2023 on an adjusted target of 275,000 cumulative new residential heat pump installations by 2027, after surpassing their initial heat pump installation target two years ahead of schedule. In addition to adopting heat pump installation targets, participating states have committed to accelerate the electrification of home and office buildings across the country through complementary policy and program approaches. Governors from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington have made the following statewide building decarbonization commitments:
- Ten states may adopt zeroemission standards for space and water heating equipment;
- Eight states may adopt new statewide building performance standards;
- Eight states may develop clean heat standards;
- Five states will phase out fossil fuel heating and cooling in new construction by 2027;
- Twelve states will support the development and adoption of advanced energy efficient and electricready building codes;
- Ten states will align buildings sector utility resource and procurement policies with state climate goals; and
- Two states will join the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge to halve scope 1 and 2 emissions from state facilities in the next ten years.
These state-level actions, which pledge 40 percent of benefits to disadvantaged communities, build on a commitment made by governors in the U.S. Climate Alliance at COP26 in 2021 to advance policy pathways and programs that eliminate building sector emissions. These commitments also complement federal targets of cutting sector-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030, and achieving overall net-zero emissions by 2050.