Percentage of Households with High-Cost Heating Fuels

HeatSmart Massachusetts (HeatSmart Mass) seeks to increase the adoption of small-scale clean heating and cooling technologies in participating communities through a competitive solicitation process that aggregates homeowner buying power to lower installation prices for participants.

Who's Eligible

HeatSmart Massachusetts 2019 is currently accepting applications from interested communities. All towns and cities in Massachusetts are eligible to apply. See the “How Do I Apply?” tab for more information.

 

Individuals interested in participating in the program must own property located in a community that is running an active HeatSmart Mass program.

 

The following communities are currently participating in the 2018 Pilot round:

Bolton and Harvard

Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln

Great Barrington

Nantucket

Communities with High Cost Heating Fuels

Households with high cost heating fuels (oil, electric resistance, and propane) will see the highest cost savings for switching to clean heating and cooling. Review this map to see the number of households in your community that heat with high cost heating fuels.

How Do I Apply

MassCEC and DOER are currently accepting community proposals for the HeatSmart Mass program, with a goal of selecting up to 6 communities or groups of communities. Each community will select one or more of the clean heating and cooling technologies to promote as part of HeatSmart Mass.

Interested communities should review the community request for proposals (which are also located on the "How Do I Apply?" tab), and submit a completed application to HeatSmartMass@MassCEC.com. Communities with a clear and comprehensive outreach plan, a committed volunteer team, an engaged municipality and residents interested in participating are encouraged to submit proposals. 

MassCEC hosted a webinar to provide an overview of each of the technologies and answer questions on August 1, 2018. A recording of the webinar can be viewed here.

Please submit all questions to the HeatSmart Massachusetts Team, at HeatSmartMass@masscec.com no later than 11:59PM on August 9, 2018. “HeatSmart Massachusetts 2019 RFP – Community Question” must appear in the email subject line. Responses to submitted questions, and other frequently asked questions, will be posted by August 16, 2018 at 5:00PM on MassCEC’s website.

Responses to this RFP must be received by MassCEC no later than 11:59pm on September 16, 2018. Only complete, timely responses will be considered. Responses to this RFP must be submitted electronically to HeatSmartMass@MassCEC.com. “HeatSmart Massachusetts 2019 RFP –Community Proposal” must appear in the email subject line.

The Installer RFP will be posted in October or November after the Communities are selected. Installers interested in applying to participate in the HeatSmart Mass program should review the RFP for details once it becomes available and visit the Installer Resources page. 

Program Background

The HeatSmart Massachusetts Program is a partnership between MassCEC and Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER).

How it works

HeatSmart Mass is a community-based outreach and education program that will encourage the adoption of clean heating and cooling technologies including air-source heat pumps, ground-source heat pumps, modern wood heating, and solar hot water. The Program aims to help 1) drive down the installation cost and 2) increase deployment of residential and small-scale commercial clean heating and cooling installations through a group purchasing model. HeatSmart Mass, now launching its second year of campaigns, is modeled on the highly successful Solarize Massachusetts program, which is now in its eighth year. To date, over 3,300 residents and business owners in 64 communities signed contracts, resulting in over 22.3 megawatts of contracted solar photovoltaic capacity.

Each participating community competitively selects designated installer(s) to offer one or more of the clean heating and cooling technologies to interested residents.

HeatSmart Mass Community Marketing Proposals

Developing a marketing proposal prior to the launch of a community group purchasing campaign can provide a useful roadmap for communities and may benefit program results. It may be helpful to refer to the marketing plans for the communities that participated in the HeatSmart Pilot. All community marketing plans and other resources are available here.

As communities move forward with HeatSmart Mass campaigns, their community marketing proposals will be provided below to assist future communities and other interested parties in considering different strategies for implementing a HeatSmart Mass or similar group purchasing campaign.

Background on the Solarize Mass Model

The links below provide information on the Solarize Mass model, results, and resources.

 

Program Contact

heatsmartmass@masscec.com