Keeling Curve

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What if gas utilities installed networked ground source heat pumps instead of gas infrastructure?  They could deliver renewable, safer and less expensive heating and cooling to everyone.  HEET, a MA nonprofit, came up with the idea of gas utilities moving to "networked geothermal" back in 2017.  The system connects buildings with different heating needs, so energy is never wasted, but is exchanged or stored in the ground until it is needed. College campuses across the country use the system already. The question is can gas utilities do it in a financially viable way?  

We're about to find out. Two networked geothermal installations are being installed by gas utilities in Massachusetts now, with over 40 being requested in New York, and others being planned or considered across the country.  In order to maintain trust with all, HEET does not take funding from gas utilities or any industry.  It is running a national research team to verify the results of the first installations with an open databank.

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HEET is a nonprofit climate solutions incubator. We develop science-based solutions that have significant, measurable, and equitable impacts on climate change, without taking funding from industry. Emissions from natural gas consumption represented 80% of the direct fossil fuel CO2 emissions from the residential and commercial sector in 2021. (https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#:~:text=Combustion%20of%20natural%20gas%20and,and%20commercial%20sector%20in%202021). HEET is leading an ambitious plan to quickly reduce methane emissions: transitioning natural gas utilities to thermal utilities that manage networks of ground source heat pumps (we call this a Gas-to-Geo transition).

Methane has over 80 times the global warming power in the short term than carbon dioxide - making it a powerful lever to reduce climate warming over the next decade. One third of homes in the US are heated using natural gas, which consists overwhelmingly of methane and is a target for elimination in many climate plans. Gas utilities are investing billions to reduce dangerous and climate-threatening methane leaks in their aging distribution pipes: pipe replacement in Massachusetts alone is estimated to cost $40 billion. Meanwhile, current plans to decarbonize heating involve moving buildings off the gas network one by one by installing relatively inefficient air source heat pumps. This approach is slow and depletes the utilities of higher income customers, threatening gas workers jobs and leaving the poorest customers holding the bill for billions of dollars of upgrades to the gas system. It would also leave low income neighborhoods exposed to gas leaks—NOT a just transition.

HEET advocates instead to have gas utilities lead building decarbonization. We propose that utilities replace their natural gas distribution systems with networks of pipes carrying ambient temperature water, connected to ground-source heat-pumps in buildings (networked geothermal systems). These heat pumps would pull or deliver heat from the water running underground, effectively electrifying heating and cooling much more efficiently than air source heat pumps. The technology to install geothermal networks exists today, and they can be installed with minimal training by existing workers. Decarbonizing via a utility model allows us to upgrade the entire heating system in a faster, more equitable way. 

This ambitious Gas-to-Geo plan is becoming a reality. Thanks in part to HEET’s work, gas utilities in Massachusetts and New York have regulator-approved projects to install geothermal networks. Last year New York passed legislation allowing gas utilities and others to become thermal utilities, and Massachusetts is on its way. A coalition of 26 utilities interested in the technology represents over half of the natural gas customers in the country. Representatives from these utilities recently visited two MA installations. Across the country, over 25 utility-led networked geothermal installations are in process (from feasibility study to installation). HEET has collaborated in establishing a geothermal drilling coalition, a regulatory coalition and currently a workforce coalition, all aimed to help these critical stakeholders learn about the technology. 

HEET leads a research collaboration with two national labs and several leading universities to study the first five Gas-to-Geo systems to be installed in Massachusetts. Identifying the design components and evaluation data for successful installation and operation as well as workforce planning and community engagement, we provide a basis for comparison of installs to enable efficient and equitable market transformation. NY State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) “community heat pumps” funding program has now produced 49 feasibility studies, while the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is sponsoring HEET’s efforts to conduct feasibility studies in 10-20 more locations around the state. Availability of shared, normalized data is the basis for disseminating comparable information widely (whether to new projects or through media and conferences) to reach utilities, regulators, academics, and community organizations, de-risking the Gas-to-Geo transition and clearly stating its economic, safety, reliability, and electric grid benefits. 

HEET proposes to use the technology and workforce of today to decarbonize buildings for everyone at the speed required to make a difference. Transitioning the natural gas distribution system to thermal energy would leverage the assets and scale of utilities for - not against - GHG reduction while preserving local jobs and equitably expanding the clean economy. HEET has a history of identifying emerging challenges, building stakeholder networks, and driving forward data-informed system change. With recognition from the Keeling Curve, HEET can further strengthen the body of knowledge to inform and drive market transformation for this reliable, secure, clean, and nearly inexhaustible energy source.

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

HEET is well-recognized for its long-standing commitment to equity and environmental justice. HEET prioritizes universal access for low income and people of color in all of its initiatives. Our strategy is to identify levers for change and act as catalysts where needed: engaging in cutting-edge research to address gaps in our knowledge; engaging with communities to understand their needs and mentor change leaders; working with experts and advocates to develop solutions, and with businesses and regulators to reduce barriers to adopting these solutions.

At a systems level, by working with gas utilities to transition to networked geothermal heating, we ensure that the cost of this renewable energy system will be spread across customers and over decades in the same way that the gas system is financed. This ensures that all residents, not just the wealthy, can access affordable, renewable energy. Networked geothermal systems are non-combusting and thus result in improved indoor air quality, promising for all MA, NY, etc. gas utility customers an increased chance for safer heating and cooling. Being able to safely access cleaner air will improve quality of life and life expectancy for all.

HEET also centers equity in our work by providing strategic opportunities for labor, local training institutions, and communities to influence the creation of the thermal energy utility of the future. The communities of Framingham and Lowell were chosen for pilot geothermal installations in part for the great potential to buoy their Environmental Justice populations - the cities are 71% and 76% respectively underserved populations. Under the DOE Community Geothermal program in 2023, for example, HEET partnered with the City of Framingham and Eversource to design an expansion installation that would include and raise the voices of communities and workers who could stand to benefit from the transition to clean energy.

HEET’s Kickstart Massachusetts funding opportunity supports MA cities and towns to conduct initial feasibility studies to assess potential geothermal network sites. The program aims to develop a pipeline of shovel-ready geothermal network projects while helping to foster equity, community engagement and education—HEET will select a diverse array of applicant towns that demonstrate a spectrum of considerations for how networked geothermal systems can be designed to meet the needs of local jurisdictions and populations. 

Other current initiatives that weave in equity:
- Research: As part of our state- and federally-funded research and design programs in 2023 and 2024, HEET will collect and share relevant data on workforce and equity aspects of the Gas-to-Geo transition. These data—including information on methane emissions in LI communities and on recruiting and supporting a diverse workforce—will inform policymakers, communities and utilities across the country interested in deploying the technology. 
- Engaging labor: HEET works with local and national labor organizations related to job needs and requirements, developing frameworks to retrain workers, and supporting recruitment from the EJ communities we work in. Case studies of labor engagement models from New York, Maine, Illinois and Oklahoma will illuminate place-based options for unions while we create alliances with universities, technical and community colleges to develop new engagement models.
- Jobs planning: In 2024, HEET will leverage and deepen our network of climate job allies by engaging policymakers, labor representatives and entrepreneurs in conversations about workforce needs for the Gas-to-Geo pathway. 

Well before pursuing utility-led geothermal networks, HEET’s core energy-efficiency efforts focused on underrepresented groups:

- Over 30% of the energy efficiency retrofits completed from 2009-2019 were for nonprofits and homes inhabited by low income or people of color.
- In Lawrence in 2018, HEET handed out over 700 new induction cooktops, primarily to immigrants, after the Merrimack Valley gas disaster. This led to an ongoing alliance with grassroots organizers in Lawrence seeking to improve outcomes for their community through enhanced gas safety, building weatherization and insulation, and transitioning off gas. HEET’s provision of relevant data as well as access and influence increased community participation in state legislative and regulatory hearings and amplified their voices in the Columbia Gas restoration and settlement agreements. 
- Along with our allies in Lawrence, HEET helped deliver groceries to over 100 families in Lawrence and East Boston in 2020 when the Covid pandemic greatly increased food insecurity. 
- HEET’s EJ Air Initiative sponsored by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) included working with community leaders in three Boston communities (Dorchester, Roxbury, and Charlestown) to improve air quality and respiratory health. We helped these climate-vulnerable, low income communities reduce energy use and energy bills, while readying homes to move off gas to electricity for heating. 
- HEET regularly contributes to legislation that protects equity and energy access, including, for example, a 2021 fund created to pay for low income building transitions, including purchasing appliances, upgrading electric capacity, and providing job retraining for gas workers. 

As female leaders, our Co-Executive Directors engage others to incorporate diverse perspectives. Our board and staff reflect the approximate racial demographics of MA state.

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