Clean Heat RI

couch heat pump

Clean Heat Rhode Island is now available! Clean Heat RI is a heat pump program offering incentives for the installation of high efficiency heat pumps for households, small to mid-sized businesses, and non-profits. Visit the Clean Heat website to learn more about the program and apply for incentives. 

Governor McKee and the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted legislation to launch the Clean Heat RI program in 2022. OER was allocated $25 million dollars as part of funds allocated to the State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), through the enacted FY23 State Budget, to develop Clean Heat RI. ARPA requires that all funds be committed by December 31, 2024 and spent by December 31, 2026.

Clean Heat Rhode Island offers the following incentives:

  • The Residential Incentive is available to all Rhode Island customers who currently use fossil fuel heating and cooling appliances. There are financial incentives available for air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, and heat pump water heaters.
  • The Income Eligible Incentive covers 100% of the cost, including electrical service upgrades, to income qualifying customers to displace oil and propane heating within their homes.
  • The Commercial Incentive is available to small to medium-sized businesses and non-profits. Financial incentives are available for air source heat pumps, variable refrigerant flow heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, and heat pump water heaters.

Please visit the Clean Heat website for specific incentive amounts and requirements.

The adoption of electric heat will assist Rhode Island in the fight against climate change and to achieve the mandatory greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction goals outlined in the 2021 Act on Climate. The Act on Climate requires a 45 percent reduction in the State’s GHG emissions by 2030, leading to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. Currently, the thermal sector – technology that converts power into heating or cooling – accounts for one-third of statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

These incentives aim to assist a wide range of customers by lowering the cost of heat pumps to help replace the need to burn fossil fuels for heating and cooling. Heat pumps move heat from outside to inside (in heating mode) or indoors to outdoors (in cooling mode). Heat pumps provide heating and cooling that is three times more efficient than fossil fuel burning appliances, while providing whole home climate control. In addition to providing heating, these systems are ideal for replacing inefficient window AC units or older central heating and cooling technologies.

If you are interested in receiving email updates from Clean Heat RI, please subscribe to the Clean Heat mailing list.

For more information about available incentives and applications for Clean Heat RI, please visit the Clean Heat RI website.

Video Profile 

Clean Heat RI - Introduction to heat pumps

In this interview a heat pump customer, James, explains what heat pumps are and the advantages they offer.