On Tuesday, April 4, the White House conducted an Executive Roundtable discussion on heat pump manufacturing and deployment, which includes heat pumps for both water and space heating. The Roundtable was led by National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, as well as Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation John Podesta.

Invited to the Roundtable were executives from industry (both water and space heating) and distributors of these products. The conversation was an opportunity for industry and distributors to help the Administration understand what challenges still remain in advancing the widespread adoption of heat pumps. Some of these include: training for those installing, servicing, and maintaining heat pumps; awareness for consumers in how they may operate differently from their counterpart technologies; and how incentives will be needed to reduce the installed cost of the products. Additionally, Bradford White President and CEO, Bruce Carnevale, expressed his concern over continuing workforce challenges as more and more technicians will be needed to support future heat pump installation demand.

In addition, manufacturers are trying to better understand what the true demand will be for heat pumps as incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) start to be utilized. This is important as we try to gain certainty as we make investments to scale up the production of heat pumps. At the same time, states and cities are starting to enact different code requirements and other policies that are limiting the use of natural gas in buildings and homes with the first city to do so being Berkeley, California. Despite this growing movement toward natural gas limitations and even bans, some lawmakers are beginning to take another look.

On April 17 in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel reversed a District Court decision, which holds that the Berkeley ordinance was preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). The panel’s decision will impact a number of other jurisdictions that have also implemented a similar ordinance. Now, the City of Berkeley is evaluating whether to appeal the three-judge panel’s decision. Given the significance of this case, it is possible that it could eventually be brought to the Supreme Court. More information to come in the following months on how these policies will be impacted, including how much they may or may not drive heat pump adoption.