For Immediate Release
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Contact: 301-841-7755
The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is starting a $50,000 pilot program that will provide rebates for partial payment of qualifying wood and pellet stoves. The pilot program will start later this year and operate on a first come, first serve basis.
“This program will extend our
renewable energy incentives both to a different technology and to a potentially
a diverse group of participants including those in rural parts of Maryland,”
said Frederick Hoover, Director of Clean Energy at MEA in a letter to Delegate
Heather Mizeur. The Maryland delegate was the lead sponsor of the bill HB
996, the Renewable Energy for All Act, which laid the groundwork for this pilot
program.
“We are thrilled that the
cleanest wood and pellet stoves will finally be part of Maryland’s renewable
energy rebate program,” said John Ackerly, President of the Maryland based
non-profit, the Alliance for Green Heat. “Throughout the US, rural low
and middle-income families struggle to pay their heating bills while generous
rebates and tax-incentives flowed to some of our wealthiest citizens to install
solar panels. A $3,000 pellet stove can displace as much fossil fuel as a
$30,000 array of solar panels,” Ackerly explained.
The Alliance for Green Heat led
a coalition of Maryland organizations, businesses and consumers during the
two-year push to establish this program. The program was supported by the
Maryland Clean Energy Center, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Mid Atlantic Hearth Patio
& Barbecue Association and many other groups. Hearth retailers in the
state, led by Richard Thomas of Courtland Hardware and Suzanne Turner of
Survival Products also campaigned for the program. The coalition was especially
trying to help rural Maryland residents who do not have access to natural gas
and heat with the most expensive fossil fuels: oil, propane and electricity.
“At a time when millions of
Americans are out of work and struggling to pay bills, this is a way to help
families affordably heat their homes and
switch to a renewable, local energy source,” Ackerly said.
Delegate Heather Mizeur, who
represents Maryland District 20 that shares a border with Washington, DC,
included this message to her constituents:
“While grant programs help
Marylanders purchase solar, wind, and geothermal energy systems, the cost of
these systems is out of reach for most families. The Renewable Energy for All
Act would incentivize the purchase of biomass systems that generate heat energy
via wood and corn pellet products, helping families switch to a less expensive
heat source and participate in our clean energy future. … Homeowners with less
efficient stoves could also receive a $200 change-out grant to replace their
old stove with a more efficient, cleaner burning unit.”
During negotiations with the
Maryland Energy Administration HB 996 was amended to focus on a pilot program
with MEA funding. The House committee of jurisdiction voted against the
amended bill, but MEA has reaffirmed their commitment to undertake the program.
any opportunity for wood or pellet central heat?
ReplyDeleteThis is just a stove program, so central biomass boilers or furnaces would not qualify. But we expect many of the larger wood and pellet stoves will work fine as primary heat source in most homes that are 2,000 square feet or less.
DeleteThere's nothing in the proposed rebate program that would prohibit central systems, as long as it met the desired efficiency/emissions criteria. Larger systems may max out the rebate cap, but still should be eligible.
ReplyDelete