Maryland stove rebate aimed at low- and middle-income households may expire

Stakeholders urge state to keep stove program as it pursues electrification 

With little warning or stakeholder engagement, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) said it planned to sunset a stove rebate program that was established more than 10 years ago to help rural, low- and middle-income households who had the highest heat burden. 

A coalition of Maryland stakeholders wrote to MEA urging the agency to consider the impact on low and middle income households and to extend the program.

 

Maryland residents can still purchase eligible stoves through Jan. 4, 2024 and submit rebate applications up to March 31, 2023.  The program has been effective over the years and 80% of residents chose the higher rebate level to purchase a pellet stove. The rebate levels are $700 for a pellet stove, $500 for a wood stove, $1,000 for solar panels or shingles and $3,000 for geothermal systems.

A 2020 analysis of data from MEA showed that solar rebates primarily flowed to rich, more urban zip codes, and least likely to go to less affluent, rural zip codes, where wood and pellet heating are popular. 

 

“Its outrageous for millions of rebates to flow to wealthier homes for solar panels and geothermal systems while closing the only rebate program designed for rural low- and middle-income households,” said John Ackerly, President of AGH.  “During this climate crisis, we need to support renewable energy technologies that fit the budgets and preferences of everyone, not just well-to-do families.”

In Maryland, an average home needs 
about 2 tons of pellets as a primary or 
sole source of heat, which costs about
$550.

Low and middle income (LMI)  families are often marginalized, overlooked  and left behind in energy transitions and “the potential closure of this program is a classic case study of this.” Ackerly said. 

 

The Alliance for Green Heat is working with stakeholders to find out more about how the stove rebate program was assessed, why stakeholders were not engaged and whether changes can be made instead of closing it.  The Maryland Energy Administration said funds were getting tighter but there is no upper income limit to be eligible for solar and geothermal rebates.

Pellet stoves like this can cost up to
$4,000 and more basic ones cost
around $1,500

For years, the Alliance for Green Heat has urged to only allow rebates for pellet stoves, and not wood stoves.  AGH does not believe new cordwood stoves should be subsidized if installed in more densely populated areas.  AGH had also urged the MEA to correct confusing requirements like allowing eligible stoves to emit up to 3 grams an hour, a half gram higher than federal EPA limits, but the MEA decided not to align with EPA standards. These and other issues indicated to many that the rebate program designed for LMI households was not a priority. 

 

A wealth of data shows that electrification is perhaps the best way to address the climate crisis but there is also a high chance that many LMI communities will be left behind, in part because upfront costs of heat pumps are so high, and electric rates could continue to climb.  AGH is concerned that states may pursue electrification to the exclusion of program that can benefit certain demographics, potentially making the energy burden of some communities worse than before.

Pellet stoves can be very affordable and
in parts of Europe far more expensive
pellet boilers are routinely installed in
new construction, paired with solar,
battery storage and smart controls.

In many northern states, pellet stoves are being used along with solar panels so that a home can produce both renewable heat and electricity, lowering the carbon footprint of a home far more than either technology could alone. Solar panels, even with battery storage, can't produce enough electricity for heat pumps during the winter.  Pellet stoves also offer cheaper heat than heat pumps during the coldest weeks of the winter.

 

For one AGH staff member, Lilith Guzman, confronting this issue with MEA hits hard, and is personal. “I grew up in Minot North Dakota and my family has always been low-income. We were reliant on programs like SNAP, reduced school lunches, and clothing drives when the seasons turned. The native American community helped us get by too. I vowed to work on these issues when I graduated, but I didn’t expect this in Maryland.”

To make your voice heard, you can contact the head of the MEA, Director Paul Pinsky at paul.pinsky@maryland.gov. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comment on Massachusetts's Clean Heat Standard

The Alliance for Green Heat just submitted a comment to Massachusetts's Department of Environmental Protection concerning their Clean Heat Standard (CHS). To learn more about their CHS
check out this useful document. Ultimately, a CHS is a policy tool to require heating energy suppliers to gradually replace fossil heating fuels with cleaner heat over time by implementing clean heat or purchasing credits. Some would like to see the exit of advanced wood heating/automated wood heating from the CHS. The Alliance is in opposition to its removal. Please see our full comment below.

"The Alliance for Green Heat appreciates the opportunity to share comments regarding the Clean Heat Standard. We are a nonprofit that advocates for low- carbon heating strategies across the nation. We have a strong expertise in modern wood heating, heat pumps, and energy audits and weatherization, with a focus on low-to-middle-income households.

We believe that Massachusetts must keep advanced wood heating (AWH) technology in the Clean Heat Standard. AWH typically refers to pellet stoves and boilers at the residential level and can also include wood chips in larger systems. Residential wood stoves are not included in the definition of AWH because they do not have the automation to reduce particulate matter (PM) effectively and consistently. A similar term “automated wood heat” is often used and specifically excludes cordwood.

Advanced wood heating has a significant potential to be a complementary decarbonization technology that can increase electrification adoption for middle- income households and serves as an effective alternative heating source for energy providers to offer to customers.

Pellets for advanced wood heating are available locally in New England and are from sustainable sources, a mix of mostly sawdust from sawmills and wood chips from low grade wood. Many studies have investigated the use of woody biomass for local heating and have largely dismissed concerns that forest resources are being degraded to provide wood pellets. (See list of studies and peer reviewed scientific articles at the end of the comment.)

At the residential level, any state Clean Heat Standard should primarily focus on air source heat pumps – and weatherization services. In states with higher percentages of renewable electricity on their grids, heat pumps offer an excellent low carbon solution. However, there are still many drawbacks with heat pumps, many of which can be alleviated with back-up pellet stoves. High purchase and installation cost is of course one of the biggest issues with heat pumps. Pellet stoves can be installed for under $5,000 and can heat a home up to 2,000 square feet. Back-up wood stoves also provide an excellent source of heat when the grid goes down and gives rural consumers the confidence to switch to heat pumps (but we still do not advocate for including wood stoves as an eligible measure for obligated parties).

Because advanced wood heating systems use a fraction of the electricity that air source heat pumps require, its use in a house can reduce electric grid stress during the winter or reduce use of a back-up home battery. Wood pellet fuel has the added advantage of experiencing more price stability than both fossil fuels and electricity. For middle-income families trying to balance monthly costs, automated wood heating could provide a more consistent and affordable heating bill. Pellet boilers and stoves also have major disadvantages, including requiring far more maintenance and repair than heat pumps and repair technicians are not always easy to find. 

Equity concerns are significant for states designing Clean Heat Standards, and primary or back-up pellet heating is one measure that benefits rural low and middle income families. Giving those households the possibility of buying a more price stable fuel and one with an annual cost lower than air- source heat pumps is important. (Massachusetts Clean Energy Center). Another important measure is to ensure that energy auditors in Massachusetts include full inspections of wood and pellet stoves in energy audits. Old, unsafe polluting wood stoves should be eligible for removal but unless energy auditors are trained to do a safety inspection on them, this rarely happens. 

Pellet heating has a documented track record of delivering fewer CO2 emissions compared to electric baseboard heating, oil, propane, natural gas, and even air-source heat pumps with the current electricity grid (Massachusetts Clean Energy Center). (It is sometimes confused with carbon footprint studies on using pellets to make electricity in Europe, a far high carbon emitting application.) Removing a heating technology from the Clean Heat Standard that consistently performs just as well as other renewable energy and has the added benefits of greater price stability and local sourcing, would be misguided and not science based. In comparison, Vermont’s Clean Heat Standard includes automated wood heating. Vermont enthusiastically included this technology as their experience with the benefits of wood heating and ease of technology adoption has long been understood. 

Again, we thank the Department of Environmental Protection for this public comment opportunity. We hope that the Clean Heat Standard remains open to all viable low-carbon solutions to present the best possible outcome for Massachusetts to meet its clean energy and climate goals.

Further Resources:

Biomass Energy Resource Center. 2019. 2018 Vermont Wood Fuel Supply Study. https://fpr.vermont.gov/sites/fpr/files/Forest_and_Forestry/Wood_Biomass_Energy/Library/2018%20V WFSS%20Final%20Report%20with%20Letter.pdf.

Buchholz, Thomas, John S. Gunn, David S. Saah. 2017. Greenhouse gas emissions of local wood pellet heat from northeastern US forests. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360544217315451.

Biomass Energy Resource Center at VEIC. 2016. Wood Heating in Vermont. https://publicservice.vermont.gov/sites/dps/files/documents/Renewable_Energy/CEDF/Reports/AWH% 20Baseline%20Report%20FINAL.pdf.

Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC. 2007. Biomass Availability Analysis—Five Counties of Western Massachusetts. https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/bitstream/handle/2452/392593/ocn945986525.pdf?sequence=1&isAllow ed=y.

Olechnowicz, Casey, et al. 2021. Industry Leaders’ Perceptions of Residential Wood Pellet Technology Diffusion in the Northeastern U.S. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4178.

Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry. N.d. Wood Heat Maine. https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/projects/woodheatmaine/index.html.

Renewable Energy Vermont and Biomass Energy Resource Center. 2018. Expanded Use of Advanced Wood Heating in Vermont. http://www.revermont.org/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-2030-Wood-Heat- Road-Map.pdf. "