Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers (SERC) Grants

Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumer (SERC) Grants awarded to the Massachusetts Weatherization Assistance Program to assist in providing clean energy technology to income-eligible consumers in traditionally underserved communities.

As part of the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), the U.S. Department of Energy offered interested states and other parties the opportunity to apply for Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers (SERC) grants and other funding opportunities.  These grants focus on making clean energy technology available to income eligible and traditionally underserved consumers.  The Massachusetts Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) was awarded two grants for installing air-source heat pumps as replacements for fossil fuel and electric resistance heating systems for income-eligible residents in Municipal Utility Territories. 

SERC I Grant Overview

The SERC I grant project will install air-source heat pump technology replacing fossil fuel and electric resistance heating systems along with deep energy retrofit weatherization measures in single-family (1-4) dwellings.  Heating oil and propane are currently the most expensive delivered heating fuels in the Commonwealth. Thus, for low-income clients, this represents an added financial energy burden. Electric resistance heating is also considered the most expensive heating source per square foot.  Air-Source heat pumps use less energy thus saving those users money as well.  

In addition, this project will serve both underserved communities and underserved clients throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts while achieving the goals of the Justice40 Initiative by targeting Gateway Cities in those selected municipal territories. The main goals are to reduce the energy costs for these income-eligible clients as well as quantify the associated energy and environmental benefits that go along with energy efficiency weatherization and heating system measure installations.

In Massachusetts, there are forty-one (41) municipal light plants (MLPs) that provide electricity to citizens in all or part of fifty (50) municipalities. Unlike the investor-owned utilities in Massachusetts, the MLPs face limited regulations as they are regulated by municipal officials as opposed to the investor-owned utilities that are regulated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU). Thus, citizens who live in an MPL service territory do not typically receive equal assistance for energy efficiency measure installation that citizens receive who live in an investor-owned service territory. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) classifies these MLP service territories as an underserved population in relation to energy efficiency measure installation. 

SERC I Project Demographics & Partners

Community Action Agency Partners working on SERC I grant are four WAP Subgrantee agencies across the state:

• ACTION, Inc. (North of Boston)
• Worcester Community Action Council Inc. (WCAC) (Central Mass)
• Springfield Partners for Community Action, Inc. (SPCA) (Western MA)
• Citizens For Citizens, Inc. (CFC) (Southeastern, MA)

These four agencies were selected as project partners primarily because they have either Gateway Cities within their WAP service territory and/or they have staff that has significant experience installing air-source heat pump technology.

Additionally, these four WAP Subgrantee agencies are very experienced in implementing the WAP and other types of energy related and Health & Safety grants.

All four agencies have a good collaborative working relationship with EOHLC and are enthusiastic assets to this project in identifying appropriate clients for this project, conducting necessary client education, overseeing installation work, performing quality control inspections, and scheduling follow-up annual maintenance visits. 

Additional Partners

• Energy New England
• Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company
• Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources

This project will strive to meet the Justice40 initiative goals. In addition to 100% of the client dwellings being located in Municipal Light Plants (MLPs) service territories across the Commonwealth. A minimum of 40% of the selected income-eligible clients will be clients who identify as “minority status” in the general population. Further preference regarding project dwelling selection will be for clients heating with heating oil and propane. EOHLC will also coordinate with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to ensure that at minimum 40% of dwelling units served through this project will be conducted in the five (5) Massachusetts Gateway Cities that are served by MLPs. A Gateway municipality (M.G.L. Ch. 23A § 3A) is a municipality with:

• population greater than 35,000 and less than 250,000
• median household income below the state average
• rate of educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or above that is below the state average.

SERC I Activities

The focus of this grant award is to replace the existing heating system with air source heat pump technology for qualified/selected income-eligible clients residing in single-family (1-4) dwellings. The Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap references air-source heat pumps as being a critical element to meeting both the electrification needs of space heating across the Commonwealth as well as reaching climate related goals. Air-source heat pumps are significantly more  efficient compared to high-efficiency oil and natural gas heating systems. The air-source heat pumps will be paid for with the SERC grant funds and HEARTWAP funds. It is also likely that many of the electrical systems/panels in these dwellings will need to be added or replaced to accommodate the increased electrical demand/usage in the dwelling. This major barrier to electrification will be addressed with these SERC funds by installing upgraded panels, when applicable, capable of supporting not only air source heat pumps, but future capacity for additional renewable energy measures and/or electric vehicle charging stations at these residences.

In conjunction with the heating system replacement, additional energy saving weatherization measures will be installed so that these income-eligible clients in MLP service territories receive the full benefits of weatherization. Each dwelling unit will receive comprehensive insulation, air-sealing, and weather-stripping. To make such an investment in these dwellings, reducing air leakage is especially important in the overall goal to achieve maximum energy savings.

In summary, this project will utilize funding from multiple programs: SERC, WAP, HEARTWAP, and possibly other funds. SERC funds are highly desired because the costs of converting a dwelling’s heating system from fossil fuels or electric resistance to air-source heat pump technology is very expensive and may require additional upgrades to the dwelling unit. Conducting projects like this will help to transform the market going forwards. Market transformation is a process that can only truly occur through efforts such as this SERC project. The more installations that are completed in the next couple of years will help to bring down the prices of air-source heat pump technology and make the technology that much more cost-effective for both income-eligible programs and non-income-eligible residents of the Commonwealth and beyond.