Clean Heat Standard & Thermal Energy Networks (TENs)

Overview

Replacing gas boilers with air-source heat pumps one-by-one is essential but creates a massive winter peak load on the electric grid. The “Volts” approach emphasizes Networked Geothermal (GeoGrids). By connecting buildings with water pipes, we can harvest waste heat from supermarkets, data centers, or the ground itself, reducing electric demand by ~40% compared to air-source heat pumps.

This policy creates a Clean Heat Standard (CHS), forcing gas utilities to reduce emissions, and gives them the legal path to become “Thermal Utilities”—selling hot water instead of gas.

Policy 1: The “Clean Heat Standard” (CHS)

Concept: Just as a “Renewable Portfolio Standard” forced electric utilities to buy wind/solar, a CHS forces gas utilities to deliver “Clean Heat credits.”

The Policy:

1. The Credit Market: Gas providers must retire “Clean Heat Credits” equivalent to a rising percentage of their sales (e.g., 4% reduction per year).
2. How to Earn Credits: Credits are earned by:
   • Weatherizing homes (insulation).
   • Installing Heat Pumps (electrification).
   • Building Thermal Energy Networks (replacing gas pipes with geo-loops).
3. The “Alternative Compliance Payment”: If the utility fails to meet the target, they pay a massive fine into a “Low-Income Electrification Fund.”

Real-World Example:

• Vermont (Affordable Heat Act): Passed in 2023, this establishes a Clean Heat Standard that requires fossil fuel importers to pay for clean heat measures, effectively creating a market mechanism to fund heat pumps.

Policy 2: The “Thermal Energy Network” (TEN) Authorization

Concept: Current laws often force utilities to fix old gas pipes even if they are obsolete. This policy allows them to abandon the gas pipe and replace it with a “Thermal Loop.”

The Policy:

1. “Obligation to Serve” Update: The legal requirement to provide “gas” is amended to a requirement to provide “thermal comfort.” This allows a utility to swap a gas line for a geothermal loop without being sued.
2. The “Leak-Prone Pipe” Trigger: Any street scheduled for gas pipe replacement (due to leaks/age) must first undergo a Feasibility Study for a Thermal Energy Network. If the TEN is cost-competitive over 30 years, the gas pipe must be decommissioned.
3. Waste Heat Rights: Municipalities grant TEN operators the “Right of First Refusal” to capture waste heat from sewers, data centers, and subway tunnels.

Real-World Example:

• New York (Utility Thermal Energy Network and Jobs Act): Passed in 2022, this law explicitly authorizes utilities to own and operate thermal networks, preserving union jobs (pipefitters) while transitioning off gas.
• Framingham, Massachusetts: The local utility (Eversource) installed a neighborhood geothermal loop connecting homes, a fire station, and low-income housing, proving the “gas-to-geo” transition works.

Policy 3: The “All-ACs-Are-Heat-Pumps” Rule

Concept: A “Cooling Only” air conditioner is just a broken heat pump. The hardware is 95% identical; it just lacks a reversing valve.

The Policy:

1. The Reversing Valve Mandate: Effective immediately, no central air conditioning unit may be sold or installed unless it includes a reversing valve (making it a two-way heat pump).
   • Why? The cost difference is negligible (<$200 manufacturing cost). This ensures that every time an AC breaks, the home accidentally gets a backup heater, reducing gas reliance without a “ban”.