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 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 Examples:

• New York Thermal Energy Networks (Passed 2022): This law explicitly authorizes utilities to own and operate thermal networks, preserving union jobs (pipefitters) while transitioning off gas. Details available from NYSERDA.
• 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”.

Implementation Roadmap

Phase	Trigger	Required Actions
Phase 0	Adoption + 6 months	Publish Clean Heat Standard regulations, launch credit registry, and identify first 10 leak-prone pipe segments for TEN feasibility.
Phase 1	Year 1	Utilities file Thermal Transition Plans showing which districts move from gas to geo; workforce board certifies pipefitters for geothermal installation.
Phase 2	Years 2-4	Execute the first TEN conversions, retire 5% of leak-prone mains annually, and deploy reversing-valve requirement across HVAC distributors.
Phase 3	Year 5 onward	Scale TENs to all downtown districts slated for gas main replacement; require municipalities to integrate TEN corridors into capital plans.

Financing & Equity Tools

• Clean Heat Credit Floor Price: Set a minimum EUR 150 per ton CO2e to guarantee that utilities fund deep retrofits instead of paying cheap penalties.
• Thermal Transition Bonds: State green bank issues 20-year bonds backed by utility tariffs to cover upfront TEN construction, prioritizing low-income neighborhoods.
• Tenant Protections: Landlords receiving public money for heat pump conversions shall freeze rent for 24 months and document tenant communications in multiple languages.

Enforcement & Compliance

1. Permit Conditioning: No gas main replacement permit shall be issued until the applicant demonstrates that a TEN feasibility study was completed within the prior 24 months.
2. Performance Benchmarks: Gas utilities must prove a year-on-year reduction in delivered fossil energy of at least 4%. Missing the target triggers the Alternative Compliance Payment described in Policy 1.
3. Inspection Regime: Thermal loops shall undergo hydraulic and leak testing every 5 years. Failure to submit test results results in suspension of cost recovery in rates.
4. Customer Protection: Utilities must provide temporary electric resistance heating at their expense if a TEN outage exceeds 8 hours during the heating season.

Metrics & Verification

• Peak Load Reduction: Track winter evening electric demand in TEN-served districts; target 40% lower peak kW compared to adjacent air-source-only neighborhoods.
• Methane Leakage: Publish kilometers of gas mains decommissioned and the associated methane abatement (tonnes CO2e) each quarter.
• Workforce Transition: Report the number of former gas fitters retrained and employed on TEN projects; goal is zero net job loss.
• Affordability Index: Monitor average heating bills before and after TEN conversion; require <5% increase for low-income households, backed by rate relief if exceeded.

Discussion on GitHub

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