Maximizing impact by electrifying homes on California’s clean grid, with QuitCarbon
Nobody likes a quitter, until now...Here's why scaling heat pump adoption in the world’s fifth largest economy with a renewables-rich grid is a great move for clean energy buyers.
California’s renewables-rich grid means that swapping gas furnaces, water heaters, and stoves with electric alternatives like heat pumps punches above its weight in climate benefits. So much, that a heat pump installed in California today will cut carbon pollution from space heating by 93% over the lifetime of the equipment, compared to a gas furnace.
QuitCarbon is helping residents do just that, by streamlining the far too complicated process that prevents most people from going electric. WattCarbon spoke to QuitCarbon’s Founder and CEO Cooper Marcus about how they’re lowering barriers for electrification and how clean energy buyers can help accelerate the process.
The big idea
Nobody likes a quitter, until now.
California’s renewables-rich power grid means that quitting gas heaters for electric heat pumps means a near total break from fossil fuels.
California has one of the cleanest grids in the country. Last month, 39 million Californians went about their daily lives—taking showers, doing laundry, cooking dinner—and the whole state ran on 100% clean electricity for more than nine hours straight.
With such a clean grid, why are we still burning tons of fossil fuels to power our homes?
What’s the hold up?
As one of the states facing the most extreme impacts of climate change, 80% of Californians view global warming as a serious threat to the state's future economy and quality of life. But all the while, California is far behind in meeting their electrification goals. The state currently has about 1.5M heat pumps deployed and is projected to install less than 200k heat pumps per year, putting them over 2,500,000 heat pumps short of their 2030 climate goals of 3 million heat pumps deployed. To close that gap, annual heat pump adoption will need to nearly quadruple.
The delay? Switching to heat pumps is just too dang hard, even for folks who are highly motivated to make the switch. Figuring out which equipment is best for each specific home, estimating how much it’ll all cost, and finding available rebates are all very difficult tasks. Higher costs met with a shortage of trained installers, longer installation timelines, and the tangle of red tape in chasing down rebates leaves most people thinking, “my family just needs hot water.”
QuitCarbon Founder and CEO, Cooper Marcus, experienced this first hand, which is what led him to start the company.
“I founded QuitCarbon to help folks upgrade to clean electric appliances that are safe for the wallet, family, and planet, without going through the hassle and expense I experienced first hand electrifying my own home.”
Making it easy
QuitCarbon works directly with homeowners, and also partners with city governments that want to drive uptake for electrification projects in their area. Providing guidance on clean energy upgrades, rebates and financial assistance, and trusted local contractors, QuitCarbon offers concierge services that residents really need, but rarely find.
For example, cities like Santa Monica and San Jose have engaged QuitCarbon to do electrification outreach and enrollment that accelerates clean energy projects for their constituents.
Why now?
Making it easy is critical to avoid locking in new 20-year gas appliances. A heat pump installed in California today will cut emissions from space heating by 93% over the lifetime of the equipment, compared to a gas furnace.
What’s more, scaling heat pump adoption in the world’s fifth largest economy will act as a powerful global market signal. Something the California Heat Pump Partnership is supercharging, with its goal of 6 million heat pumps in 6 years, by 2030. Supporting projects in Californian homes sends a signal to the market and elected representatives – that we don’t just need to electrify everything, we want to electrify everything.
If we are going to scale this to millions of homes, Marcus says that “we need to make this affordable and straightforward, because breaking through homeowner barriers also means breaking down barriers to scale these solutions nationwide, and globally.”
It gets better: clean energy buyers can accelerate the heat pump revolution
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it does.
This partnership model not only rewards individuals for choosing to kick their gas furnace to the curb, it also provides corporate energy buyers with verified insets they can report towards their climate goals.
Clean energy buyers play a vital role in helping Californians go electric. Even with a simplified adoption process, a key barrier to electrification is the upfront cost. Federal and state incentives aren’t received for many months after installation, leaving many folks wondering if the near term costs are manageable – and frankly, if they’re worth it.
Your clean energy investment lowers upfront costs and helps make it an easy "yes" for everyday people when they make the choice to go electric.
What’s next?
What keeps the team at QuitCarbon motivated? For them, it's being able to (literally) pump tangible (health, environmental, economic) benefits back into people’s homes, particularly in lower income neighborhoods, because clean energy isn’t just for rich people; clean energy is for all.
Making gas furnaces a thing of the past, WattCarbon is proud to be partnering with a company that is helping Californians quit carbon, one heat pump at a time.
Get involved
If you want to help QuitCarbon retire fossil fuel building infrastructure in California, buy their EACs now in the Marketplace! Or, reach out to WattCarbon to discuss forward vPPA opportunities.
This article is part of WattCarbon’s Every Watt-Hour Tells a Story series, spotlighting how WattCarbon partners are deploying distributed clean energy to achieve climate impact, here and now.