State agencies in Massachusetts were not prepared for the passage of a new comprehensive climate law this year or the immediate implications it would have for regulations, state Sen. Michael Barrett said last week

The Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC) will be the first state entity required to carry out the law, which goes into effect June 25, Barrett said at the final public comment session on the council’s three-year plan for energy efficiency programs. The council is working to complete the program plan update now, but Barrett says it’s not aligning with the state’s new climate objectives.

State programs will need to pivot to limit fossil fuel heating system initiatives, increase electrification through heat pump incentives and expand access to clean heating options for low- and moderate-income renters and homeowners in environmental justice communities.

EEAC’s draft plan for energy efficiency programs does not eliminate incentives for natural gas entirely. The plan eliminates incentives for alternative heating systems “given the small incremental savings available” for ratepayers, according to the draft.

“Not enough hold is being taken on the new standard,” Barrett said. It was clear when Gov. Charlie Baker signed the landmark climate law in March that the efficiency program calculations were going to have to be different for benefits and greenhouse gas emissions, he added.

The climate law intends to prohibit replacing old oil heating systems with new oil heating systems, but the EEAC’s plan only eliminates incentives for residential oil-fired boilers.

Barrett suggested the EEAC start over on its current 200-page draft plan to avoid contradictions down the line.

Mark Dyer of 350 Massachusetts, a volunteer-led climate action organization, also recommended in the public comment session that the three-year draft plan be withdrawn. With the state looking at a ramp up of building retrofits to 100,000 per year for 10 years, the current plan will be “hopelessly slow” in achieving the state’s goals, Dyer said.

Program administrators wrote in the current draft plan that the “most successful heat pump installations take place in buildings that are already weatherized.” The plan calls for bolstering efforts to improve building envelopes as a critical component of a larger electrification strategy that ensures buildings are ready to accommodate heat pumps when residents install new equipment.

Until heat pumps are more affordable, program administrators will focus on weatherization in the 2022-24 term.

But incrementally fixing things is insufficient to cut emissions from one of the largest polluting sectors in the state, Dyer said.

The “cost-benefit this plan hinges on becomes obsolete” under the state’s climate law, he added.

If incentives for all equipment that use fossil fuels are rolled back, it would create cost barriers for efficient oil and gas options, David Davis, CEO of Massachusetts-based heating manufacturer HTP, said. The company builds high-efficiency boilers and low-emission gas equipment that follows strict emissions standards, according to Davis. Without incentives, customers would be more likely to install lower grade oil-fired boilers than retrofit their heating system at a high cost, he added.

The EEAC will discuss the draft plan and allow further public comment at its next monthly meeting on June 23.