SACRAMENTO — Nine of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of building heating and cooling equipment have signed an agreement to support California’s goal of having 6 million electric heat pumps installed by 2030.

The deal was announced at a two-day Summit on Building Electrification co-hosted by the California Energy Commission and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), held at the California Natural Resources headquarters in Sacramento.

The broad public-private partnership is being convened in a move CEC member Andrew McAllister said will be “critical in aligning policy and reality.”

The goals of the program, McAllister said, are to:

• • create the manufacturing capacity to help achieve the state’s goal of installing 6 million heat pumps by 2030;
  • ensure heat pumps are good citizens of the electric grid by enhancing efficiency and incorporating load flexibility;
  • collaborate with the CEC to develop a public-private partnership to facilitate policy and market support to bring heat pumps into the mainstream.

“The pledge builds on policies and programs already underway at the Energy Commission, the [California] Air Resources Board, the [California] Public Utilities Commission and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, GO-Biz.  The activities are supported by the California Climate Commitment and federal Inflation Reduction Act, which combined will provide $1.3 billion for efforts to reduce emissions from buildings,” McAllister said.

A body will be convened that includes the nine manufacturers plus other companies in the supply chain, public interest groups, utilities, labor groups and state agencies. McAllister said the partners in the group could “collaborate on initiatives focused on, but not limited to, consumer awareness, contractor training, product availability, performance, efficiency, load flexibility, refrigerant management, data, equity and financing.”

“We can’t do it alone. It takes strengths of partnerships like this to achieve the kind of massive market transformation required to reach our goals,” he said.

The manufacturers are AO Smith, Carrier, Daikin, Johnson Controls, Lennox, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US, Rheem Manufacturing and Trane Technologies.

Driving consumer acceptance is a key part of the program, he said. “This new commitment will ensure that grid-friendly heat pumps are widely available and can help consumers understand why they’re a better choice for both comfort and for the climate. The partnership will promote a comprehensive consumer awareness campaign to educate consumers on the benefits of electrification and work on ways to ease the purchasing process.”

The group will periodically report on progress toward meeting the goal of having 6 million heat pumps installed in buildings across California by 2030.