Policy-driven and locally built: How a Somerville firm is helping Mass. hit its climate goals
If you ever think about your home's water heater, the chances are pretty good that it only happens when the temperature of your morning shower abruptly shifts from luxuriously warm to jump-out-of-your-skin cold.
Michael Rigney, on the other hand, spends a lot of time thinking about water heaters: Mainly, how to make them better and more environmentally friendly.
While they may have become fancier and shinier, the underlying technology for most home water heaters — about 46% of them nationwide — hasn't changed in years.
"It's called electric resistance," Rigney, the founder of Somerville-based Cala Systems , told MassLive in a recent interview. "It's basically a toaster for water. You're just taking electricity, running it through an element and generating heat. This is really expensive."
And it comes with an environmental cost: Water heaters account for about 19% of the energy that's used in an American home. And they account for about 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, "which is on par with aviation," Rigney said.
Looking to build a better mousetrap, Rigney, who's been in the energy business for about 20 years, jumped on the burgeoning heat pump water heater train.
The company's version of the heat pump water heater uses smart technology that can, among other things, adjust water use based on demand.
"We're customizing water heating for each home each day, so it's a much more intelligent design," he said. " ... And the result is that it does a better job, but it also changes the experience. So, for example, we can coordinate with the solar system on someone's roof. We can automatically learn that there's a storm coming — if the hurricane comes up the coast, we can preheat the tank to the maximum extent before that happens, in case there is a long [power] outage."
The technology has caught the eye of policymakers, as the state moves to transition more households to electric heating to meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Heat pumps are a key component of that plan.
"I think what's important to focus on is that we think, in the long term, that this will save people in Massachusetts money on their energy bills," Sen. Barry Finegold, D-2nd Essex/Middlesex, said.
The Andover lawmaker, who serves as the Senate's chairperson of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies , recently visited Cala Systems to get a firsthand peek at its technology.
"I think it's challenging when we, as a state, are ... basically spending $21 billion to $22 billion a year on energy, and most of that money is going outside of our state because we don't generate a lot of energy in our state," Finegold said. "And what the heat pumps do, and what Cala Systems does, it basically ... makes [heating] more efficient, so we're spending less on energy. And it also gives a lot of cost savings to consumers. And we think that, you know, this is good for consumers' pocketbooks and this is good for our economy and obviously, the environment."
The massive economic development bill that state lawmakers passed, and Gov. Maura Healey signed, last year is aimed, in part, at fostering more clean energy tech around the state.
"We want companies like Cala Systems to not only thrive, but we want them to thrive here in Massachusetts," Finegold said.
Last month, officials at the state Department of Public Utilities issued an order allowing eligible Eversource customers who use heat pumps to enroll in a seasonal rate program that could save them an average of $540 during the winter heating season.
Customers of National Grid and Unitil already were eligible for such seasonal discounts. The new rates will be available every winter for qualifying customers of all three companies, state regulators said.
"With heat pump adoption picking up statewide, these discount rates will further help make a dent in winter heating bills," the panel's chairperson, James Van Nostrand, said in a statement. "The seasonal rates we approved for heat pump households puts money back into customers' pockets."
While they're energy efficient and desirable, heat pumps also aren't cheap, with the cost of a whole-home system clocking in between $8,000 and $15,000 nationwide, according to one estimate .
The state does offer rebates for residents who purchase heat pumps. But federal tax credits for such purchases are set to expire soon under the domestic policy mega-bill that President Donald Trump signed into law in July.
If you're looking to buy a heat pump, there's a tax credit of up to $2,000 for installations before Dec. 31, 2025, according to CBS News. For those considering heat pumps, The Associated Press has a guide to what you need to know about such purchases.
Meanwhile, Rigney is looking to a clean energy future and his place in it.
"I think that what the state is trying to do is so forward-thinking on multiple levels, said Rigney, whose company benefited from $5.6 million in seed funding led by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. "And so, of course, we really applaud it. And I do ... not only as a resident, but also as someone who works in the space, but also as someone who grew up in New England and knows what the beaches look like, frankly, now, and what they may look like for my kids."
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Read the original article on MassLive .
