While it may be easy to forget in the summer heat, New England suffers from some of the most brutal winters in the country. With temperatures occasionally dropping below zero degrees Fahrenheit every year, the cost of living in Boston is underlined with the additional cost of keeping people warm in their homes. Annually, New Englanders pay hefty costs for utility bills, with the cost of energy being some of the highest in the country. Using 2022-2023 data, the website MoneyGeek ran an analysis on Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, and found that Massachusetts had the 14th highest gas bill costs when compared to other states in the country, coming in at $171 per month. This marks a $30 increase from previous years.

In the face of rising energy costs over recent years, some states in New England have turned to a potentially cheaper alternative energy source during times of high demand – fuel oil. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), many people in Maine will see an average monthly fuel cost of less than $50. David Blackmon at Forbes reported that on December 26, 2022, around 29% of fuel in New England was being supplied by oil. Fueled by a gas pipeline shortage crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as continued shortages of supply during the winter months in the New England region, more and more towns are relying on fuel oil as a primary source of energy. According to a February 22, 2022 report by Bloomberg reporters Gerson Freitas Jr. and Naureen S. Malik, oil generated nearly 1.03 million megawatt-hours’ worth of power in New England in the month of January 2022. The use of fuel oil is not without significant environmental cost though. The once archaic source of energy creates 163.5 lbs of carbon dioxide per million but compared to the 116.7 lbs of carbon dioxide for natural gas according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Combine this with the nearly 50% global increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution, as reported by NASA, and the issue of using oil as a source of energy becomes clear.

One answer for Boston homeowners lies in heat pumps. Heat pumps are devices which are able to transfer heat from a cooler side of the machine to a warmer side of the machine. The machine can serve people twofold, both in transferring heat into a house from the environment during cooler months as well as transferring heat out of the home during warmer months. The most common form of heat pump is the air heat pump, which transfers heat through the surrounding air, but geothermal and absorption heat pumps are also available. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heat pumps may reduce energy usage by nearly 50% compared to traditional methods of heating and cooling homes. The increased efficiency of this technology has in large part been due to recent technological advances in heat pumps. Many of these innovations were developed through programs such as the Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge, which was launched in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Energy. One significant issue that Bostonians may face when trying to upgrade heating systems to more modern technologies is the limitation of their current home infrastructure. With many homes in Boston being older, the installation of technologies such as heat pumps may be a costly and difficult process. Despite the fact that more efficient energy systems save people money over a longer period of time due to reduced utility costs, the upfront cost of hiring contractors and buying the required equipment provides a significant hurdle, especially for low income families.

The challenge is the balancing of the long-term effects to the environment with the short-term harm that a lack of affordable energy can cost for people living through tough winters. According to Payscale, the cost of living in Massachusetts is already 50% higher than the average cost of living in the United States, with utilities being 25% higher in cost than for the average American. It is clear that the cost of energy is cutting into the bottom line of many families in Boston. One solution may lie in rebates, which are reimbursements made by utility companies or the government in exchange for people installing new energy efficient systems in the home. One such program is the Mass Save program, which offers income-based rebates for whole or partial home installation of heat pumps. The program offers a $10,000 rebate for people who undergo a full-home installation, with rebates being as high as $16,000 for low-income families. The program also offers payment options which span over several years to help families pay for the cost of installing new equipment. While homes must meet specific requirements in order to qualify for heat pump installation as well as the rebate, the program provides a good option for some families to get access to this energy saving technology. An important partner in the effort to incentivize energy efficient renovations must be the government. As energy companies will otherwise have little incentive to move away from currently existing energy sources, a priority will have to be put on the environment in future legislation for incentive programs to continue to exist. It is only by driving both innovation and consumer availability can sustainable solutions to heating and energy in the future be reached.

Despite the current ongoing efforts of developing new technologies for energy efficiency, as utility and energy costs continue to rise along with the increasing pollution that heating and cooling bring to the environment, more needs to be done in order to ensure that energy saving technologies continue to be developed. It is important that energy saving technologies become accessible to the general public through programs that can provide adequate support and funding to incentivize people to engage in saving energy.