Maine was touted as a national example Thursday as a multi-state coalition announced a goal of installing 20 million new heat pumps by the end of the decade.
The initiative was the highlight of a building decarbonization plan from the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of 25 states that Gov. Janet Mills co-leads.
At an alliance event in New York City on Thursday, Mills took another opportunity to tout Maine's progress in installing 100,000 heat pumps two years ahead of schedule.
"Now 100,000 might not sound like a big number to somebody in the Big Apple, for instance. But given our population of about 1.3 million, number of households, a little over 500,000 residential dwellings, that's a pretty good number," she said. "We're on our way, and we're not stopping there."
Maine recently set a new target of installing 275,000 heat pumps over the next four years, a goal that Mills reiterated Thursday.
The goals have been embraced by Mainers and heat pump installation companies, she added.
"It's curbing our carbon emissions. It's cutting costs for families," Mills said. "It's making people more comfortable in their own homes. Maine is meeting our climate goals, and we're proud to lead the way as part of the U.S. Climate Alliance to encourage other states to do the same."
Mills was one of three governors that spoke at Thursday's event, which included New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, as well as White House Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi.
As part of the Climate Alliance, Maine on Thursday agreed to develop new energy efficient building codes that support electric vehicles and solar.
The state also pledged to cut certain greenhouse gases from state facilities by at least half in the next decade.
