Propane Council Response to Washington Post Piece on Heat Pumps

Re: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/04/heat-pumps-climate-carbon-emission-revolution/

To the editor,

In his piece lionizing electric heat pumps, Robert Gebelhoff glosses over some major concerns that deserve more than a passing mention. Namely, that mandated heat pump use will put even more stress on an electric grid that is overburdened and reliant on natural gas and coal in many parts of the country. When you add severe winter weather to the equation, as we saw in the upper Midwest, Great Lakes and upstate New York around Christmas, the question of heat and power becomes one of life and death.

Today, on-site gas appliances are on balance cleaner than electric ones because power plants have to burn excessive amounts of fuel to compensate for generation and transmission inefficiencies. It could be decades before the electric grid is clean enough to match the environmental performance of on-site gas appliances. And as much as heat pump technology has improved, it is still less efficient than gas at very cold temperatures according to analysis by the Propane Education & Research Council.

We in the propane industry are not anti-heat pump or even anti-electrification. We simply advocate for a wide path to lower emissions; one that includes low-carbon fuels working in concert with clean electricity generated using renewables like wind and solar. That mix will look different in Buffalo than it does in Burbank, but it is the best way to ensure our energy systems can deliver clean, reliable power and comfort in any weather, anywhere.

Tucker Perkins

President and CEO, Propane Education & Research Council