Geothermal Heat Pump Grant Program

Program Update October 19, 2009

Program Note:

The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is pleased to announce that it has reopened the Geothermal Heat Pump Grant Program as result of funds made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (ARRA or Recovery Act).  Limited funding is still available to Maryland residents and small businesses who intend to install qualified geothermal heat pumps. 

Program Structure:

  • Grants awarded under this Program may not exceed $500 per ton of cooling capacity, with maximum grant amounts of $3,000 for residential systems, and $10,000 for commercial systems.

How to Apply:

Applicants must take the following steps before submitting an application package:

Allocation of Grants

If you have already submitted an application to the Geothermal Heat Pump Grant Program and would like to find if you have already received grant approval from MEA, please see our List of Approved Applicants.

If you have submitted an application, but have yet to submit a Completion Certificate (Attachment B), MEA will be contacting you shortly to ensure your application remains grant eligible.  Grant approvals will only be dispersed if MEA receives a signed and dated Grant Program Terms and Conditions signifying that you fully understand the ARRA Addendum – Special Terms and Conditions for ARRA-Funded Grants, and can verify that your solar installation will be constructed in compliance.

Information for Installers

In order for any applicant from this point forward to be eligible for funding for the remainder of the current fiscal year, ending at the end of June, 2010, applicants must demonstrate that their installation will be performed in compliance with Davis-Bacon Act requirements. 

As result, MEA will be requiring that contractors or subcontractors (well-drillers included) generate certified prevailing-wage rate/payroll documents to be submitted along with an applicant’s Completion Certificate (Attachment B).  For an example of such a document, please see: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/forms/wh347.pdf.

In addition, MEA has expanded its Completion Certificate (Attachment B) to include mandatory reporting requirements, which MEA will need to submit to the federal government on a monthly basis.  Some of these additional requirements are:

  1. Recipient’s legal name, address and any “doing-business-as” (DBA) name;
  2. Recipient’s congressional district (can be found at http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html);
  3. All contractor and subcontractor names, addresses and DUNS numbers (to request a DUNS number please see http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform);
  4. Project number assigned by contractor to the grant recipient (if applicable);
  5. Project start date and installation date;
  6. Number of “jobs created” – new employee working on their first project;
  7. Number of “jobs retained” – employee working on all but first project;
  8. A description of the contractors and subcontractors services.

More Information:

New Federal Tax Credits for Geothermal Heat Pumps:

With the recent passage of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, qualified Geothermal Heat Pumps installed after December 31, 2008 are eligible for a Federal Income Tax Credit equal to 30% of the total installed cost. For more info please see: Federal Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy.

 

Eligibility Requirements

To be grant eligible system must meet minimum efficiencies of:

Full load minimum Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of 15.5; and full load mimimum Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 3.5 under rating conditions in accordance with the International Standards Organization (ISO) Standard 13256- 1 or the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) Standard 870 for ground-loop heat pumps.

Applicants are encouraged to become familiar with the program terms and conditions and eligibility criteria prior to applying. There is supporting documentation required along with the application forms.

Terms and Conditions

ARRA Information

Applications Information

Completion Information

Technical Information

For additional information, email meainfo@energy.state.md.us or call 1-800-72ENERGY.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Partner Programs

Energy Star Partner Clean Energy States Alliance Maryland Home Performance with Energy Star

Incentives & Resources

Maryland Energy Facts

Wind farms in the U.S. have helped avoid nearly 62 million pounds of pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), tied to global climate change.

Sign Up for Energy News & Updates