The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) has officially launched a $200 million program to help reduce carbon emissions with heat pumps.

The regional organization announced its new initiative, “Power Ahead Colorado,” which also includes partnerships with the Colorado Energy Office, Xcel Energy, Rewiring America and others to help achieve DRCOG’s goal of reducing greenhouse gases.

The nearly $200 million in funds comes from a grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden administration, ultimately surviving a slew of policy reversals during the start of the Trump administration in 2025.

Over the next four years, the money will be divided between different initiatives like providing no-cost heat pump home upgrades for lower-income households, connecting homeowners with energy advisers, helping local governments and landlords, and developing a workforce for installing and maintaining the systems.

The program has also set aside $6 million in grants for local governments, nonprofits and small businesses to pilot innovative ways to reduce emissions in buildings.

“Power Ahead Colorado has the potential to transform the building sector,” Robert Spotts, Power Ahead Colorado program manager, said in the release. “By tackling the challenge from many angles, and by demystifying heat pumps and their benefits, we can improve indoor comfort, outdoor air quality and health outcomes for everyone in the Denver Metro Region.”

A heat pump works by moving air from one place to another, whether in the ground or just outside. In the winter, it absorbs heat from outside or deep in the ground, bringing it up to extract into the home. In the summer, the system does the opposite, with the indoor heat pump removing heat from the air and circulating it outside, cooling it.

This can create for a more efficient heating and cooling system without burning fuel, but can require updated electrical systems in older homes, according to DRCOG.

DRCOG is also creating the Colorado Contractor Hub, connecting heat pump contractors with potential customers and information.

“Contractors are the lifeblood of Colorado’s clean energy transition. Clean heating and cooling programs succeed when contractors succeed, and we are proud to help Colorado contractors take full advantage of these programs,” Holly Harris, associate director of the Colorado Contractor Hub at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, said in a separate news release.

All in all, the idea is to help incentivize heat pump systems and make them easier to install and maintain.

“By making it easy for contractors to install heat pumps and for workers to build new skills, we’re growing the region’s economy and enabling our climate goals,” Shawn LeMons, industry engagement lead at Zero Homes, said.

DRCOG’s 2022 inventory of area greenhouse-gas emissions concluded that roughly 52% of the emissions in 2022 came from buildings, whether residential or commercial.

The program will help move Colorado toward the state’s goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

More information can be found at PowerAheadColorado.org.