Sammamish highlights incentives and workshops to expand heat pump and solar adoption

Rose Weicker, Sammamish sustainability coordinator, told the Human Services Commission that the city is promoting heat pumps and rooftop solar through the regional EnergySmart Eastside program and a new Solarize group-purchase campaign.

Weicker said the programs are designed to improve residents' ability to withstand extreme weather, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and lower household energy costs. "Heat pumps are great for climate resilience because they also provide air conditioning," Weicker said during the commission's March presentation.

EnergySmart Eastside, a partnership of Sammamish and five neighboring Eastside cities, offers income-qualified incentives and technical assistance for heat pumps. Weicker said one income-qualified "boost" tier covers a percentage of install costs for households at or below 80% area median income (AMI); a separate "fuel-switch" incentive is available for lower-income households (she cited a 50% AMI tier). Weicker described typical installed system ranges of about $15,000 to $30,000 for whole-home heat-pump systems and said the boost program has a wait list and a new participant cohort starting in April.

Weicker said some income-qualified customers may receive layered rebates and incentives that can reach roughly $6,000 for the fuel-switch tier and, in combination with other rebates, up to about $8,600 in some cases. She added that all residents are eligible for up to $500 in manufacturer discounts and free technical assistance, including one-on-one calls with energy advisors, webinars and community workshops.

The commission heard that Sammamish has a high adoption rate among recent permitting activity: "we're at over 65% of new permit inform so if someone is getting a new system or altering an old system, folks, 65% of the time are going with these heat pump systems," Weicker said (2024 permit data shown to the commission). She noted those figures reflect new- or replacement-system permits, not the entire housing stock, and said the city is trying to reach lower-income households that face cost and contractor barriers.

On solar, Weicker described a Solarize window that launched March 1 and runs through July 4. The group-purchase model, run by Olympia Community Solar and participating local installers, offers vetted contractors, reduced per-watt pricing and free home assessments. Weicker urged homeowners to take the free assessment even if their roof is shaded, saying assessments often show more solar potential than residents expect. She cited an example figure pulled from 2024 program slides that a family-of-four solar project at a 50% discount scenario could be on the order of about $117,000, and she cautioned that program staff can provide current, project-specific pricing during workshops.

Weicker said the city will host in-person workshops at Sammamish City Hall: a heat-pump workshop is scheduled for March 26 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and additional solar workshops are planned in April and May. She said installers and EnergySmart Eastside staff will attend to provide assessments and pricing information. Commissioners asked for more recent program statistics and Weicker said she would provide the EnergySmart Eastside metrics and slides after the meeting.

Why it matters: the incentives and outreach are intended to increase household resilience to heat, wildfire smoke and winter outages, while lowering long-term energy costs. The city emphasized special outreach and income-qualified funding for households that otherwise may be unable to upgrade.

What happens next: program signups are open now for Solarize (through July 4); the heat-pump boost wait list and the April cohort will be managed by EnergySmart Eastside program staff; Weicker will send updated program statistics and materials to commissioners by email.