Tumwater closes Energize Thurston heat‑pump campaign after grant‑funded installs for low‑income residents

Tumwater’s City Council received a closeout briefing on Nov. 3 about Energize Thurston, a regional program that subsidized bulk purchases and installations of heat pumps and heat‑pump water heaters.

Alyssa Jones Wood, who presented the briefing on behalf of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative, said the city spent $447,540 in grant funds and an additional $10,696.63 from the city’s sustainability general fund to support installations in Tumwater households. In Tumwater the program subsidized 29 heat‑pump installations and seven heat‑pump water heaters; four additional heat pumps and one hot‑water heat pump were installed by residents who paid without subsidy using negotiated discounts, Wood said. Staff estimated the installations will avoid about 455.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and that 25 participating households previously had no access to cooling.

Wood said the program prioritized income‑qualified households, many of them fixed‑income seniors, and that the grant required cultural‑resource review with the Squaxin Island Tribe where ground disturbance was necessary. She described the program as a multi‑partner effort of installers, funders and volunteers and noted the collaborative will apply for expanded grant funding in a new round that opened the day of the presentation.

Council members praised the pilot as a pragmatic, incremental approach to lowering emissions and improving home safety in hotter summers. Council member Sorthat called the program an example of “chipping away” at larger climate goals by helping 30–40 homes at a time. Wood said other jurisdictions in the regional program currently maintain wait lists, but Tumwater completed the income‑qualified list for the first year.

The council did not take formal action on the briefing; staff said they plan to use the program videos and other outreach materials to promote future rounds if grant funding is awarded.

Questions and next steps raised at the meeting included applying again for Climate Commitment Act funds, continuing tribal coordination where ground work is needed, and tracking whether the city can expand capacity to serve more households in future rounds.