DRCOG outlines PowerAhead Colorado: $200 million EPA grant to scale heat‑pump adoption, workforce and local policy support

Denver — The Denver Regional Council of Governments on Wednesday briefed its board on PowerAhead Colorado, a multi‑year, EPA‑funded effort to accelerate building electrification and heat‑pump adoption across the region.

Robert Potts, introduced by the chair as the program manager for PowerAhead Colorado, said the program is supported by a $200,000,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency awarded in October 2024, with the grant term extending through October 2029. "Our mission is to provide homes and building owners with a trusted path to healthier, safer comfort through right‑sized heat pumps, expert advising, vetted installers and rebate support," Potts said.

The board heard that PowerAhead is pursuing four integrated initiative areas: regional policy development, jurisdictional subawards, workforce and industry development, and incentives and innovation funding. Greg, the building‑policy lead, described the Building Policy Collaborative (BPC), a peer‑learning forum that kicked off in May 2025. The BPC will convene three working groups in 2026 focused on (1) commercial and multifamily emissions (benchmarking and building performance standards), (2) residential policy options (transparency and home‑energy scoring), and (3) energy‑code adoption and implementation support for chief building officials. Greg said the program will pause on drafting model ordinance text until contracted research better defines costs, benefits and compliance implications.

On jurisdictional grants, the program closed its first round in October 2025 and awarded formula funds to 27 jurisdictions, covering about 42% of eligible jurisdictions but roughly 85% of the region’s population and accounting for approximately 75% of the subaward budget. Greg said round 2 — a competitive round to launch in April — will allocate about $8.5 million remaining in the subaward budget and prioritize jurisdictions that did not participate in round 1 or need supplemental funding.

Program staff said they selected New Buildings Institute, in partnership with the Colorado Health Institute and Touchstone, for a research contract expected to be worth about $600,000. That contract is intended to model policy impacts on emissions, costs, grid interactions and compliance burdens; staff anticipate contract execution in March and preliminary findings by summer.

Communications director Chris Selt described a two‑phase website build (ImageX Media, $266,000 contract) and an advertising campaign backed by roughly $2,000,000 per year in paid media. "We want to find at least 1,600 homes to retrofit at no cost," Selt said of the equity‑focused outreach. The campaign will use digital buys and broadcast placements timed with major sporting events and will include Spanish‑language outlets.

Workforce and contractor capacity were central to the presentation. Clay McComb demonstrated a consumer 'find a contractor' tool and the Colorado contractor hub — a business backend for verified installers — and said the program will pay $1,500 per business to register for heat‑pump training. Clay described a $5.2 million RFP to Arapahoe Douglas Works to set up Green Workforce Hubs across the region and multiple workforce and training partnerships aimed at diversifying the trades, including programs for justice‑impacted jobseekers and Spanish‑language training partners.

On financial incentives and low‑income support, program manager Mac Prather said the incentives and energy‑advising effort is a $59,600,000 program split into roughly $40,000,000 for direct incentives, $17,000,000 for advising and program design, and $2,600,000 for administration. Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) was selected to administer incentive dollars; Brendle Group and other technical partners will support local implementation. Mac also described a $6,000,000 innovation grant program expected to fund about two dozen awards in midyear, and an income‑qualified program intended to deliver no‑cost upgrades to at least 1,600 households with Energy Outreach Colorado identified to administer that work pending final contract execution.

Board directors praised staff contracting and administrative work and asked procedural questions about jurisdictional participation. Staff said additional board and committee items on the regional building roadmap and round‑2 subaward policy will appear at a March 4 workshop.

Why this matters: The combination of a large federal grant, jurisdictional subawards, paid outreach and contractor capacity building is designed to speed heat‑pump installations across Denver‑area communities while targeting equity priorities through no‑cost retrofits and workforce programs. The board will review policy frameworks and program rules before implementation and will receive research findings that may shape model ordinance language.

What’s next: Staff plan to bring the regional building decarbonization roadmap and round‑2 jurisdictional support policy to board workshops in the coming months and to execute key contracts (research, incentives admin, income‑qualified implementer) in March–midyear.