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MassSave unveils three‑year equity plan, aims to expand heat‑pump installations and multilingual customer support
Summary
Joan Bodemer presented the MassSave 2025–2027 plan to the Environmental Justice Council, highlighting turnkey residential delivery, free energy assessments for income‑eligible customers, expanded equity targets and a multilingual support center; council members asked for disaggregated reporting and clarification about federal funding.
Joan Bodemer, identified in the meeting as a director in the state resources department, briefed the Environmental Justice Council on the MassSave three‑year plan for 2025–2027 and emphasized equity, multilingual access and deeper retrofits for low‑ and moderate‑income households.
Bodemer described program structure by sector (residential, multifamily and commercial), delivery channels (turnkey contractors, network vendors, community partners) and equity priorities. She said income‑eligible customers will be offered no‑cost audits and some deep retrofit measures, that the program uses a primary‑vendor model for implementation, and that the plan includes connected solutions such as demand‑response measures.
Key program targets and supports: Bodemer said the plan aims to deliver heat‑pump installations to roughly 163,000 homes and noted capital investments and incentives to support low‑ and moderate‑income participants; presenters described performance‑based incentives for administrators tied to equity and capital delivery. The presentation also described a program support center to be launched that will provide multilingual, on‑demand assistance (presenters cited service in seven common Commonwealth languages and broader language access through a 250‑language system), virtual decarbonization consultations, and free energy assessments for customers.
Equity and community partners: Bodemer said roughly 40% of the three‑year plan’s budget was dedicated to equity initiatives and that community facilitation partners (CFPs) will receive funding, multilingual outreach materials and data access to help enroll residents who have historically not participated in programs.
Council oversight questions: Council member Marcos Luna pressed for more disaggregated reporting (for example, separate counts for renters and non‑renters and more robust language data) and asked whether the plan’s reliance on federal funding — notably the Inflation Reduction Act — was secure. Bodemer said quarterly and annual reports will be posted, that the program plans to publish ZIP‑ and CPT‑level data, and that staff are pursuing IRA and other federal funding but could not guarantee final awards at the meeting.
What to expect next: Bodemer invited council members and community stakeholders to send specific data requests to program staff and offered to answer follow‑up questions by email. The council set its next meeting for Dec. 4.
Representative quote: "We aim to bring these investments to communities that historically have not participated at scale," Bodemer said, describing increased targets for equity communities and free technical services for eligible customers.
Sources and limits: figures discussed in the presentation (targets and investment totals) were presented verbally and with some numeric slides; in several places presenters gave rounded or approximate figures and promised more detailed documentation and quarterly reporting.
