A federal grant program to help homeowners convert their oil furnaces to electric heat pumps could potentially cost as much as $2.7 billion, almost four times its initial budget of $750 million, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
“The PBO estimates that there are up to 244,000 households nationwide that could be eligible for OHPA [Oil to Heat Pump Affordability] program funding,” said a published Jan. 18, as first covered byu Blacklock’s Reporter.
“If all eligible households access the program, we estimate that the OHPA program could have a maximum potential cost of $2.7 billion.

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cost assumes that all eligible households apply and receive the maximum grant available, said the note titled “Enhancements to the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program.”

As of mid-October 2023, around 10,000 households had been approved for and/or had already received funding under the program.
Based on trends in uptake, the PBO estimates that the program, which had originally been allocated $750 million over four years, from fiscal 2023–24 to fiscal 2026–27, will cost $797 million over five years, said the note.