City of Cambridge Launches Electrify Cambridge to Support Residents with Clean, All-Electric Home Upgrades and Decarbonization Plans

The City of Cambridge is proud to announce the launch of Electrify Cambridge, a new program to support Cambridge residents with a wide range of clean, green, and all-electric home energy upgrades. Through this program, Electrify Cambridge will provide no-cost advising by technical specialists on all measures that can electrify a home or residential building. Those measures include heat pumps, solar panels, weatherization, water heaters, induction stoves, electric vehicle chargers, and more.

Residents can participate in this new program by calling the Cambridge Energy Helpline at 617-430-6230 or visiting cambridgema.gov/electrify and will be able to schedule a consultation with an Electrify Cambridge specialist at their convenience, starting today. Residents are also invited to join the Electrify Cambridge virtual kickoff event on August 2 at 6:30 p.m. to learn more about this exciting new program. To register, please visit https://camb.ma/electrifycambridgelaunch.

As our community works to reduce our impact on climate, Electrify Cambridge will help Cambridge residents explore different technology options, connect with pre-vetted installers, and have independent experts compare quotes, letting residents find solutions that best meet their project needs. This no-cost advising is funded by the City of Cambridge to ensure that residents can access unbiased, independent guidance. Electrify Cambridge specialists will also help residents tap into all available state and federal incentives.

In addition, Electrify Cambridge will help residents anticipate upcoming projects and develop a customized plan for how their home can be electrified over time, and provide support for each step of implementing the plan. Electrify Cambridge is designed to work with all residential building types, whether a single-family house, a triple-decker, or a larger multifamily building.

To provide this technical advising, the City is working with Abode Energy Management, a Massachusetts-based energy solutions firm that is currently working with several communities and state programs to help make energy upgrades simple, accessible, and reliable. Multifamily buildings will also be supported by New Ecology, a Boston-based nonprofit with deep experience in clean energy and sustainability solutions.

Switching away from fossil fuels to clean, all-electric systems for our buildings is critical to achieving our climate goals, and Electrify Cambridge is designed to help decarbonize our buildings at the scale needed to meet the targets of the Cambridge Net Zero Action Plan and get to net zero emissions by 2050. In Cambridge, buildings are the source of over 80% of our greenhouse gas emissions. These all-electric upgrades can improve indoor air quality, make a home more comfortable, and cut fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. Electrify Cambridge complements Cambridge’s initiatives this year to adopt the Specialized Stretch Energy Code, establish building performance standards for large nonresidential buildings, and pursue adoption of the Massachusetts Fossil Fuel Free Demonstration Program.

“It can be overwhelming to think about where to start and who to trust when making upgrades to a building,” said Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development. “Electrify Cambridge will make it easier for residents to understand their options for all-electric energy upgrades and move forward with the solutions that are best for their homes and buildings. By supporting individual projects and also developing customized decarbonization plans, Electrify Cambridge will help with a wide range of resident needs and ultimately help us move away from fossil fuels and towards net zero emissions.”

To learn more about Electrify Cambridge and electrification solutions, visit cambridgema.gov/electrify.