Connecticut to receive hundreds of millions in federal climate change funds

Hundreds of millions of dollars are coming to Connecticut and the region to combat climate change.

It was announced Monday in New Haven and is funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. One grant is specifically for the city, and two others are for Connecticut and our northeast neighbors.

A grant of $9.5 million will go to slash carbon emissions in New Haven.

“It will ensure Union Station will eliminate almost all on-site fossil fuel use,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.

The City of New Haven was awarded federal dollars for the implementation of a geothermal heating and cooling system for Union Station and a neighboring development across the street.

“When people think of renewable energy, they think wind and solar, what we are doing here is tapping into the heat beneath our feet,” said Steve Winter, executive director of the city's Climate and Sustainability Office.

Winter notes the historic train station sees roughly 625,000 annually. So, Union Station felt like an appropriate spot for the innovative project slated to slash carbon emissions, he said.

“It’s a historic -- it’s a civic landmark and it's all an area where we are seeing an enormous amount of growth and development interest,” said Winters.

But Union Station isn’t the only building that will benefit.

Across the street, a new development set for 1,000 units of housing will also heat and cool with the geothermal system. City leaders say it will provide low-cost and renewable heat and cool air for residents.

“For a single household, heating and cooling, and hot water is the lion share, like more than three-quarters of the household's energy consumption,” said Winter.

City officials believe the project will take a total of three to four years to complete and will require miles of piping. But the mayor is optimistic about the project and because they are in partnership with the EPA, New Haven could serve as a model for towns and cities around the country.

“A blueprint for neighborhood scale de-carbonization across the nation,” said Mayor Elicker.

New Haven officials were joined by state and regional leaders as well, including Gov. Ned Lamont, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and regional director for the EPA, David Cash.

“Access to affordable, reliable and clean heating and cooling is what New England families deserve,” Cash said.

Two other projects with Connecticut ties were announced. The first is a $64-million investment led by New Jersey to install medium and heavy weight EV charging infrastructure up and down the northeast corridor at truck stops.

Another project being funded is New England-based, being led by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. It's $450 million officials say is focused on the manufacturing and distribution of green heat pump technology. It's focused on cutting carbon, while officials say homeowners and renters, can also cut costs.

Officials estimate, because the dollars are for multiple New England states, Connecticut will see roughly $100 million from the grant.

“For that homeowner, they could be saving well over $1,000 a year,” Gov. Lamont said.

Of the $4.3 billion being spread out nationally in this funding round, Connecticut will see 4% of the funds.

“We are 1% of the population, we are getting 4% of these funds. That’s called winning. I like winning,” Lamont said.

The funds have not been rolled out yet, but officials say they hope to have them out the door and in the hands of grant recipients by fall.