Colorado group looks to boost heat pumps with $200M federal grant

The Denver Regional Council of Governments, whose members include area cities, towns, and counties, launched the new Power Ahead Colorado initiative in early 2026 using the nearly $200 million federal grant awarded by the EPA in 2024.

Power Ahead Colorado will help Colorado to decarbonize its economy by 2050, by providing free energy-efficiency and heat-pump retrofits to about 2,000 low-income households, offering personalized help from on-call energy advisers, issuing $40 million in rebates for home energy upgrades, and training an estimated 4,800 heat-pump installers.

The Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress have canceled or unlawfully terminated more than $113 billion in emissions-reducing program funding committed under the Biden administration, but some smaller programs, like the $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program which funds Power Ahead Colorado, have attaracted less attention.