CT sets aside $4.5 million for ground-source geothermal installations

In Connecticut, Governor M. Jodi Rell said the state will dedicate $4.5 million in federal stimulus funds to help homeowners, businesses and nonprofit groups pay for the installation of geothermal heat pump systems. The new Geothermal Heat Pump Incentive Program is part of the comprehensive State Energy Plan that has qualified for $38 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program will be administered by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), and CCEF officials said the funding will support the installation of about 300 geothermal heat pump systems per year until April 2012, when the federal program ends.