Heat pumps help

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

What a boon the rapidly spreading use of heat pumps is for heating and cooling in places like New England. As expensive as our being at the end of natural-gas pipelines now is, heat pumps, solar, wind, and geothermal systems offer hope for the region gaining energy independence within the next couple of decades.

Meanwhile, under a $180 million deal with utilities, the administration of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy, who is running for re-election, Bay Staters will pay around 10 percent less for natural gas and electricity in February and March. Then they’ll make up for that in the warmer months to follow. Sounds reasonable. But imagine how much cheaper and more reliable energy would be if all the state’s energy came from such local sources as solar, wind, geothermal and so on. It is technologically possible.