Geothermal district networks are becoming a scalable, politically resilient way to decarbonize heating and cooling. Here’s what Framingham’s expansion means for you.
Most companies get heating and cooling completely wrong. They obsess over solar panels and EV chargers, but keep pouring money into aging gas boilers and leaky air conditioners that lock in emissions and volatile energy bills.
Meanwhile, in a suburb outside Boston, a different model is quietly taking shape — and just got an $8.6 million boost from the U.S. Department of Energy.
This matters because geothermal district networks are one of the most efficient ways to decarbonize buildings at scale. And unlike wind and solar, they’ve just survived a major round of federal clean energy cuts. If you care about green technology that’s both practical and politically durable, geothermal needs to be on your radar.
In this post, part of our Green Technology series, we’ll unpack what’s happening in Framingham, Massachusetts, why the Trump administration is backing geothermal while clawing back other clean energy funds, and how cities, utilities, campuses, and developers can actually use this model — with help from data, AI, and smart planning.
What Just Happened in Framingham — and Why It’s a Big Deal
The core news is simple: the nation’s first utility-led geothermal heating and cooling network is about to double in size.
- The U.S. Department of Energy approved an $8.6 million grant
- The funding goes to HEET (a Boston-based nonprofit), the City of Framingham, and Eversource Energy
- It will add about 140 new customers, bringing the total to roughly 280 homes and businesses
The existing network, built in 2024, serves around 140 customers in Framingham, a western Boston suburb. Dozens of boreholes reach several hundred feet into the ground, where the temperature sits at about 55°F year-round. Water circulates through a closed-loop pipe network, and electric heat pumps in each building move heat in or out as needed.
You’re not burning gas. You’re moving heat.
Here’s why the expansion is so important:
- Proof of scale: Doubling the network with the same core infrastructure shows this isn’t a boutique pilot; it’s scalable utility infrastructure.
- Lower expansion cost: Eversource expects the second phase to cost roughly half as much per added customer because they’re reusing pumps, controls, and other equipment.
- Better efficiency as it grows: As more buildings connect with different heating and cooling patterns, the network balances itself. One building’s cooling load can offset another’s heating load.
Zeyneb Magavi, HEET’s executive director, framed it clearly: this project is about “demonstrating and quantifying the growth potential of geothermal network technology.” That’s exactly what serious decision-makers — utilities, cities, and investors — need to see.
How a Geothermal Network Actually Works (Without the Hype)
A geothermal network is essentially a shared, underground thermal battery that multiple buildings plug into.
The basic mechanics
A modern district geothermal system typically has four key pieces:
-
Boreholes or wells
- Drilled hundreds of feet down
- Ground stays around 50–60°F year-round in most climates
- Plastic or steel pipes carry water or antifreeze solution
-
A shared pipe network
- Connects the borefields to each building
- Circulates fluid in a loop, not consuming water
-
Building-level heat pumps
- Small electric units in each building
- In winter: move heat from the ground loop into the building
- In summer: move heat from the building into the ground loop
-
Smart controls and monitoring
- Sensors track temperatures, flow rates, and loads
- Controls optimize pump speeds and loop temperatures
The result: instead of every building owning and maintaining its own boiler and chiller, the utility owns the underground network and customers pay a service fee, just like they do for gas today.
From a physics standpoint, this is efficient because heat pumps move energy rather than generate it. For every 1 unit of electricity, you can get 3–5 units of heating or cooling in return.
Why networks get more efficient as they grow
Magavi and other experts point to a subtle but powerful effect: load diversity.
On a hot day:
- Some buildings are still heating domestic hot water
- Some are shaded or super-efficient and don’t need much cooling
- Others are glass-heavy and need lots of cooling
On a cold day:
- Offices with lots of equipment and people might still be “cooling” internally
- Apartments with corner units and older windows might be heavily heating
The bigger the network, the more these differences cancel each other out, so:
- You need fewer boreholes per building
- You can size pumps and controls more efficiently
- The ground temperature stays more stable over time
This is where AI and advanced analytics start to matter. With good data and forecasting models, operators can:
- Predict heating and cooling demand hour by hour
- Adjust pump speeds and temperatures preemptively
- Optimize new borehole placement to keep the ground loop balanced
In other words, geothermal networks aren’t just pipes in the ground — they’re data-rich green infrastructure that pairs naturally with AI-driven control systems.
Why Geothermal Is Surviving Federal Clean Energy Cuts
The political context is blunt: while the Trump administration is clawing back billions in clean energy grants, geothermal has made it through with relatively little damage.
Here’s what’s going on:
- The Framingham grant was first announced under the Biden administration in 2024, but the binding contract with DOE wasn’t signed until September 30, 2025, under Trump.
- The administration is rolling back or canceling renewable and EV supports, including phasing out tax credits for wind, solar, and EVs under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Yet, geothermal heating and cooling tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are largely intact.
- Inside DOE, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has been eliminated — but geothermal has been preserved inside a new Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office.
Why does geothermal make the cut?
-
It aligns with “energy independence” framing.
- You’re tapping local, underground heat instead of importing fuel.
-
It fits a bipartisan narrative.
- As one Eversource executive put it, geothermal is seen as a “bipartisan technology”. It doesn’t trigger the same culture war reflex as big wind farms or solar mandates.
-
It uses oil-and-gas skills.
- Drilling boreholes taps into existing workforces, equipment, and expertise from the fossil industry. That’s politically powerful.
If you’re planning green technology investments over 20–40 years — especially as a city, campus, or utility — you want solutions that survive political swings. Geothermal networks are emerging as one of the most policy-resilient clean heat options on the table.
What This Means for Cities, Utilities, and Campuses
Here’s the thing about geothermal networks: they’re not just a Massachusetts curiosity. They’re a template.
If you’re responsible for energy strategy, decarbonization, or long-term infrastructure planning, this model has three big implications.
1. Gas utilities have a viable “post-pipe” business model
Many gas utilities are stuck: regulators and cities say “decarbonize,” but their assets are steel pipes and rate structures built around selling molecules.
Geothermal networks offer an exit ramp:
- Replace old gas main replacements with networked geothermal loops over time
- Keep the regulated utility business model (pipes, rate base, service fees)
- Cut emissions without stranding billions in infrastructure overnight
The Framingham project is exactly that — a gas and electric utility proving it can become a “thermal utility” as Magavi describes: the birth of a new kind of utility.
2. Cities can treat streets as energy infrastructure, not just pavement
Streets are where:
- Gas mains run today
- Water and sewer lines sit
- Construction disruption is already happening for maintenance
If you coordinate road work + pipe replacement + geothermal installation, you can:
- Reduce costs by bundling projects
- Minimize disruption to residents and businesses
- Build thermal networks neighborhood by neighborhood instead of house by house
Smart cities are starting to layer GIS, building data, and AI to map where geothermal networks make the most sense — dense blocks, big load diversity, and aging gas infrastructure are prime candidates.
3. Campuses and districts can get ahead of carbon mandates
Universities, hospitals, corporate campuses, and mixed-use developments are perfect for district geothermal because:
- They control multiple buildings in a compact footprint
- They often have long-term ownership horizons
- They’re under increasing pressure to show real emissions cuts
We’re already seeing:
- One of the world’s largest geothermal networks under a corporate campus in Wisconsin
- New mixed-use projects (like those in St. Paul, Minnesota) baking geothermal into the master plan from day one
For these players, geothermal isn’t just about sustainability; it’s about stable operating costs and future-proofing against carbon pricing and gas phase-outs.
Where AI and Data Supercharge Geothermal Networks
Because this post is part of our Green Technology series, it’s worth being very explicit: AI isn’t just for data centers and trading algorithms. It’s quickly becoming core to how we design and run physical clean energy infrastructure.
Geothermal networks are a great example.
Smarter planning and design
Before you drill a single borehole, you can use AI-driven tools to:
- Analyze building stock (age, size, orientation, insulation levels)
- Model hourly heating and cooling loads over an entire year
- Identify optimal borefield locations and sizes
- Compare different network layouts for cost and performance
This turns what used to be slow, consultant-heavy master planning into something faster, cheaper, and more iterative.
Real-time optimization and fault detection
Once a network is running, AI can:
- Predict daily and seasonal load patterns
- Pre-adjust pump speeds, loop temperatures, and storage strategies
- Detect anomalies — a stuck valve, underperforming heat pump, or leak — before they become major outages
The result is higher efficiency, less downtime, and lower operating cost. That’s exactly what utilities and regulators want to see before they approve large-scale rollouts.
Financing and risk reduction
For investors and lenders, better data and predictive models mean:
- More accurate projections of cash flows and payback periods
- Lower perceived technology risk
- Easier pathways to green bonds or sustainability-linked financing
If your business works anywhere in this ecosystem — software, analytics, engineering, or finance — geothermal networks are a very real, very tangible place where your tools can accelerate decarbonization.
How to Act on This: Practical Next Steps
If you’re reading this and thinking, “So what do we actually do with this?”, here’s a concrete way to approach it.
For cities and public agencies
- Map your opportunity zones. Start with dense neighborhoods that have aging gas infrastructure and high energy burdens.
- Pilot a district. Aim for a small but diverse area (residential + commercial) to maximize load balancing.
- Align funding. Pair federal incentives, state programs, and local infrastructure budgets around shared thermal networks rather than just pipe replacements.
For utilities
- Identify gas main replacement candidates that could become geothermal corridors instead.
- Engage regulators early with data from projects like Framingham to show cost curves, emissions cuts, and customer benefits.
- Build or partner for digital capabilities — AI-driven planning and operations are quickly becoming non-negotiable.
For campuses and developers
- Lock this in at the master-planning stage. Retrofitting is possible, but it’s far cheaper to design geothermal into site plans from the start.
- Use lifecycle math, not just upfront cost. When you factor in avoided boiler/chiller replacements, fuel price volatility, and carbon risk, geothermal often pencils out better than it first appears.
The reality? There’s a better way to think about heating and cooling than one boiler per building. Geothermal networks, especially when paired with smart controls and AI, turn heat into a shared utility — cleaner, cheaper, and more resilient.
As we head into another winter of expensive energy and escalating climate impacts, this quiet expansion in Framingham is more than a local story. It’s a preview of how green technology, policy, and data can actually work together in the real world.
If your organization is serious about decarbonization, it’s time to ask a very specific question:
Where could your next gas main replacement, campus overhaul, or district redevelopment become the starting point for a geothermal network instead of just another fossil fuel commitment?