Yep I wasn’t hating on heat pumps. I was just curious why those states decided to go with HP rather than two stage gas furnaces, at that latitude band furnaces have a slightly higher efficiency(~3-4%), a much better price point (5-10k difference just for the equipment), and only a little worse emissions (given the local power generation facilities). The lack of existing natural gas infrastructure combined with the required upgrade to the electrical grid to accommodate EVs explains why incentivizing HPs is much more attractive to the state govts in the NE US. There is also the possibility that installing a hydronic system will be better for some of the older boiler system homes and HPs can be used for both hydronic and central air systems.

That said the existing NG system in the midwest means there probably won’t be as high a rate of adoption in states like ND, SD, MN, MT, and ID, even before you consider the political landscape.