The Inflation Reduction Act introduced two new programs for home energy upgrades.

The first is for electrification rebates, sometimes referred to as the High Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program (HEEHR), which will provide point-of-sale rebates to low- and moderate-income customers, defined as households with incomes up to 150% of Area Median Income, for home electrification measures, including heat pumps. This program will grant funds to states, who will then develop rebate programs for home electrification measures.

The second program is for efficiency rebates, also referred to as the Home Energy Performance Based, Whole House Rebates (HOMES) program. This program will grant funds to states, who will then develop rebate programs for whole-house energy saving retrofits.

At this time, Commerce expects rebates to be available in 2024. Commerce will commence program development in fall 2023, and federal funding is estimated to be available in 2024. It may take some time to establish contracts and program processes before money can be distributed to households.

For the Home Efficiency Rebate program it is unlikely that rebates will be retroactive: given the requirement that states must establish programs that ensure compliance with the law (e.g., eligibility of household, technology, program reporting) in addition to the state’s requirements, it will be difficult to offer rebates for projects completed before program requirements are fully defined and programs are operational. The federal law does not authorize states to offer Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates retroactively. If you have further questions, you can visit the DOE frequently asked questions website.

While the IRA provides some federal guidelines for what products qualify and who may be eligible, the state of Washington will design its own program to distribute rebates. Until program design is complete, we cannot guarantee who will qualify when we begin providing rebates in 2024, or that sufficient funds will be available for all who apply.

Commerce held listening sessions in the fall of 2023 on initial program design questions. Any future public events will be noticed through the Home Energy Rebate listserv – please enter your email address in the subscribe box on the right hand side of this webpage to receive notices.

Commerce staff welcome the opportunity to attend virtual or in-person community events to hear feedback from people in Washington about what they are interested in regarding these programs. Reach out to HomeRebates@Commerce.wa.gov to notify us of an upcoming event.

The Washington State Energy Office is currently designing programs to determine household eligibility and how to verify income levels for income-qualified requirements. While the Inflation Reduction Act sets specific income qualification levels as a maximum ceiling for these programs, the State may choose to further target programs to ensure that the limited amount of funds are directed to those households most in need. It is likely that all of these rebates will be targeted to households with incomes less than 150% area median income (AMI) and entities that own multifamily buildings primarily serving lower incomes households. The State Energy Office is required to target a large portion of the funds toward low income households, defined as those with incomes less than 80% AMI. Until program design is complete, we cannot guarantee who will qualify when we begin providing rebates, or that sufficient funds will be available for all who apply.

To find information on AMI levels for specific areas of Washington and certain household levels, please review this resource on income limits from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This resource is for fiscal year 2023; income limits may change for future years.