Energy Efficiency Rebates by State: Utility Payments Ranked

Many electric companies pay customers to buy efficient equipment or to seal and insulate a home. The idea is that saving a kilowatt hour can cost less than making or buying one. In many states regulators approve the programs and the cost is recovered through electric rates, which means customers already fund them whether they use them or not.

Each year utilities report to the Energy Information Administration how many kilowatt hours of annual savings their programs produced and what they paid in customer incentives and in other costs. We summed the residential figures by state for 2025. The data are on Form EIA-861, in the energy efficiency file.

The table divides the incentives each state's reporting utilities paid to residential customers by the state's residential customer count. A bigger number means utilities there paid more per home. Alaska has no report in the file.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 (final 2025 data), energy efficiency file, residential customer incentives for the reporting year, by the utility's state. Per home uses residential customers from the same survey.

• It shows spending, not savings. A state can pay large incentives and still produce small savings, or the reverse. Look at the savings column in the EIA file if that is your question.
• Reporting varies. Only utilities that run programs and file the form appear. A low number can mean a state routes its programs through another group that does not report here.
• It does not describe your offer. What you can get depends on your utility, your equipment and the current program year.
• Cooperatives and city utilities differ. Some run programs and some do not.

The top five states by paid incentives per home were Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island. The lowest were Ohio, West Virginia, North Dakota. The national figure was $13.89 per home.

1. Search your ZIP code on the ENERGY STAR rebate finder, which lists rebates and special offers from ENERGY STAR partners near you for certified products.
2. Check your electric company's website for efficiency or rebate pages, and call if you cannot find one.
3. Look at your state energy office and the DSIRE database for state and local programs.
4. Ask the contractor which offers they handle, but confirm each one with the program yourself.

Before you buy, ask four things: does the product have to be on a qualified list, must you reserve the rebate first, how long does payment take and does the rebate go to you or the installer. For heat pumps, see heat pump rebates. For air conditioning and heating equipment, see HVAC rebates.

The federal home improvement credit no longer applies: the IRS says it does not apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2025. That makes utility and state rebates more important for upgrades done now. The federal home energy rebates run by states are a separate program. See HOMES and HEEHR for what changed in May 2026.

Source: Federal dates and program rules were read on October 10, 2026 from the sources at the end of the page. Rebate programs open, change and close often, so confirm every offer with the program before you buy. This is not tax or financial advice.

• U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 (final 2025 data)
• ENERGY STAR rebate finder
• DSIRE, Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
• IRS FS-2025-05, FAQs on sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D after Public Law 119-21 (Aug. 21, 2025)