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Are the federal home energy rebates open in your state yet?

In select states only, says the Department of Energy. Its program page says Home Energy Rebates are now available in select states and tells you to contact your State or Territory Energy Office for the status and eligibility requirements. Each program is run by a state, territory or Tribe under a federal grant, as quoted below.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of State and Community Energy Programs, Resources, read 22 October 2026.
Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795a, High-efficiency electric home rebate program, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

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By InstaBids editorial team with AI research agents. Sources read: 22 October 2026 Updated 2026-10-22

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Key facts

What does DOE say about rebate programs and their availability?

The Department of Energy says the rebates are now available in select states and that details on active programs are coming soon. Its Program Status paragraph is quoted below in its own words.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.

The Department of Energy's Home Energy Rebates Program page, read 22 October 2026, says under Program Status: "Home Energy Rebates are now available in select states." "Additional details on active state, territory or Tribal rebate programs are coming soon." "Contact your State or Territory Energy Office for more information on the status and eligibility requirements."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.

In our reading, the page does not name the states whose programs are open, so your own state or territory energy office is the place to confirm whether its program has launched.

Two: the HOMES Rebate Program and the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate (HEEHR) Program. The Department of Energy's own description of each is quoted below.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.

On HOMES, the same page says: "The HOMES Rebate Program provides rebates for eligible whole-home energy upgrade projects for households at all income levels."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.

On HEEHR, it says: "The HEEHR Program provides rebates for the purchase and installation of appliances and building envelopes materials to reduce American homeowner energy bills." and "HEEHR offers rebates at point of sale either at retail outlets or through contractors."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.

Who runs the rebate program in your state, and until when?

Federal law has the Secretary of Energy award grants to State energy offices, and for the electric home rebates to Indian Tribes as well. The two sections, 42 U.S.C. 18795 and 18795a, are quoted below from the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), because the official U.S. Code site returned a server error at the time of reading.

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795, Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.
Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795a, High-efficiency electric home rebate program, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

42 U.S.C. 18795(a)(1), read 22 October 2026 in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), says in part: “In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Secretary for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $4,300,000,000, to remain available through September 30, 2031, to carry out a program to award grants to State energy offices to develop and implement a HOMES rebate program.”

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795, Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

Section 18795(c)(1) says: "A HOMES rebate program carried out by a State energy office receiving a grant pursuant to this section shall provide rebates to homeowners and aggregators for whole-house energy saving retrofits begun on or after August 16, 2022, and completed by not later than September 30, 2031."

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795, Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

42 U.S.C. 18795a(c)(1), read the same day in the same copy, says: "Under the program, the Secretary shall award grants to State energy offices and Indian Tribes to establish a high-efficiency electric home rebate program under which rebates shall be provided to eligible entities for qualified electrification projects."

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795a, High-efficiency electric home rebate program, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

The Department of Energy's Resources page adds: "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed the following resources to help states, territories, and Tribes apply for and implement their Home Energy Rebates Programs."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of State and Community Energy Programs, Resources, read 22 October 2026.

In our reading, the end dates quoted here are outer limits in federal law, not a promise that your state's program will stay open until then.

What changed in the Department of Energy's 2026 program notices?

Program Notices 26-1 (HOMES) and 26-2 (HEEHR) both show an effective date of May 29, 2026. Their passages on launched programs, rebate reservations and eligible upgrades are quoted below in their own words.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-1 (HOMES), read 22 October 2026.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-2 (HEEHR for States and Territories), read 22 October 2026.

Program Notice 26-2, read 22 October 2026, shows "Effective Date: May 29, 2026" and says: "Launched programs are required to make changes within three months of the publication of this Program Notice unless there are extenuating circumstances that require DOE approval beyond this time period." and "Any existing, approved rebate reservations under the previous program guidance are allowed to be executed, but no new rebate reservations are allowed or can be approved for projects that do not conform to the new program strategy."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-2 (HEEHR for States and Territories), read 22 October 2026.

On which upgrades qualify, the same notice lists: "Removing program allowances for upgrades for fuel-switching (i.e. replacement of non-electric appliances) and instead allowing rebates for upgrading HVAC and appliances only from existing electric equipment to more efficient electric equipment."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-2 (HEEHR for States and Territories), read 22 October 2026.

It also lists: "Requiring that homes utilize rebates for insulation and air sealing prior to installing heating and cooling upgrades, unless they are already appropriately insulated and sealed to a DOE approved, state-specified level, to ensure upgrades do not increase consumer energy costs."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-2 (HEEHR for States and Territories), read 22 October 2026.

Program Notice 26-1, read the same day, shows "Effective Date: May 29, 2026" and says: "Launched programs are required to make changes within three months of the publication of this Program Notice unless there are extenuating circumstances that require DOE approval beyond this time period." and "Grantee programs that have not yet launched are required to align with new program requirements prior to launching."

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-1 (HOMES), read 22 October 2026.

In our reading, a state program that opened before these notices took effect may now cover different upgrades than it did at launch, so an older flyer or a bidder's memory of the rules can be out of date.

Can you combine these rebates with other federal rebates?

Not for the same project, under the electric home rebate section: it says a rebate may not be combined with any other Federal grant or rebate for the same qualified electrification project. The HOMES section's own rule is quoted below too.

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795a, High-efficiency electric home rebate program, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.
Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795, Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

42 U.S.C. 18795a(c)(8), read 22 October 2026 in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), says: "A rebate provided by a State energy office or Indian Tribe under a high-efficiency electric home rebate program may not be combined with any other Federal grant or rebate, including a rebate provided under a HOMES rebate program (as defined in section 18795(d) of this title), for the same qualified electrification project."

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795a, High-efficiency electric home rebate program, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

42 U.S.C. 18795(b)(6), an item in the application provision, reads: "to ensure that a homeowner or aggregator does not receive a rebate for the same upgrade through both a HOMES rebate program and any other Federal grant or rebate program, pursuant to subsection (c)(7)."

Source: 42 U.S.C. 18795, Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates, in the Cornell Legal Information Institute's online copy (not the official code), read 22 October 2026.

What should you ask your state before you sign a contract?

Count a rebate as part of a bid only after your state's program tells you it covers your home and your project, and keep the paperwork it asks for. This is practical reasoning, not legal advice and not a finding from any agency.

  1. Ask your state program about the status and eligibility requirements before signing.

    Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program, read 22 October 2026.

  2. Ask which upgrades the program covers today, and whether its rules changed after the program notices quoted above.
  3. Ask how the rebate is paid, whether a reservation is needed before work starts, and how long a reservation holds.
  4. Ask whether the program pays rebates only for work by installers on a list it keeps, and get the program's answer in writing.
  5. Ask each bidder to write the project cost and any expected rebate as separate lines, so you can compare the bids with and without the rebate.
  6. Keep the invoices, photos and program forms until the rebate is paid.

Who sees your contact details when you post on InstaBids?

When you ask for bids on insulation, a heat pump or other energy upgrades, you describe your home and the work. Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, live-page excerpts, read 22 October 2026.

Post your job on InstaBids, and contractors can bid in writing on one written scope.

Homeowners anywhere in the US can post a job; once you send it, InstaBids finds contractors to bid on it.

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