New York home electrification rebates (2026)

Even setting aside HEAR (still rolling out in NY as of mid-2026 — pilot programs through NYSERDA are running, broader launch expected later in 2026), New York has the deepest electrification incentive stack of any state. Three things stack to make this work:

• NY Clean Heat — statewide heat pump rebate, $2,000–$4,000 per home depending on equipment type. Administered through utilities but funded by state Clean Energy Fund. Not income-tested.
• NY Drive Clean Rebate — point-of-sale EV rebate of up to $2,000 through participating dealers. Less than the (expired) federal credit, but still meaningful.
• NY-Sun — block-grant solar incentive that pays per-watt declining incentives to installers, who pass them through to homeowners. Still active and stackable with state and property tax exemptions.

New York's heat pump program (NY Clean Heat) has been refined over multiple years and is one of the most mature programs in the country. As of 2026:

• Air-source heat pumps: $2,000 for partial home, $4,000 for whole home (ducted, ducted/ductless hybrid, or fully ductless multi-zone).
• Ground-source heat pumps: Larger rebate, $3,500–$5,000+, plus federal state energy tax credit benefits.
• HPWH: $700–$1,200 depending on utility territory.

For low-to-moderate income households, the EmPower Plus and Comfort Home programs provide additional layers — often $2,000–$5,000 of additional support stacked on top of Clean Heat.

• NY-Sun incentive — $200–$500/kW depending on region and block status. On a 7 kW system, that's $1,400–$3,500.
• State solar tax credit — 25% of system cost, capped at $5,000 (lifetime, per residence).
• Property tax exemption — 15-year exemption from any property tax increase due to solar in most NY counties.
• Net metering — currently in transition. Existing customers are on full retail NEM; new interconnections starting 2022 use a value of distributed energy resources (VDER) tariff that pays slightly less than retail for most homeowners, but the difference is modest.

Combined stack on a $24,000 install in Westchester: ~$3,000 NY-Sun + $5,000 state credit + property tax exemption = effective net cost around $16,000. Payback 7–10 years even at modest production levels.

New York City has unique considerations that don't apply upstate:

• Co-op / condo buildings — most NYC apartments. Building-wide electrification needs board approval, which adds 6–18 months to most projects. Some programs (NYSERDA's Multifamily Performance Program) target this specifically.
• Con Edison territory rates — NYC electricity is among the most expensive in the continental US (over 30¢/kWh in some delivery service classes). That makes heat pumps efficient on a per-BTU-saved basis but expensive to operate.
• Local Law 97 — Manhattan and large building owners are under building-emissions caps starting 2024, ramping in 2030. This creates compliance pressure that can subsidize electrification beyond what individual rebates show.

Outside NYC — particularly Hudson Valley, Long Island, and Capital Region — the rebate stack is cleaner and gets more attention from contractors. The state's NYSERDA programs are very well-administered upstate.