EV charger rebates from your utility and state

The federal tax credit for a home charger covered property placed in service at your main home through June 30, 2026, and no later (see the tax credit). What is left is local. The Department of Energy says state and utility incentives may be available to help offset the cost of charging equipment, and ENERGY STAR notes that utilities across the country provide incentives, including rebates for EV charging equipment.

Programs open, close and change, and no national figure fits your address, so this page names no amounts. It shows where to look and what to read for. The guides list the rest of the costs.

Where rebates come from

• Your electric utility, the company on your bill. Besides rebates, the Department of Energy notes that some utilities offer residential time-of-use rates or other rate incentives for charging, and ENERGY STAR says your utility may also have a demand response program or time-of-use rates.
• Your state. A state agency may run its own program for chargers, separate from the utility's.

How to find yours

1. Search the Alternative Fuels Data Center. The Department of Energy's laws and incentives search covers federal and state programs. Its state list leads to a page for each state, which lists that state's incentives and, under "Utilities / Private Entities Offering Incentives," the utilities with programs on file.
2. Open the program's own page. An entry in the data center is a pointer: its entries send you to the program's own website for eligibility requirements and details. The program's terms are the ones that count.
3. Check your utility. Look on your utility's site for pages on rebates, EVs or electric vehicles, even if the data center lists nothing for it. If you cannot find one, call and ask.

What to read for before you buy

Read the program's terms for each of these before you buy a charger or book the electrician.

• Approval first. Does it ask you to apply, or to be approved, before you buy or install? If it does, buying first can cost you the rebate.
• Who installs it. Does it ask for a licensed electrician? The Department of Energy recommends a certified electrical contractor either way; what drives the cost covers getting comparable quotes.
• A permit. The Department of Energy notes that permits may be required by local building and permitting authorities, and that in many areas a site installation plan must be approved before installation. If the program asks for proof of a permit or an inspection, see permits and inspection.
• Which charger qualifies. Does it name a list or a feature, such as Level 2, a connected charger, or ENERGY STAR certification? ENERGY STAR says every charger it certifies is tested for safety by a nationally recognized testing laboratory.
• A rate or a program to join. Does the rebate come with enrolling in an EV rate, a time-of-use plan or managed charging? Read that plan as closely as the rebate. A time-of-use plan can cost more if you run big loads at the peak; charging on a schedule explains why.
• Proof and deadlines. Which receipts, invoices or photos it wants, and how long after installation you have to send them. Keep the electrician's itemized invoice.
• Whether it is open. Check the date on the program's page, and whether money is left, before you count on it.

Put the rules in the quote request

When a program has conditions, list them in the quote request: the charger it accepts, the licensed installer, the permit. Every electrician then prices the same job, and none of them leaves out the part the rebate needs.