Looking for Inflation Reduction Act Rebates to Go Green? Get Ready to Wait
IRA incentives for home-decarbonization devices like heat pumps and induction stoves can’t be issued until states design their own distribution systems.
An aerial view of a California housing development whose homes come with solar panels, heat pumps and batteries.
Photographer: Kyle Grillot/BloombergFor Americans with a New Year’s resolution to trade in their gas furnace or water heater for climate-friendly heat pumps, a word of caution: Generous Inflation Reduction Act rebates for home electrification took effect on Jan. 1, but they won’t actually be available to homeowners until year’s end or 2024 at the earliest, according the US Department of Energy.
That’s because the Biden administration is distributing $4.3 billion in home electrification rebates through state energy offices. In other words, 50 different programs need to be designed and implemented so that they comply with federal regulations, which reserve the incentives for families earning up to 150% of their area’s median household income.