NY Gets First Shot at Biden’s $8.8 Billion Home Retrofit Program

The White House’s $8.8 billion home energy rebate program will officially get underway on Thursday, as New York becomes the first state in which consumers can get rebates for sealing up their homes or buying appliances such as heat pumps.

It’s an important milestone in a process that has been playing out since the program was authorized in the 2022 infrastructure law. Since then, the Energy Department has had to carefully build a program, issue guidelines to the states, invite states to apply, and review the submissions.

Now that New York is officially kick-starting the rebate program, environmentalists are hopeful the Energy Department will be able to start moving faster.

The agency is working hard on approving the applications as fast as it can, a senior Energy Department official told reporters on Wednesday. California, New Mexico, and Hawaii are next in line because they were among the first to apply, the official said.

Under the program, states design their own plans within guidelines laid out by DOE. The states also administer the plans themselves.

So far, 17 states have applied for $1.9 billion in funding under the rebate program, but no states have explicitly indicated a lack of interest, a White House official told reporters.

The states have until mid-August to indicate whether or not they want a slice of the funding.

Two types of rebates are available: one for home retrofit projects that make single-family homes or multifamily buildings more energy-efficient, and another for the purchase of equipment that improves energy efficiency.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced last month that her state had been granted $317.7 million, roughly evenly split across the two rebate programs.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at the time that the rebate program is “a win-win-win that will save consumers money on energy bills, reduce pollution causing climate change, and advance environmental justice.”