New Mexico Launches Inflation Reduction Act’s Home Energy Rebates Program

The U.S. Energy Department on Sept. 3 announced the launch of New Mexico’s first Home Energy Rebates Program as part of a nationwide initiative to enable households to save on energy efficiency improvements such as insulation and heat pumps that lower energy consumption. With a funding of $8.8 billion, the nationwide rebate program is supported by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA.

The Federal Home Energy Rebate program has two components, the first of which is the Home Energy Electrification Rebate program, or HEAR, which New Mexico just launched. New Mexico will launch the second part – Home Efficiency Rebates – later. New Mexico is the first state to enable residents to receive energy efficiency rebates at the point of sale.

To jumpstart the program, the state is offering up to $1,600 for low-income, single-family households to buy insulation at selected retailers. Subsequently, the HEAR program will offer up to $14,000 rebates for home equipment and appliance upgrades for low-income, single-family households, low and middle-income renters. The rebates would allow savings of up to $8,000 for an ENERGY STAR-certified electric heat pump for space heating and cooling, $4,000 for an electrical panel, $2,500 for electrical wiring, $1,750 for an ENERGY STAR-certified electric heat pump water heater, $1,600 for insulation, air sealing, and mechanical ventilation products, $840 for an ENERGY STAR-certified electric heat pump clothes dryer and/or an electric stove, cooktop, range, or oven.

So far, the department has awared $1.8 billion in federal funding for states to launch Home Energy Rebate programs, with fourteen states receiving full funding: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

New Mexico is the third state to launch the HEAR portion of the rebates program. New York launched its program in June, and Arizona in August.