Montgomery County, Maryland
Rebates in Montgomery County come from the electric utility on your bill, and most are paid through the contractor. Once a contract is signed or a system is installed, it can be too late to fix a missed step. Pick your utility to see each offer, what to confirm before you sign, who files the paperwork, and the official page. Nothing to sign up for.
MBRACE checked these pages so you don't have to. He's the DMV's curious koala. He goes to the official source, writes down the date, and shows you where every number came from.
Get every deadline in writing before you sign.
Often, yes. If your home has a gas furnace and a central air conditioner and the AC fails, you usually have three choices. Each one changes your rebate, so decide before you sign.
The smallest change. Pepco and Delmarva list a central AC rebate of $300 (Tier 1) or $500 (Tier 2), and Potomac Edison lists up to $1,400. BGE's heating and cooling table doesn't list a central AC rebate. You keep heating with gas.
Often called a hybrid or dual-fuel system. The heat pump cools in summer and heats most of the winter, and the furnace takes over when it's very cold. The rebate is the part to pin down. Potomac Edison says its Switch-to-Electric program pays lower incentives for this kind of partial switch. Pepco, Delmarva and BGE pay one amount for replacing electric equipment and a higher one for switching off gas, oil or propane, and their pages don't say which applies when you keep the furnace. For whole-home (Home Performance) rebates, the higher $15,000 cap is for projects that switch a gas, oil or propane furnace, boiler or water heater to a qualifying heat pump.
The furnace comes out. This is the case the higher "switching" amounts are written for. At Pepco and Delmarva, the higher air-source amounts are for installs completed by November 30, 2026. It may need electrical work, and a heat pump sized for heating can be larger than the AC it replaces.
General guidance, not a program rule: which option costs less to run depends on your house, your equipment and your gas and electric rates, so we don't guess. Sources, checked November 7, 2026: Potomac Edison Switch-to-Electric FAQ · Potomac Edison HVAC · Pepco HVAC · Delmarva HVAC · BGE Heating and Cooling · Pepco Home Performance rebates
Made this choice recently? Tell us what decided it.
Optional. I'm Max Fisher, the publisher of this page. I want to hear where the process got stuck so the guide covers it. The short form asks for your ZIP code, your utility, where you got stuck, your email, and whether I may contact you to set up the call.
This is separate from any newsletter. Agreeing to a call doesn't sign you up for email updates, and your answers aren't shared with contractors. You don't need to fill it in to use anything on this page.
A participating contractor checks your whole house and shows where it wastes energy. It's required for whole-home rebates of up to 75% of the project (up to $15,000). It costs $100 at BGE, Pepco and Potomac Edison, or nothing for eligible lower-income households. Why it comes first →
A home energy assessment (sometimes called an energy audit) is a visit from a trained participating contractor who checks the whole house, not just the furnace. It's the step most people skip, and skipping it can cost the most.
In Maryland, whole-home rebates of up to 75% of the project, up to $15,000 when you switch from gas, oil or propane, start with the assessment. Your rebate is based on the savings the contractor calculates from it. No assessment, no whole-home rebate.
Pepco describes it as a "comprehensive evaluation of your home systems (air sealing and insulation, HVAC, and more) to identify where energy is being wasted." You get a detailed report with recommended fixes and the rebate for each one.
General guidance, not a program rule: a house that leaks less heat needs less heating. Sealing and insulating first can mean a smaller heat pump that costs less to buy and to run, and keeps rooms more even. That's why BGE requires attic air sealing and insulation before heat pumps count toward its whole-home rebate.
BGE and Pepco each charge $100 for the assessment, which they call "a $400 value." Lower-income households may get it at no cost: Pepco offers a Moderate Income option, and BGE says eligible customers can get the audit "at no additional cost."
Sources, checked November 7, 2026: Pepco Home Performance · BGE Home Performance · BGE Home Performance rebates
BGE, Pepco and Delmarva's Home Performance with ENERGY STAR programs pay a share of a whole-home project: air sealing, insulation, and often a new heat pump. Here's the rule, in each utility's own words:
"Rebate amount based on modeled … savings up to $10,000 or 75% of total project cost; up to a maximum of $15,000 or 75% of job cost if your project includes switching a combustion-fuel furnace, boiler, or water heater to a qualifying electric heat pump."
In plain words:
Sources, checked November 7, 2026: BGE Home Performance rebates · Pepco Home Performance rebates · Delmarva Home Performance rebates
Maryland's EmPOWER Limited Income program, run by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), installs energy upgrades at no charge for eligible households. Check the income limit for your household size.
You're also automatically income-eligible if you currently take part in programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, TANF, HUD housing assistance, utility bill assistance through OHEP, and others on DHCD's full list. The program may provide insulation, hot water system improvements, furnace cleaning, tuning and safety repairs, and health and safety items. Ask DHCD what it can do for heating equipment in your home.
DHCD EmPOWER Limited Income program → · Phone 1-855-583-8976 (Maryland only)
Eight quick questions. We'll show you which answers matter and why. This helps you decide what to ask. It isn't an inspection: only a technician who sees your equipment can diagnose it.
Most lost rebates come from doing things out of order: buying first, then learning the program needed an assessment or a participating contractor.
In Maryland, this is the first real step. It shows where your house wastes energy, and it's required for the biggest rebates: up to 75% of the project, up to $15,000. BGE and Pepco charge $100, or nothing for eligible lower-income households. Why it matters →
Pick the company that delivers your power, not your supplier. Whole-home projects need a reservation by December 31, 2026, and BGE and Potomac Edison need HVAC installs done by then.
Use the eight questions above. Planning before something breaks gives you time to use rebates properly.
A tighter house needs a smaller system. BGE requires attic air sealing and insulation before heat pumps count toward its whole-home rebate.
Ask for a Manual J load calculation. It tells you what size system the house actually needs.
Maryland's rebates are paid through participating contractors. A non-participating installer can cost you the rebate. Get two or three quotes.
The six steps, the five contractor questions and your utility's deadline on one page. We'll also email you when Maryland's 2027 rebates are announced.
Mostly Pepco. The Maryland Office of People's Counsel says Pepco serves most of Montgomery County, and BGE and Potomac Edison serve parts of it. The company name at the top of your electric bill is the one that counts. If you also have gas service, it's often from Washington Gas, but heat pump rebates come from the electric utility.
Yes. Rebates come from the utility that delivers your power, not the supplier. Pepco's page says "All Pepco residential electric customers are eligible, regardless of your electricity supplier," and BGE's says its customers are eligible "regardless of your electricity and/or natural gas supplier."
Usually not for the heat pump itself. Pepco and Delmarva pay heat pump incentives through participating contractors and distributors, BGE shows its rebate in the contract price, and Potomac Edison and SMECO discount equipment through participating contractors. For whole-home rebates, the contractor submits the reservation and completed application. The Pepco heat pump water heater rebate is the exception: you mail it in yourself.
No. Utilities list two different offers. You get the one that matches what you're replacing: the switching (electrification) amount if you're moving off gas, oil or propane, and the efficiency amount if you're replacing electric equipment.
Efficiency levels set by each utility using the equipment's SEER2 (cooling) and HSPF2 (heating) ratings. Higher-rated equipment reaches Tier 2 and earns more. Your contractor can tell you which tier a model meets.
As of November 7, 2026, BGE and Pepco say they're waiting on a Public Service Commission decision about extending programs into 2027. Amounts and rules could change. We'll update this page when the decision is published.
No. The federal 25C credit doesn't cover heat pumps placed in service after December 31, 2025. Utility and state programs are what's left.
Because the honest answer depends on your house, your equipment and your energy prices. A guessed number can cost you money. We show the official rebate amounts and deadlines, with the date we checked them.
Not rechecked on Nov 7: the federal 25C end date (from IRS guidance, checked Oct 15, 2026). Amounts are subject to change and available while funding lasts, per the utilities. The utility's own page is always the final word.
Every change to a fact on this page is listed here with its date, what changed, and why.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2026 | Added "My AC needs replacing. Can I get a heat pump and keep my furnace?" Rebate statements come from Potomac Edison's Switch-to-Electric FAQ (lower incentives for hybrid systems) and the Pepco, Delmarva, BGE and Potomac Edison HVAC pages. |
| Nov 7, 2026 | Added an optional interview invitation (separate Tally form, no newsletter sign-up) below the rebate guidance. |
| Nov 7, 2026 | Made Montgomery County the starting point, with Pepco first in the utility picker. BGE, Potomac Edison, Delmarva Power and SMECO are still listed. |
| Nov 7, 2026 | Rechecked every amount and deadline against the official pages. Amounts were unchanged. Corrected Pepco and Delmarva: our Oct 31 page said they listed no install deadline, but their contractor pages say the higher switching amounts are for air-source heat pump installs completed May 15 to November 30, 2026. |
| Nov 7, 2026 | For each offer, added what to confirm before you sign, who handles the paperwork, and the date last checked. Added Washington Gas's December 1 date and Potomac Edison's Home Performance program. |
| Oct 31, 2026 | Made the home energy assessment step 1 on the road, and added a first-step box at the top. |
| Oct 31, 2026 | Explained utility vs. supplier at the utility picker and in the FAQ (Pepco and BGE Home Performance rebate pages). |
| Oct 31, 2026 | Added "Why the energy assessment comes first," from Pepco and BGE's Home Performance pages. |
| Oct 31, 2026 | Added "Whole-home rebates: how up to 75% works," checked against BGE, Pepco and Delmarva's Home Performance rebate pages. |
| Oct 31, 2026 | Page first published. All amounts, deadlines and income limits checked against the official pages listed in Sources. |