On May 29, 2026 the Department of Energy stopped letting the federal home electrification rebate pay for the one upgrade most people wanted it for: pulling out a gas furnace and putting in a heat pump. The money is still there. The 8,000 dollar ceiling is still there. The project most people had in mind no longer qualifies.
States that had already launched were given three months to conform. That window closes on August 29, 2026.
So we did the obvious thing. On July 29, 2026 we opened the official program page for twenty-four states and territories, one at a time, and looked for the answer to a single question: does this page tell a homeowner that the rule changed?
Three do. One publishes a deadline without saying what the deadline is for. Two confirm the notices exist and stop there. Eighteen say nothing at all. And six of those eighteen are accepting applications right now while the page still tells you to replace a non-electric appliance.
Last verified against official sources: July 29, 2026. Nothing here is tax advice or legal advice, and rebate programs change without notice, which is the entire point of this page.
What changed, in one paragraph
DOE Program Notice 26-2 removed fuel switching from the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program. In DOE’s words, it is “Removing program allowances for upgrades for fuel-switching (i.e. replacement of non-electric appliances) and instead allowing rebates for upgrading HVAC and appliances only from existing electric equipment to more efficient electric equipment.” Existing approved reservations survive: “Any existing, approved rebate reservations under the previous program guidance are allowed to be executed, but no new rebate reservations are allowed or can be approved for projects that do not conform to the new program strategy.” Launched programs “are required to make changes within three months of the publication of this Program Notice.” We walked through the full text, including the parts that contradict each other, in our piece on why the 8,000 dollar heat pump rebate stopped covering gas furnace replacements.
The three states that actually told you
Georgia is the clearest in the country. Its HEAR Program Update page, dated May 29, 2026, gives contractors a hard hour: scopes of work must be submitted by “10:00 am ET on August 10, 2026.” After that, in Georgia’s own words, “fuel switching projects will no longer be accepted, and only electric-to–higher-efficiency electric upgrades will be eligible.” Full implementation is set for August 31, 2026.
Wisconsin is the only state we found that is open, taking applications, and has published the restriction. Focus on Energy, the statewide administrator working under the Public Service Commission, says plainly: “Starting September 1, 2026 we can no longer accept retail applications or coupons replacing fossil-fuel appliances.” It gives a cutoff to the minute. “The last day to submit post-purchase retail applications for appliances replacing fossil fuel equipment is August 31, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. CT.” Retail coupons through Lowe’s carry the same wall: “Lowe’s coupon reservations must be made by August 31, at 5:30 p.m. CT.” The Commission itself confirms the program is still running while it reads the guidance: “Wisconsin’s programs remain operational while the guidance is under review.”
Virginia has not launched, and says the change anyway. Its FAQ opens with “The information below reflects the updated Program Notices released by US Department of Energy on May 29, 2026,” then states the consequence in one line: “According to federal law, High Efficiency and Appliance Rebates cannot be used to help pay for replacement of a non-electric appliance.” Virginia is also candid that it cannot tell you when any of this will matter: “Virginia Energy cannot provide an estimated date on when Home Energy Rebates will be available.”
Arizona published a date and left out the reason
Arizona’s rebate site tells residents they are “encouraged to apply by August 1, 2026 to access current rebate guidelines.” That is next Saturday. The page does not explain what the current guidelines are, what the new ones will be, or that a federal notice is the reason the sentence exists. A homeowner reading it has three days of useful warning and no idea what they are racing.
Two states confirmed the notices exist and said nothing about them
Washington’s federal rebate page states that “The Department of Energy released updates to the program guidelines (program notices 26-1 and 26-2) on June 1,” followed by “We’re evaluating how these changes affect the program and are working with our rebate administrator to determine next steps.” The words fuel switching do not appear.
Maryland is nearly identical. Its June 9, 2026 update says “The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued Program Notices on June 1, 2026” and “MEA is currently reviewing the updated guidance and evaluating its implications for Maryland’s programs.” Further down, the same page still describes its program as being “for replacing fossil-fuel appliances (e.g., fuel oil, natural gas, etc.) with electric alternatives” — the exact thing the notice removed.
Both states date the notices to June 1. DOE’s own notice, and Virginia, say May 29. Two months later that three-day discrepancy is still sitting on two state government websites, uncorrected.
The eighteen that have said nothing
We found no reference to Program Notice 26-1, Program Notice 26-2, fuel switching, or an electric-to-electric restriction anywhere on the official program pages of California, New York, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maine, New Mexico, Michigan, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Illinois, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Vermont, or Nevada.
For most of these the silence is defensible. Minnesota has not launched: “Save Energy Minnesota has not launched yet.” Connecticut has not launched: “Rebates will not be available until the programs are launched.” Massachusetts is waiting on Washington: “DOER is waiting for the U.S. Department of Energy’s final approval to launch.” Illinois has not launched: “The program launch is pending USDOE approval.” Nevada has not launched: “Project Launch: Pending federal review and program guidance.” New Hampshire has not launched and its page has not been touched in over two years — the stamp reads “Webpage Last Updated: 04/17/2024.” A program with no applicants has nobody to mislead.
Oregon deserves its own line, because its explanation is the most useful sentence any state has published this year: “U.S. DOE has suspended their approvals of all launch requests from state home energy rebate programs.”
The six that are open right now and still publish the old rule
This is the group that matters, and it is where the risk actually lives.
North Carolina launched both programs in January 2025 and is running statewide: “Energy Saver North Carolina is active in every county across the state,” operating “on a first come first serve basis.” Its HEAR page still says “Rebates are available only when upgrading from a non-electric appliance.” That is the pre-May-29 rule, published today, on a program taking applications today.
New Mexico has been live since September 3, 2024 and its FAQ still reads “The program has begun. Please visit CleanEnergy.nm.gov to get started.” Its HEAR page was last modified May 18, 2026 — eleven days before the notice — and still conditions appliance rebates on replacing a non-electric model.
Michigan is open and says so twice: “We are currently accepting applications from low-to-moderate-income residents across the state” and “The program is live and accepting applications.” Four separate state pages, including the FAQ and the contractor page, carry no mention of the change and no last-updated date at all.
Maine reports “The HEAR program is now live and promoting qualifying electrification measures,” with no mention of the change on any state page we could read.
Colorado is open in one of two regions and closed in the other: “The HEAR Single-Family Program for Region 1 (Front Range) is now closed,” while “The HEAR Single-Family Program for Region 2 continues to be available and is accepting applications until remaining available funding is fully reserved.” Region 2 has a published cutoff of August 1, 2026 and 4.6 million dollars left on its own dashboard. Nothing on the main page, the FAQ, the dashboard, or the contractor page mentions fuel switching. Colorado also warns, correctly, that applying is not qualifying: “you are not guaranteed a rebate until you and your registered contractor receive a formal reservation notice.”
Rhode Island launched its income-eligible pathway on September 17, 2024. The application form it posted in April 2026 still asks whether the cooking appliance being replaced is gas or propane, and still lists gas capping as an eligible upgrade type.
Six programs. All open. All still describing an upgrade that DOE stopped funding two months ago.
South Carolina publishes the exact opposite rule
South Carolina has not launched, so nobody is harmed yet, but its page is the cleanest illustration of how far behind the documents are. It currently states: “Replacement of an existing heat pump, even with a more efficient electric heat pump, is not eligible for a rebate, per the DOE guidance.”
Under Program Notice 26-2, replacing an existing heat pump with a more efficient electric heat pump is close to the only thing that is eligible. The state is publishing the inverse of the current federal rule and attributing it to DOE.
The dates that do not line up
Wisconsin’s cutoff is August 31, 2026, and its new requirements take effect September 1, 2026. DOE’s three-month conformance window closes August 29, 2026. Wisconsin’s own pages do not explain the two-day gap, and DOE has not published a state-by-state conformance status. We are not going to guess whether Wisconsin has an approved extension, because neither government has said.
Not one of the twenty-four jurisdictions publishes the August 29, 2026 conformance date. Georgia comes closest with August 31 for full implementation. The federal deadline that is driving every one of these state deadlines appears on no state website we found.
What we could not verify, stated plainly
We could not read Efficiency Maine’s HEAR program page. Its HTML requires JavaScript and would not load for us; only its PDFs were readable. Maine’s silence is therefore a finding about the state site and the current rebate PDFs, not a confirmed negative for the administrator’s own program page.
We could not read New Hampshire’s news index, which returned an HTTP 403. If New Hampshire posted something there, we did not see it.
We could not read one Virginia page and one North Carolina program page directly; the Virginia findings above come from the FAQ, which is the only substantive page the state currently serves.
We do not know how many states have applied for the extension DOE allows for “extenuating circumstances that require DOE approval.” DOE has not published a list, and no state has said it asked.
We do not know which states have launched, full stop. DOE’s own program page as of July 8, 2026 says only that rebates are “now available in select states” and that “Additional details on active state, territory or Tribal rebate programs are coming soon.” The list in this article is ours, assembled state by state, because the federal government does not publish one.
We did not check all fifty states. Twenty-four jurisdictions are covered here. The absence of a state below is not evidence about that state.
What to do in the next ten minutes
If you are in Georgia, look at the clock. Scopes of work are due at 10:00 am ET on August 10, 2026, and a contractor needs lead time to write one.
If you are in Arizona, the page says apply by August 1. That is this Saturday.
If you are in Wisconsin and you were replacing a gas appliance through the retail path, you have until 5:30 p.m. CT on August 31, 2026, and reservations at Lowe’s close at the same moment.
If you are in Colorado Region 2, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, or Rhode Island, assume the page is stale and call the program before you sign anything. Ask one question: is a reservation for a gas-to-electric project still being approved, and if I get one today, will it survive August 29? A reservation already approved is protected by the notice. A quote from a contractor is not a reservation.
If your state has not launched, there is nothing to race. Watch for the launch, and expect the rules at launch to be the new ones, not the ones currently on the page.
Whatever your state, screenshot the page you are relying on, with the date visible. Six state programs are currently publishing a rule that federal guidance replaced two months ago, and you may need to show what you were told.
Where to go next on this site
If you want the full text of what DOE changed and the internal contradictions in it, read our breakdown of the fuel switching removal. If you want to know what your state pays and who administers it, start with home energy rebates by state. If you are trying to work out whether the 8,000 dollar figure is real where you live, we checked what each state actually publishes about the 8,000 dollar heat pump rebate. If you are not sure you qualify at all, the income rules are a separate question from the equipment rules, and they did not change. And if you were counting on the tax credit instead, that is a different program on a different timeline.