Most of the HVAC rebate information circulating online right now is at least a year out of date. Homeowners who plan a purchase around a federal tax credit or state heat pump incentive they read about in 2024 are likely to discover at the counter that the program expired, ran out of funds, or closed to new applicants months ago. That gap between published headlines and actual program status has real consequences for any household budgeting a system replacement.
We’ve been working through these program changes with Santa Clarita homeowners every season since 1987, and the 2026 landscape is more complicated than most guides suggest. A few significant programs closed quietly in late 2025 and early 2026, one frequently cited instant-coupon program ended its redemptions just this past July, and the programs that remain open have first-come, first-served funding that won’t last indefinitely. The breakdown below covers what expired, what’s still funded, and why your specific utility providers matter before you count on any dollar figure.
What Changed With HVAC Incentives Heading Into 2026
Three major programs that drove significant savings conversations for California homeowners are no longer accepting new applicants or providing credits for 2026 installations.
Section 25C Federal Tax Credit
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, ended the federal Section 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. Heat pumps, high-efficiency furnaces, and other qualifying HVAC equipment installed in 2026 no longer receive this credit. Posts still describing it as a live 2026 incentive are working from outdated information.
TECH Clean California
TECH Clean California, the state’s primary heat pump HVAC incentive for single-family homes, closed to new reservations on November 14, 2025 after its statewide budget was nearly exhausted. If you set this program aside last spring to revisit later, that window has closed.
HEEHRA Single-Family Funds
HEEHRA, the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program administered at the state level by the California Energy Commission, had its single-family funds fully reserved statewide as of February 24, 2026. The California Energy Commission is currently accepting only waitlist requests for new applicants, not confirmed reservations.
Programs Santa Clarita Homeowners Can Still Access
Two utility-based programs remain open as of this writing, and one has meaningful funding still available through the end of 2026. A third program you may have seen in recent guides is already closed.
SoCalGas 2026 Home Energy Efficiency Rebate Program
This is the most relevant currently funded program for many Santa Clarita homeowners. It covers ENERGY STAR-certified furnaces, smart thermostats, and insulation upgrades, with funds allocated on a first-come, first-served basis through December 31, 2026. ENERGY STAR certification is a federal designation indicating a product meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, and most qualifying equipment carries that label clearly. Because this program is running on remaining funds with no reload date confirmed, waiting until late in the year to apply carries real risk. If a furnace replacement or thermostat upgrade is already on your list, confirming current fund availability directly with SoCalGas before scheduling installation is worth a phone call.
SCE Energy Savings Assistance Program
Southern California Edison’s Energy Savings Assistance Program provides free or reduced-cost equipment upgrades, including cooling system replacements and installation, to households that meet income eligibility limits set by the California Public Utilities Commission. Eligibility is based on Area Median Income, or AMI, a federally calculated income threshold adjusted by household size and county. Households at or below a specific percentage of AMI for Los Angeles County qualify for assistance without a rebate application process. This program works differently from a standard rebate: qualifying households don’t file for reimbursement. Instead, the program coordinates equipment and installation directly. If your household income falls in that range, it’s worth checking SCE’s eligibility tool before assuming a standard purchase-and-rebate path is your only option.
Golden State Rebates: No Longer Available
Golden State Rebates, an instant-coupon program for ENERGY STAR air conditioners and smart thermostats offered through SCE and SoCalGas, frequently appears in Santa Clarita HVAC rebate guides and social media posts. It’s no longer active. The program closed new coupon reservations on July 23, 2026 and ended redemptions on July 31, 2026. Any checklist or guide that still lists it as a current savings option is out of date.
Why Santa Clarita’s Utility Setup Changes the Math
Santa Clarita is served by Southern California Edison for electric service and SoCalGas for natural gas. That might seem like a minor detail, but it directly determines which rebate programs apply to your address, and many Los Angeles-area guides get this wrong. Some of the most-shared Santa Clarita HVAC rebate posts include incentive lists built around LADWP, Glendale Water and Power, and Burbank Water and Power, which are separate municipal utilities covering other parts of the greater Los Angeles region. Their rebate programs don’t apply to Santa Clarita addresses. If a guide includes those programs in its savings total, that number isn’t available to you.
SCE being an investor-owned electric utility rather than a municipal provider also explains its rebate structure. SCE historically routed most of its heat pump HVAC incentive dollars through TECH Clean California rather than running a standalone rebate program. Now that TECH’s single-family funds are closed, SCE’s current offerings lean toward income-based assistance and thermostat programs. Homeowners expecting a straightforward SCE rebate for a new heat pump won’t find one in the current program catalog.
AFUE and SEER2 ratings are still relevant even in a reduced-rebate environment. AFUE, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, measures furnace efficiency as a percentage of fuel converted to heat. SEER2, or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio 2, measures cooling efficiency over a season. SoCalGas rebate-eligible equipment typically requires meeting a minimum AFUE threshold. Confirming equipment ratings before purchase keeps you aligned with any program requirements that do apply.
How to Move Forward Without Waiting on a Rebate
For homeowners who discover that the incentive they planned around is no longer funded, the practical question is how to move ahead on a needed project without an indefinite hold. Financing is available for system installations, which lets you proceed with a replacement or upgrade now rather than waiting for an incentive pool to reopen or a waitlisted program to clear. A failing or inefficient system doesn’t have to stay in place while you watch for program updates.
Routine maintenance designed to catch problems before they become failures reduces the likelihood of a forced replacement during peak summer demand, when there’s little time to research which programs are still funded and even less room to plan the purchase carefully.
A system evaluation before you commit to any equipment is the step most likely to prevent a mismatch. Knowing which specific equipment you need, and which current programs it qualifies for, such as the SoCalGas rebate or SCE’s income-based assistance, before money changes hands keeps the savings conversation accurate rather than speculative. The 2026 rebate landscape will keep shifting through the rest of the year: SoCalGas funding is first-come, first-served with no confirmed reload date, and any program that hasn’t formally closed can close with little public notice. Verifying program status the week you’re ready to move, not the week you read about it, is the only way to count on those savings being real. If you’re ready to evaluate your system and sort through what’s actually available for your address, reach out to Rowland Air at (818) 722-3504.