Energy efficiency rebates in Colorado.
Every federal, state, and utility incentive for heat pumps, insulation, air sealing, and weatherization in Colorado — cross-referenced and kept current.
Tell us about your project. We'll match you with local pros and every rebate you qualify for.
Colorado Energy Office
- Type
- State Agency
- Website
- energyoffice.colorado.gov
- IRA allocation
- $94M
Active rebate programs
5 programs currently accepting applications in Colorado.
| Program | Amount | Eligibility | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Heat Pump Tax Credit (state) | $1,000 air-source / $2,000 ground-source / $250 HPWH | No income limit. Delivered as an on-invoice contractor discount (>=33% passed to customer). 2026 amounts, stepped down from 2024-2025. | Active |
| Xcel Energy Colorado Heat Pump Rebate | $2,250/heating ton (cold-climate ASHP) / $900/cooling ton (standard ASHP) | Xcel customers, no income requirement. Install must be completed by 2026-12-31; applications accepted through 2027-09-30. Amounts from secondary sources — confirm with your contractor. | Active |
| DRCOG Power Ahead Colorado | $1,500 heat pump | Denver metro (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson). No income limits; existing-home retrofits only; cold-climate ducted or ductless. Live since 2026-06-29, funds-limited. Stacks with Xcel + state tax credit. | Active |
| Xcel Energy Insulation Rebate | Up to $700 | Xcel customers (not re-verified this sweep) | Active |
| Federal HEAR (Home Energy Rebates) Deadline soon | Up to $14,000/household — ccASHP $8,000, standard HP $3,000, HPWH $1,750, panel $4,000, insulation+air sealing $1,600, wiring $2,500, stove $840 | Income <=150% AMI (<80% AMI = 100% of cost, 80-150% = 50%). Front Range CLOSED after 2026-04-27; rest of state open only until 2026-08-01 or until funds reserved. | Expiring |
| Income-Qualified Weatherization | Up to $12,000 | Income-qualified households | Active |
Run the numbers for Colorado.
Free, no account needed. Every figure is cited, so you have a benchmark before a Colorado contractor quotes you one.
IRA implementation status
How Colorado is implementing the Inflation Reduction Act home energy rebates.
Metro areas in Colorado
Local utility programs and municipal incentives by metro area.
Xcel Energy primary utility; DRCOG Power Ahead + state tax credit stack
Colorado Springs Utilities (municipal)
Rebates are step one
Once you know what Colorado pays, here's the rest of the path: what order to do the work in, and what belongs on a fair quote.
What order to do it in
Envelope first, equipment second — how to sequence a retrofit to your budget and your rebates' deadlines.
How to read a quote
What belongs on a heat pump or insulation quote, and the red flags that mean keep shopping.
What attic insulation costs
Per-square-foot prices by material, and why this is the work rebate programs subsidize hardest.
Claim rebates after install
The document kit, the application walkthrough, and the mistakes that get claims rejected.
Rebates cover part of it. Here's the rest.
What Colorado pays is the first rung. These cover the money questions underneath it: the 2026 federal rules, the state and utility loan programs worth checking before a bank, and the borrowing routes that come after.
How to pay for it
The whole money picture in order of cost: rebates first, then low-interest loans, then borrowing.
State energy loans
The state and utility loan programs we have verified at the administrator, with rates and conditions.
The 2026 rebate rules
What DOE Program Notices 26-1 and 26-2 changed about HEAR and HOMES, and which states are live.
Latest Colorado energy news
Recent Colorado rebate, policy, and efficiency coverage from our monitored sources.
New Colorado neighborhood could offer glimpse into the future of home energy use
A new housing development south of Denver is testing a cheaper way to bring geothermal heating and cooling to regular homes, not just custom builds. Geothermal startup Dandelion Energy and homebuilder Lennar finished nearly 100 homes at Ken Caryl Ranch in Littleton, Colorado, each with its own ground-source heat pump. These systems pull steady underground temperatures (around 50 degrees year-round) through a single borehole, 200 to 500 feet deep, to heat and cool the house. Dandelion says drilling many boreholes across one neighborhood at once, before foundations are poured, cuts installation time and cost roughly in half compared to doing it one house at a time. The company plans to install the systems in more than 1,500 Colorado homes over two years and eventually scale to 10,000 homes a year nationwide. Ground-source heat pumps use less electricity than standard air-source heat pumps, especially during cold snaps, which helps ease strain on the power grid. But they're still rare: just over a million U.S. homes have them, and the upfront cost for a new home averages around $25,000. A federal study found they could be cost-effective in every state once incentives are factored in. In Colorado, Xcel Energy offers builders about $25,000 per home to offset the added cost of ground-source heat pumps in new construction, and the state gives a $2,000 tax credit for the systems. Other states, including Maryland, have their own incentives, so it's worth checking what's available locally. Commercial geothermal projects can also get federal tax credits covering 30 percent or more of installation costs.
Supreme Court wrestles with who should pay for climate change
The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case that could decide whether oil companies have to pay local governments for climate damage. The case started when Boulder, Colorado, sued ExxonMobil and Suncor, arguing the companies misled the public about the harms of their products. Boulder wants the companies to help cover costs tied to a warming planet, not to stop them from producing or selling fossil fuels. Oil companies want the Supreme Court to shut the case down, arguing that climate policy belongs to Congress, not state courts. The justices spent two hours debating how to frame the case, with some comparing it to 1990s lawsuits against tobacco companies and others warning it could let state courts regulate emissions worldwide, potentially pushing oil companies toward bankruptcy. No ruling is expected soon; the court typically takes months after arguments to issue a decision, and justices could choose from several different legal rationales. Depending on how they write the opinion, the outcome could also shape dozens of similar lawsuits filed by cities and states around the country seeking compensation for climate-related costs. For homeowners, this case does not change any rebate programs or upgrade incentives directly. But it is part of a larger legal fight over who pays for the costs of climate change, including the kind of extreme weather and rebuilding costs communities are already facing. How the court rules could affect whether local governments get outside money to help offset those costs in the future.
Air sealing behind T&G wainscot
A homeowner building a house in the Colorado mountains asked a technical building forum for advice on a wall assembly question that comes up in a lot of new construction and deep energy retrofits: how to handle moisture control on an exterior wall when part of the wall is covered with wood paneling (tongue-and-groove wainscot) instead of drywall all the way up. The wall in question has rigid foam insulation on the outside of the wood sheathing, plus fiberglass batt insulation inside the wall cavity. Builders in cold climates often add a foam layer outside the sheathing specifically so the sheathing stays warm enough that moisture in the wall doesn't condense on it. Responders pointed out that with this much exterior foam relative to the cavity insulation, the wall is already on the safe side for this climate zone, and a stricter interior vapor barrier is not needed. The bigger point, though, was a distinction worth knowing if you're ever reviewing plans for your own home: a vapor barrier (which controls moisture moving through a wall) and an air barrier (which stops drafts and air leaks) are two different things, even though people often lump them together. One expert suggested that simply running drywall behind the wood paneling, in the ordinary way, gives the wall its air barrier without extra materials or cost. Another recommended a mid-construction blower door test — a diagnostic that measures how airtight a house is — to catch leaks before the walls are closed up for good.
Ready to see what you qualify for in Colorado?
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Colorado: up to $8,000 back right now
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