A rebate that targets oil and propane, not gas
A heat pump is a machine that moves heat from the outside air into a home, instead of burning a fuel to make heat. Efficiency Maine, the trust that runs Maine ratepayer funded energy efficiency programmes, pays homeowners to install one. The programme is often described as a way to quit gas, but most of Maine has no gas line running to the house at all. The climate plan for the state and the cost example the programme publishes are both about replacing oil and propane heat, not gas.
What the rebate is worth
Efficiency Maine prices a typical 2 indoor unit heat pump system at 10,000 dollars installed, and a home may need fewer or more indoor units than that example. The rebate on that system runs from 2,000 dollars to 6,000 dollars, depending on income. A homeowner with no income test gets 2,000 dollars and pays 8,000 dollars net. A moderate income homeowner gets 4,000 dollars and pays 6,000 dollars net. A low income homeowner gets 6,000 dollars and pays 4,000 dollars net.
Against propane, Efficiency Maine estimates the system saves 1,387 dollars a year. At that rate the system pays for itself in 2.9 years at the low income tier, stretching to 5.8 years for a homeowner who takes no income test.
The 10,000 dollar price is the worked example on the Efficiency Maine rebate page for a 2 indoor unit system. A home may need fewer or more units, so the price changes with the job.
Show the numbers
| Low income | 4,000 dollars paid, 6,000 dollar rebate |
| Moderate income | 6,000 dollars paid, 4,000 dollar rebate |
| No income test | 8,000 dollars paid, 2,000 dollar rebate |
My heat pumps kept me warm without backup even during -49°F wind chill! I'm also saving money every month using heat pumps instead of propane.
Frank D., an Efficiency Maine customer in Waterford, Maine. Source 1.
Who pays for it
The rebate money does not come from taxes. Maine law, Title 35 A section 10110, requires electric utilities in the state to fund energy efficiency and electrification programmes through Efficiency Maine on behalf of their ratepayers. The law caps that charge at 4% of total retail electricity sales in the state, and the Maine Public Utilities Commission sets the actual rate. Every electric customer in Maine pays into it, whether or not they ever install a heat pump.
How many households have switched
More than 200,000 heat pumps have gone into Maine homes and businesses so far, according to Efficiency Maine. The state climate plan calls for 275,000, so about 75,000 more are still needed to reach it, a gap this article calculated by subtracting one figure from the other rather than a number either source states directly.
The state target is from source 2. The gap between installed and target is a subtraction done for this article, not a number either source states directly.
Show the numbers
| Installed so far | 200,000 |
| State target | 275,000 |
| Still needed | 75,000 |
Why the pace may be slowing
A separate federal tax credit, worth up to 1,200 dollars a year, expired at the end of 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. About 18,000 Mainers had claimed about 21 million dollars total from that credit in 2023. It covered work beyond heat pumps too, and it is gone now, leaving the state programme as the main incentive left standing.
We're already seeing it. You know we're getting fewer calls coming into us, we're processing fewer rebates in the last month or two.
Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine. Source 2.