Grants, Loans, Rebates, and Other Incentives
Main_Content
The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) manages grants, rebates, and other incentives designed to help attain Maryland's goals in energy use reduction, renewable energy promotion, climate action, and the creation of green jobs. Through the programs below, the agency helps Maryland residents, businesses, non-profits, and local governments implement energy efficiency upgrades and install renewable energy systems. View the
FY27 General Notice of Upcoming Programs as a PDF or below:
Buildings Sector (Residential Buildings)
|
Program
| Program Description
|
Residential Energy Equity
|
Purpose: Grants to support organizations implementing energy efficiency, electrification, and solar PV upgrades to single-family and multi-family homes that benefit low-and-moderate income residents.
Target Audience: Eligible applicant entities are Nonprofit Organizations and Local Governments that serve low-and-moderate income residents (residents do not receive funds directly from MEA).
|
Residential Energy Equity Heat Pumps
| Program Purpose: Starting in fiscal year 2027, additional funding is available for heat pump installations and replacements to benefit low-and moderate-income households.
Target Audience: Income-eligible households will benefit. Eligible applicants to be determined in concert with stakeholder engagement.
|
Inflation Reduction Act Home Energy Rebate Programs: - Home Efficiency Rebates Opportunity Program (HERO); -Home Electrification & Appliance Rebates Program (HEAR)
| Purpose: To fund energy efficiency and electrification upgrades to single-family and multi-family homes’, focusing on low-and-moderate income beneficiaries. More comprehensive information can be found on
MEA’s IRA Rebates page.
Target Audience: Eligible applicant entities may include individual households and/or aggregator organizations that serve low-and-moderate income residents.
|
Maryland Solar Access Program
| Purpose: To help low-to-moderate income Maryland residents install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to power their homes with clean, affordable, and sustainable energy.
Target Audience: Income-eligible households who contract with a solar PV vendor from the program’s participating contractor list.
|
Buildings Sector (Commercial & Community Buildings)
|
Program
| Program Description
|
Commercial and Community Buildings Program
|
Purpose: To offset the costs of energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy, and energy storage projects to improve energy performance and resilience of commercial and community buildings, including:
- Privately owned commercial, industrial, multi-family, community or non-profit buildings
- Local Education Agencies' portfolios of current and future K-12 schools and support facilities;
- Local governments’ portfolios of public facilities
Target Audience: Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS) Covered Buildings, large and small commercial buildings with for-profit and non-profit building owners, county and municipal governments, and Maryland’s 24 Local Education Agencies.
|
BEPS Technical Assistance Program, an initiative of the Clean Buildings Hub
| Program Purpose: To empower Maryland’s building owners to make well informed energy investments in their properties through one-on-one technical assistance, such as technical support with benchmarking or multi-year retrofit planning.
Target Audience: Buildings over 35,000 square feet, subject to Maryland’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS)
|
Program
| Program Description
|
Megawatts for Maryland
|
Purpose: To offset a portion of the project costs associated with the development and construction of large-scale renewable energy generation and energy storage projects. Incentive levels will be determined through a closed bid auction and grants will be awarded to eligible bidders requesting the lowest price per megawatt from the auction.
Target Audience: Eligible bidders are developers of Tier 1 renewable energy generation (that does not participate in net energy metering) and energy storage (co-located with generation, not co-located with generation, or stand-alone).
|
Community Solar Grant Program
| Program Purpose: To support the development and construction of community solar projects and community solar paired with energy storage. Funding will be prioritized for projects that maximize benefits to low-income subscriber households, are located on rooftops or brownfields/landfills, or offer greater grid services and benefits.
Target Audience: Eligible applicant entities are Community Solar Subscriber Organizations (residents do not receive funds directly from MEA).
|
Residential and Commercial Energy Storage Program
| Purpose: To offset the cost of purchasing and installing a battery energy storage system that is grid connected at residential and commercial properties. Starting in fiscal year 2027, the program will prioritize funding for systems that enroll in utility-run virtual power plant (VPP) pilot programs, thereby providing grid benefits during periods of high electricity demand in exchange for monetary compensation by the utilities.
Target Audience: Residential households, commercial organizations, nonprofits.
|
SolarAPP+ Implementation Grant Program
| Purpose: To defray the costs associated with implementing the free-to-use U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory SolarAPP+ automated residential solar permitting software, such as contractual support, staff training costs, software integration costs, and others.
Target Audience: Maryland counties, cities, towns, and other Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs).
|
Program
| Program Description
|
Residential Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Rebate Program
|
Purpose: To support the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging stations at residential homes across Maryland. By supporting charging infrastructure, the program aims to increase the adoption of electric vehicles.
Target Audience: Residential households.
|
Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Grant Program
| Program Purpose: To support the purchase or lease of electric vehicles, specifically: (a) medium-duty or heavy-duty zero-emission commercial or industrial fleet vehicles; (b) zero-emission heavy equipment property for commercial or industrial use; or (c) electric school buses that serve Maryland public school students. Supplemental funding is also available to pair electric vehicle purchases with the installation of new charging infrastructure.
Target Audience: Public school districts, school bus vendors contracted with public school districts, commercial and industrial entities, agricultural, fleet operators, manufacturers of medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles and equipment.
|
Community Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Program
| Program Purpose: To increase access to affordable and reliable electric vehicle charging networks and reduce transportation greenhouse gas emissions throughout Maryland, especially in overburdened communities. Eligible properties include a variety of public and community-oriented properties, including multi-family properties, workplaces, public parks and buildings, community hubs, commercial centers, tourist destinations, and transit hubs.
Target Audience: Businesses, nonprofits, local governments, local education agencies, and higher education institutions.
|
Program
| Program Description
|
Energy Challenge Prize
| Purpose: To offer funding to whichever entities propose the most promising and innovative solutions to address a specific problem. The specific problem will be announced by MEA at a later date.
Target Audience: Open (e.g. businesses, nonprofits, local governments, higher education institutions, and others).
|
Click
here for a list of all State of Maryland grants.
Grant Program Attachments:
- General Provisions: All grant agreements include standard requirements, referred to as “Program General Provisions”. Click the following links to review these General Provisions:
- MEA Fossil Fuel Policy: starting in Fiscal Year 2027, all grant agreements include standard requirements for complying with MEA’s Fossil Fuel policy. Ability to comply is a minimum eligibility requirement to apply for a grant from MEA.Click the following links to review the Fossil Fuel Policy:
- Self-Verification of Minimum Eligibility: starting in Fiscal Year 2027, a required application document for all MEA grant programs is the “Self-Verification of Minimum Eligibility”. The applicant’s Authorized Representative must sign the Self-Verification of Minimum Eligibility, and the person submitting the application must upload and submit it with the application. Click the following links to download the Self-Verification of Minimum Eligibility:
Rebate Program Attachments- Rebate Terms and Conditions: All rebate programs include standard requirements, referred to as “Rebate Terms and Conditions”. Starting in FIscal Year 2027, the rebate terms and conditions are provided as a section of the Funding Opportunity Announcement for each rebate program.
- MEA Fossil Fuel Policy: Starting in Fiscal Year 2027, all rebate programs include standard requirements for complying with MEA’s Fossil Fuel policy. Ability to comply is a minimum eligibility requirement to apply for a rebate from MEA.
- Self-Verification of Minimum Eligibility: Starting in Fiscal Year 2027, a required application component for all MEA rebate programs is the “Self-Verification of Minimum Eligibility”. The applicant must electronically sign an attestation of the following as part of the My MEA online application:
- I have reviewed the Fossil Fuel Policy.
- I have reviewed all requirements of this program, as specified in this Funding Opportunity Announcement.
- To the best of my knowledge, all information provided in this application is complete, accurate, and true, and all work performed pursuant to a rebate shall comply with the terms and conditions of the Program, the Fossil Fuel Policy, and all applicable local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and building codes.
- I understand that any delinquency on State debt may result in rebate payments being intercepted by the Comptroller of Maryland after the rebate is approved for payment by the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA). MEA is not able to answer questions about this process. For more information, see the Liability Offset section of the Compliance FAQs - Taxpayer Services from the Comptroller of Maryland.
Census Tract Eligibility for Programs Funded through Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) Alternative Compliance Payments in fiscal year 2026 can be found
here.
When possible, please submit applications electronically to avoid mail delays. Staff will confirm receipt of electronic applications within one to two business days via email. If you have mailed in your application, we ask that you contact us via phone at 410-537-4000 or 1-800-72-ENERGY or email at [email protected] to confirm receipt.
Additional Resources
The
Maryland Green Registry, a community of nearly 600 member businesses and organizations saving money through energy conservation and other sustainable practices, is free and easy to join!
