H.R. 7197 — Home Energy Relief Act

This section repeals the prohibition on combining rebates under the home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates (HOMES) program with other federal grants or rebates. (As background, the HOMES program provides $4.3 billion in grants to state energy offices through FY2031 for rebates to homeowners based on modeled or measured reductions in home energy use from efficiency retrofits.) It also repeals the analogous prohibition for the high-efficiency electric home rebate program and makes conforming amendments to both programs' statutory application requirements. (Thus, households may now stack these rebates with other federal incentives.)

This section authorizes State energy offices and Indian Tribes to provide bonus rebates of up to 20% of the initial rebate amount to eligible entities that previously received a rebate under the high-efficiency electric home rebate program (i.e., point-of-sale rebates for efficient electric appliances and upgrades such as heat pumps, targeted at low- and moderate-income households) for qualified electrification projects involving housing built before January 1, 1970. These bonus rebates are exempt from the maximum amount limit in subsection (c)(3)(C), provided the sum of all rebates under the program does not exceed project costs.

This section directs the Secretary of Energy to submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, a report on the HOMES rebate program (i.e., grants to state energy offices for home efficiency retrofit rebates, per 42 U.S.C. 18795) and high-efficiency electric home rebate program (per 42 U.S.C. 18795a). The report must include (1) the number of households that received a rebate under either program during the preceding year, (2) the household average energy savings resulting from upgrades, purchases, and retrofits for which a rebate was provided under either program, and (3) recommendations for further increasing access to such rebates for low-income and high-energy-burden households.