Seattle City Light customers: check seattle.gov for current heat pump rebates.
This page is the working guide to collecting City Light money on a city address: the efficiency tiers, the oil line, the verification that takes minutes, and the questions that put all of it in writing before signing.
The 2026 Terms in One Table
| Line | 2026 amount | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Tiers are alternatives | By measure, not additive |
| Channel | Downstream | Claimed after installation |
| Eligibility | City Light electric customers | The meter decides |
The Meter Decides in One Glance
City Light's program applies to City Light electric customers, and the check is the first line of the electric bill. Inside the city, from Ballard to Rainier Beach, Magnolia to Columbia City, the answer is almost always yes, but the region is a patchwork of utilities and the patchwork has seams, so the bill settles it in one glance before anything else is priced. On a meter served by a different utility, a different program applies with different numbers, and the regional map lives in our rebates guide. The address label does not decide; the meter does.
By Measure Means the Project Picks the Number
The tiers are alternatives, not a stack to be summed, and the Clean Heat oil conversion is a separate line. The practical consequence for the buyer is that the quote should name the tier or the Clean Heat line being claimed and its dollar amount as a written line, because "you'll get a rebate" is not a tier and not an amount. The verification is mechanical: the project either fits the claimed tier or it does not, and a contractor fluent in the program can say which in the first conversation, without reaching for a phone.
The Clean Heat line is not an efficiency bonus; it is a fuel policy. The tank work itself, decommissioning or removal, belongs in the quote as a named line, priced at the site visit, per our installation cost guide.
What the Measure Sits On Top Of
The rebate matters most when the project underneath it is scoped right, and the city's housing stock varies block by block: prewar houses with no ducts upstairs where the honest answer is ductless or hybrid, mid-century stock on electric furnaces where the changeout is simple and the operating savings start from resistance bills, and the oil basements where the top measure lives. In every family, the equipment that serves this climate best, variable-speed machinery chosen for turndown and steady runtime through the damp months, is the equipment worth specifying regardless of the rebate, per our cold-weather guide. The measure trims the invoice; the load calculation decides the machine.
Downstream Means the Paperwork Has an Owner
City Light's rebates are downstream: claimed after installation, through documentation, with the money arriving on program rails rather than as an invoice discount. That makes process ownership a quotable term. The quote should state who submits, what documentation the household receives, and when the money is expected, in weeks rather than a shrug. Keep your own copies of the model numbers, the invoice, and the submitted forms regardless of who submits, because the household that can produce its paperwork never has to argue about whether the claim went in. Fluent contractors treat all of this as routine; vague answers here predict vague answers at commissioning.
The Stale-Quote Test on a City Light Meter
Program facts convert into contractor tests. Confirm the program a bidder names. A separate state-funded electrification rebate program is already running through local administrators. Sources: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/energy/clean-buildings/energy-incentives/ira-home-energy-rebates/ and https://www.commerce.wa.gov/energy/clean-buildings/energy-incentives/hear/, fetched 2026-10-14. One quoting a flat rebate without naming the measure has failed more quietly. The bidder who names the utility, the measure, the amount, and the filing path in one paragraph has demonstrated the currency the rest of the project depends on, per our contractor guide.
Beyond the City Meter, for Orientation Only
The regional map matters only for context. Puget Sound Energy runs its own heat pump rebates, and from April 2, 2026 a PSE-territory install must use a PSE Trade Ally contractor. Confirm the current PSE amount with PSE; this page does not print it. On a city address served by City Light, none of those apply; the meter picks the program, and the program is this one. The comparison is useful only when a household is talking to family across the region and wondering why the numbers differ: different meter, different money.
Five Questions That Put It on Paper
Is my electric service Seattle City Light, confirmed from the bill? Which measure does my project claim, and what is the dollar amount? Who submits the paperwork and when does the money arrive? And is every one of those answers written into the quote? A fluent contractor answers all five without hesitation, and the fifth question is the one that converts the other four from conversation into contract.
The Short Version
Confirm the meter, name the measure, put the amount and the filing process in writing, and if there is an oil tank in the yard, let the top of the ladder help retire it.
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