Washington's 2026 incentive map has no state-level center of gravity, and the sooner a Seattle household internalizes that, the faster the real money comes into focus. There is no live state rebate program; the HEAR conversion rebate ended, and the federal 25C and 25D credits ended December 31, 2025. What remains is a patchwork of utility programs, each tied to a service territory, and the patchwork is generous where it applies: Seattle City Light pays $300 to $2,000 by measure, with the full $2,000 reserved for the conversion this city still specializes in, oil furnace to heat pump. Around the city, Puget Sound Energy pays $500 to $1,500 standard and up to $5,000 income-qualified, and the other public utilities in the region run their own lines. This guide walks the map, then shows how to protect the money in writing.
The 2026 Map in One Table
| Program | 2026 amount | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle City Light | $300 to $2,000 by measure | City Light electric customers |
| City Light oil conversion | $2,000 | Oil-to-heat-pump conversion |
| Puget Sound Energy | $500 to $1,500 standard | PSE electric customers |
| PSE income-qualified | Up to $5,000 | Enhanced alternative to standard |
| Snohomish PUD | $1,800 to $2,500 | Qualifying air-source heat pump |
| Tacoma Power | $1,000 to $2,000 | Ductless or variable-speed central |
| Washington state program | None live | HEAR conversion rebate ended |
| Federal 25C/25D | Ended December 31, 2025 | Past tense only |
The Meter Decides, Not the Address Label
The organizing rule for the whole map: the rebate follows the electric utility, and the utility follows the meter. Inside the city, from Ballard to Rainier Beach, Seattle City Light serves the meter and the City Light program is the one that applies, per our City Light guide. The other utilities on the table, Puget Sound Energy, Snohomish PUD, Snohomish County PUD's tiered ducted lines, Tacoma Power, and Clark Public Utilities down the interstate, serve their own territories, and their numbers are printed here for orientation, because a Seattle household comparing notes with family elsewhere in the region should understand why the dollar figures differ. On a City Light meter, the City Light line is the entire program.
The Oil Line at the Top of the Ladder
Seattle City Light's $300 to $2,000 spread runs by measure, and the top of it is not an efficiency bonus, it is a fuel policy: $2,000 for converting an oil furnace to a heat pump. That is a deliberate signal aimed at a real population. The city's older stock, the Wallingford and Ravenna foursquares, the Queen Anne boxes, still holds a meaningful number of oil furnaces with tanks buried in the yard, and the utility pays top dollar to retire them. If there is an oil furnace in the basement, the rebate conversation starts at $2,000, and the conversion arithmetic that motivates the whole project lives in our fuel comparison.
Reading the PSE Numbers Correctly
Puget Sound Energy's line deserves a careful read even from inside the city, because it is the region's most structured program. The standard rebate runs $500 to $1,500 for a qualifying air-source heat pump; the income-qualified tier reaches up to $5,000 as the enhanced alternative to the standard path, not a stack on top of it; and from April 2, 2026, a PSE-territory install must use a PSE Trade Ally contractor to qualify at all. That last clause is the one to underline: mid-2026, a PSE-territory quote from a non-Trade-Ally contractor is a quote with the rebate already forfeited, and a bidder who does not know the rule has not read their own program this year.
The Income-Qualified Question, Asked First
The largest single number on this page is PSE's $5,000 income-qualified tier, and the pattern it represents repeats across the industry: enhanced income-qualified paths go chronically under-claimed because households assume ineligibility without checking. The check costs minutes. Any household on any utility for whom the project budget is a stretch should ask the income question before pricing anything, because the answer can move the net cost by thousands and can change which projects fit at all, per our installation cost guide. A contractor who raises the question unprompted is demonstrating program fluency; one who has never heard of the enhanced tier is demonstrating the opposite.
What Downstream Means for Your Paperwork
Every program on the table is downstream: claimed after installation, through documentation, with the money arriving on the utility's rails rather than as an invoice discount. Several add participation rules on top, PSE's Trade Ally requirement from April 2, 2026 being the sharpest. The practical consequence is that process belongs in the quote as a written term: who files, what documentation the household receives, when the money is expected. Keep your own copies of the model numbers and the invoice regardless of who files. The household that can produce its paperwork never has to argue about whether a claim went in.
The Tier Beneath the Dollar Figure
By-measure and tiered programs share a mechanical property worth using: the quoted equipment either qualifies at the claimed level or it does not, and the spec sheet settles it in minutes. Ask which measure or tier the exact model on the quote hits and where the published rating that places it there can be seen. In this climate the ladder points the right direction anyway: the equipment that earns the better rebate line is variable-speed machinery that modulates low and runs steadily, which is precisely what a damp Puget Sound winter rewards, per our cold-weather guide. The guardrail travels with every market: the rebate moves the efficiency choice, never the tonnage, which belongs to the load calculation alone.
The Stale-Quote Test, Washington Edition
Program facts convert into contractor tests. A 2026 bidder carrying the federal credits that ended December 31, 2025 as live money has failed on page one. One quoting a "state rebate" has failed almost as loudly, because there is no live state program to quote. One who cannot say which utility serves the meter, or does not know the City Light oil line, or is unaware of the PSE Trade Ally date, has failed more quietly but just as surely. The bidder who names the utility, the measure, the amount, and the filing path in one unprompted paragraph has demonstrated the currency the rest of the specification depends on.
The Order of Operations
Protect the money with sequence. Confirm the utility from the electric bill. Ask the income-qualified question before pricing anything. Get a room-by-room load calculation performed on the actual house. Choose equipment where the rebate measure and the operating math agree. Have the contractor state the rebate amount, the participation rules, and the filing process in writing on the quote. Then compare bids net of the rebate, not on sticker. Six steps, none requiring expertise, all requiring the contractor to demonstrate theirs.
The Short Version
Washington's 2026 map is a utility patchwork with no state program on top: Seattle City Light pays $300 to $2,000 by measure with the full $2,000 for oil conversions; Puget Sound Energy pays $500 to $1,500 standard and up to $5,000 income-qualified, with a Trade Ally contractor required from April 2, 2026; Snohomish PUD and Tacoma Power run their own lines in their own territories. The federal credits ended December 31, 2025. Read the bill, ask the income question first, verify the measure against the spec sheet, and make every bidder put the program in writing.
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