Mayor and Burlington Electric Department Announce New and Expanded Net Zero Energy Electrification Incentives

Burlington, VT – Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and Burlington Electric Department (BED), joined by community partners Old Spokes Home and Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, today announced new and expanded Net Zero Energy electrification incentives that will provide significant financial assistance to Burlingtonians. The Mayor and BED General Manager Darren Springer highlighted enhanced rebates for electric vehicles (EVs), EV chargers, heat pumps, electric bicycles, and electric lawnmowers, including additional incentives for low-income customers.

“As we begin the new year, with challenges ahead for federal climate policy, Burlington and BED are committed to doing our part to support climate progress,” stated Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak. “I am pleased that BED, our municipal public power utility, is able to continue to offer strong incentives for electrification and to increase incentives for our low-income residents to make electricification even more accessible and affordable. These incentives are part of a broader strategy to not only reduce emissions, but also expand on City efforts to make our community climate resilient going forward.“

“Strategic electrification is the cornerstone of climate action, and BED is proud to start 2025 by announcing updated incentives to support progress on our Net Zero Energy goal, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and keep more of our energy dollars local,” stated BED GM Springer. “The rebate programs announced today make switching from burning fossil fuels to driving or biking electric, heating with heat pumps, or mowing electric even more affordable. BED also is ready to respond further by supporting Burlingtonians if the federal government cuts key federal incentives for EVs or other technologies.”

BED New and Expanded Rebates Available for 2025
In November 2024, the Burlington community strongly supported BED’s new $20 million Net Zero Energy and Grid Reliability Revenue Bond, which will build on BED’s original NZE Revenue Bond issued in 2022, and help continue to upgrade the electric grid, install EV chargers around the community, and lead by example to convert BED’s fleet to electric vehicles. Today, BED announced new and expanded rebates and programs that will help us make further progress, including:

• EVs: while most EV rebates will continue at 2024 levels, BED has made enhancements, particularly to assist our low-income customers.
  • Pre-owned all-electric EV rebates for low-income customers increased to $2,000 from $1,500.
  • Number of EV/PHEV rebates per household lifetime increased from two to four, reflecting that BED programs have been in place for eight years.

• EV Chargers:
  • Workplace/Retail EV charger rebates in Justice40 locations increased to $4,000 from $3,250 (the federal government has made it a goal that 40 percent of overall benefits, including certain climate and clean energy investments, flow to disadvantaged communities).
  • Level 2 EV charger rebates increased to $2,000 from $1,750 for multi-family, affordable housing, and buildings where at least 15 percent of residents live at or below certain income thresholds.

• Heat Pumps: BED continues to offer substantial rebates of up to 75 percent of the installed cost on ductless mini-split heat pumps.
  • Rebates for heat pumps 2 tons or greater for low-income customers increased to $3,450 from $3,350.
  • Rebates for all centrally ducted heat pumps (under 2 tons, 2-4 tons, 4+ tons) for low-income customers increased by $100.
  • New commercial rooftop unit (RTU) heat pump rebates ranging from $3,350 to $15,450, depending on size.
  • New full incentive at the above levels for the installation of a second heat pump. The previous rebate limit for a second installation was $500.

• Heat Pump Water Heaters: rebates for low-income customers increased to $1,800 from $1,600.

• Electric Bicycles:
  • Rebates doubled to as much as $600 from $300 (new rebate equals 25 percent of purchase price up to $600).
  • Enhanced rebate for low-income customers of as much as $850 (new low-income rebate equals 50 percent of purchase price up to $850).

• Electric Lawnmowers: enhanced $150 rebates for residential push lawnmowers for low-income customers available for the first time.

In addition to the new and expanded rebates, our other rebates will continue, including for high-mileage EV drivers, induction cooktops, electric snow blowers, electric chainsaws, electric forklifts, commercial electric lawnmowers, and electric motorcycles. For full details of all available BED rebates, please visit burlingtonelectric.com/rebates.

Upcoming Pilot Programs
In addition to the new and enhanced incentives, BED highlighted two upcoming pilot programs expected to launch in 2025:

• Residential battery storage pilot: working with Moduly, an energy business that was part of the DeltaClimeVT business accelerator program cohort in 2024 (run by Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund), BED expects to offer 10 customers at a time the opportunity to pilot Moduly’s in-home battery storage technology, which operates by plugging the unit into a regular 120-volt wall outlet. This configuration – with no permanent installation – makes battery storage technology available to more customers, including renters. Moduly batteries come in modular form and can be stacked to increase electricity storage. BED expects to pilot 5 kW and 7.5kW size batteries, testing Moduly’s app and interface for BED use of the batteries during peak events while reserving the use of the batteries for customer reliability at other times.

• Heat pump bill credit rate: as part of BED’s Building GIANTS program, funded by a competitive federal grant, BED will provide heat pump customers free Sensibo and Emporia VUE devices to enable peak reduction initiatives that can result in savings for all BED customers. BED’s goal is to have 1,000 or more heat pumps (of the more than 2,500 installed in Burlington) in this program. Under a pilot rate tariff, BED will propose through a Public Utility Commission filing to provide participating customers a $5 per month bill credit as a first step toward reducing the operating cost of a heat pump. Longer term, this pilot rate could enable a permanent end use heat pump rate, similar to BED’s current EV rate, which would provide a reduced operating cost for heat pumps during off-peak periods.

Tools to Help Assess Available Incentives
Resources to help BED customers determine which incentives are available to them include:

• BED’s Energy Services Team offers free consultations about electrifying homes.
• BED’s Sustainability Team has weekly “office hours” at King Street Laundry.
• Rewiring America’s IRA Savings Calculator provides helpful guidance for federal home electrification incentives.
• BED’s Net Zero Energy Podcast teaches about taking steps toward Net Zero Energy.
• Drive Electric Vermont details State of Vermont EV incentives, which currently have no further funding. While future funding is uncertain, the earliest the state program would relaunch would be in mid-2025.

 

 

Support from Key Partners
“BED’s doubling of the existing electric bike rebate plus the new additional rebate for low-income Burlingtonians are significant steps toward Old Spokes Home’s efforts to create bike access for our whole community,” stated Sarah Camille Wilson, Executive Director of Old Spokes Home. “We appreciate our partnership with the City and BED as their actions dovetail well with our programs to lower barriers to transportation by making conventional and E-bikes affordable for low-income members of our community.”

“Moduly represents the best of our DeltaClimeVT program and our creative, years-long partnership with Burlington Electric,” stated Ellen Kahler, Executive Director of Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF), represented at today’s announcement by Kurt Ericksen, Operations Manager of VSJF. “Moduly’s innovative approach to bring battery storage to market with no special installation needs is exactly the type of work we aim to foster through startup support, business planning, and mentorship. Spurring on the local economy with a focus on sustainability is a win-win for Burlington and all of Vermont.” 

While unable to join us for the announcement, Amanda Sachs, Associate – State Policy at Rewiring America said: “Burlington’s expanded incentives for efficient electric appliances set a powerful example for energy equity nationwide. Rewiring America applauds the City and Burlington Electric Department for standing up these new incentives which are sure to lead to lower energy bills and cleaner air.”