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To amend Public Law 117-169 to improve access to home energy-efficiency rebates for working families, renters, and owners of older homes, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends federal energy efficiency rebate programs to allow households to combine rebates from federal home energy-efficiency programs with other federal grants and rebates that were previously prohibited from being combined. The bill adds bonus rebates of up to 20 percent of the initial rebate for qualifying electrification projects in homes built before 1970, provided the total rebates do not exceed the project cost. The bill requires the Department of Energy to submit annual reports to Congress beginning two years after enactment, documenting the number of households receiving rebates, average energy savings achieved, and recommendations for improving access to these rebates for low-income and high-energy-burden households. The changes are designed to improve access to energy-efficiency rebates for working families, renters, and owners of older homes.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Bell, Wesley [D-MO-1] (D-MO)
2 cosponsors
- Rep. Mannion, John W. [D-NY-22] (D-NY)
- Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (D-WI)
Actions (2)
- Jan 22, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Jan 22, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 2026
Mr. Bell (for himself and Mr. Mannion) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend Public Law 117-169 to improve access to home energy-efficiency rebates for working families, renters, and owners of older homes, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Home Energy Relief Act”.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION ON COMBINING REBATES PROVIDED UNDER HOMES REBATE PROGRAMS AND HIGH-EFFICIENCY ELECTRIC HOME REBATE PROGRAMS WITH OTHER FEDERAL GRANTS AND REBATES.
(a) Home Energy Performance-Based, Whole-House Rebates.—
(1) Repeal.—Paragraph (7) of section 50121(c) of Public Law 117-169 (42 U.S.C. 18795(c)) is repealed.
(2) Conforming amendments.—Section 50121(b) of Public Law 117-169 (42 U.S.C. 18795(b)) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking “retrofit;” and inserting “retrofit; and”;
(B) in paragraph (5), by striking “program; and” and inserting “program.”; and
(C) by striking paragraph (6).
(b) High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program.—
(1) Repeal.—Paragraph (8) of section 50122(c) of Public Law 117-169 (42 U.S.C. 18795a(c)) is repealed.
(2) Conforming amendments.—Section 50122(b) of Public Law 117-169 (42 U.S.C. 18795a(b)) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking “sale;” and inserting “sale; and”;
(B) by striking paragraph (3); and
(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph
(3).
SEC. 3. HIGH-COST URBAN RETROFIT BONUS REBATES.
Section 50122(c) of Public Law 117-169 (42 U.S.C. 18795a(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(10) Bonus rebates for upgrades and purchases relating to certain housing.—
“(A) In general.—From the amount of any grant provided under this section, a State energy office or Indian Tribe may provide to an eligible entity that received a rebate from the State energy office or Indian Tribe under a high-efficiency electric home rebate program a bonus rebate for the purchase of an appliance or a nonappliance upgrade under a qualified electrification project carried out or relating to housing built prior to January 1, 1970.
“(B) Amount of bonus rebate.—
“(i) In general.—A bonus rebate provided under this paragraph may not be greater than 20 percent of the amount of the initial rebate provided under the high-efficiency electric home rebate program.
“(ii) Exception to max amount.—Subsection
(c)(3)(C) shall not apply to a bonus rebate provided under this paragraph.
“(iii) Not in excess of costs.—An eligible entity may not receive a sum of rebates under this section that exceeds the cost of the qualified electrification project.”.
SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) In General.—Not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that includes—
(1) the number of households that received a rebate under a HOMES rebate program or a high-efficiency electric home rebate program during the year preceding the report;
(2) the household average energy savings resulting from upgrades, purchases, and retrofits for which a rebate was provided under a HOMES rebate program or a high-efficiency electric home rebate program; and
(3) recommendations for further increasing the access of low-income and high-energy-burden households to such rebates.
(b) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) HOMES rebate program.—The term “HOMES rebate program” has the meaning given such term in section 50121(d) of Public Law 117-169 (42 U.S.C. 18795(d)).
(2) High-efficiency electric home rebate program.—The term “high-efficiency electric home rebate program” has the meaning given such term in section 50122(d) of Public Law 117- 169 (42 U.S.C. 18795a(d)). <all>
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