Comprehensive Guide to 2026 Utility Energy Efficiency Rebates and Incentives

The beginning of 2026 has brought a new urgency to energy efficiency and building upgrades, and we want to share the key steps many of our customers are taking this year.  As always, our business is built on referrals and we are grateful if you would share this with other folks that work in a similar space as you.  

High Energy Bills for All

You have likely noticed a significant increase in your utility bills. The increasing construction of data centers continues to impact our energy costs. From natural gas to electricity, costs are rising to fuel this growing demand. While artificial intelligence offers many benefits, it is driving up electricity demand, and without the ability to rapidly increase energy production, costs are increasing for all consumers.

Illinois rates rose 15% in 2025, with a similar annual increase expected in the near future. While we previously found a blended rate for larger commercial customers between $.10 and $.12 per kWh, we now rarely see customers below $.17 per kWh, and rates above $.20 are typical. To estimate your cost, divide your total monthly cost by your total kWh usage. While this simplifies the complicated nature of electric bills, it provides a practical way to understand your costs.  Check out the blue hockey stick at the end of the US Energy Information Administration data.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have your business grow in a hockey stick uptick like energy prices?  

This painful marketplace for all of us only reinforces the importance of energy efficiency. Our clients prioritize payback and Return on Investment (ROI) when making decisions, and high energy bills mean the investment payback is faster and the ROI is stronger. In fact, an investment that may have had a 3-year payback a few years ago now often has a less than 2-year payback.

Advanced Rooftop Controls

By far, the most popular investment for our customers has been Advanced Rooftop Controls, typically driven by systems like Pelican Smart Thermostat Controls. As costs for both natural gas (heating) and electricity (other HVAC costs) are increasing, this control investment delivers savings on both. While high energy savings drive substantial utility rebates, customers value the system for its unique operational benefits.

For those managing multiple buildings, the system provides a single login to oversee all of your properties. At each building, you can see if each unit is heating or cooling, the current and historical temperature, and the temperature in the supply and return ducts. This provides historical data and information that can help you diagnose unit issues proactively, often before receiving a complaint from building staff or customers.

We have seen many customers move forward for this diagnostic benefit alone.

In addition, it can save significant energy—up to $5,000 per restaurant annually. It is also an excellent application for municipal buildings, libraries, gyms, and laundry facilities. The best part of this system is that there is no cost for the software over time—only the initial labor and material costs for installation. Since utility rebates can cover a huge portion of the investment, it can become a rare “no-brainer” decision. While we have been installing this system for over five years, it has become essential with the high utility incentives offered in 2025 and 2026.

Secondary Window Inserts

We are all familiar with storm windows on residential homes, but they are often absent in commercial buildings. Windows represent one of the largest areas where we can invest to save on HVAC costs and improve building comfort.

In the past, when customers inquired, we found the investment to be incredibly high, with paybacks often exceeding ten years. While still potentially worthwhile, other energy-saving methods offered a better return.

The Secondary Window Insert program, introduced by utility rebates in January 2026, has changed the options available. Instead of exterior storm windows, these clever interior inserts fit inside the existing window frame, trapping air in the space between and providing huge benefits for comfort, noise, and energy savings. This addresses drafts in the workplace.

These rebates are stronger for those with electric heating or heat pumps but remain very strong for natural gas heating customers. In fact, our favorite manufacturer and installer is in Park Ridge, Illinois, near our office, and they are currently manufacturing secondary windows for our office. We recommend getting an assessment for your windows today and visiting our office later this spring to see our results.

With a much lower investment than new windows and a huge portion of the costs covered by utility rebates, now is the time to consider this technology.

Rebate and Incentive Bonuses in 2026

Almost all rebate programs are offering a bonus to start 2026. We typically see these bonuses late in the year when programs have leftover funding. However, this year marks an unusual transition time for energy efficiency programs, which operate on 3-4 year cycles with the state of Illinois. We believe the focus is on exhausting funds earlier this year, making for an easier transition into the new programs that will kick off next year.

Generally, a bonus is in place for all customers in Northern Illinois within ComEd territory right now. That bonus will likely end on March 31st, 2026, so we recommend getting all projects submitted in early March to ensure you receive the bonus funds. We can have one of our energy efficiency analysts consult with you to make sure you understand how these bonuses specifically impact you and your buildings in 2026.

Additionally, you can stack bonuses for select communities in Illinois that require more support. This is based on towns and certain zip codes and can be found on the ComEd Energy Efficiency website. Bonuses for this should last most of the year and can be stacked with the early bird bonus.

There is also an extra bonus for public sector buildings, recognizing that those projects often require long planning cycles and complexity to move forward. We are seeing many public sector projects fall below their local interpretation of bidding thresholds since the incentives are so high and the cost to the village is so low.

Instant Discounts in 2026

The Instant Discount program was one of the most popular energy efficiency programs in 2025. This is a very easy program to participate in, with very little friction between you and the incentives to help make energy efficiency a reality. This program is growing in impact, and Verde has participated in it for almost ten years.

We do caution customers to ensure you are making an informed decision on the right product for your needs. Often, because instant discount incentives are higher for higher-wattage fixtures, a contractor may encourage a higher-wattage fixture since it is less out-of-pocket for you than a lower-wattage fixture. While this is correct in theory, in real-world applications, it can lead to customers getting fixtures with wattage that is too high, resulting in overlit situations. When combined with control systems from less-experienced manufacturers, it can lead to high energy-drawing fixtures that do not turn off reliably.

While this may not feel like a big deal initially, a short-term decision to upgrade lights with a very low upfront cost today may lead to higher energy costs over the next ten years. This is more common than you might think, so really looking into and challenging the assumptions for projects is important, especially when multiple programs are combined for you. Instant Discounts is a powerful program that should be used judiciously, or it can hurt you in the long run.

EV Projects in 2026

The EV program ran out of funding early in 2025, which is common as new programs get up and running in a new territory. Fortunately, we have a full bucket of funding for 2026, and we expect the program to last longer this year.

Incentives are slightly lower than last year. Commercial clients and municipal buildings qualify for $5,000 per charger port (or $7,500 per port in select communities based on the median income in the area). We most often see customers add two chargers, which would qualify for $10,000 of “make ready” rebates.

In the past year, we have installed ChargePoint, Autel, and Wallbox. We are agnostic to which charger you would like us to install, as long as it qualifies for the rebates. We install Level 2 chargers, which use 240 volts of power. Charger speed is based on kW (or power) and is impacted by voltage and amperage. As you double either voltage or amperage, you cut the charging time in half. We typically see 50 amps of charger combined with 240V to get 12kW of charging power, which is 17 times faster than standard residential charging.

We find the best application for this funding is for buildings interested in providing charging for their customers or staff. While it is possible to get an ROI from providing public charging, we see the brand benefits of providing chargers as a much better strategy for customers. Providing free charging so customers can come in and pay you for your core business is a win-win.

If you need help navigating this complicated space for your business, please fill out our contact form or call us at (773) 413-9587.