Westchester heating bills have a reputation, and it is earned. Old housing stock, real winters, and some of the priciest delivered energy in the country meet in a county where a heating decision is a five-figure decision. What most White Plains homeowners have not internalized is that New York State is currently offering to pay the majority of a heat pump conversion, and the offer is live right now, in 2026.
This guide lays out every dollar, who administers it locally, and the one procedural rule that decides whether you ever collect.
The Headline Program: NYS Clean Heat
New York's flagship heat pump incentive is NYS Clean Heat, state-funded and delivered through six utility administrators. For White Plains and the surrounding Westchester towns, the administrator that matters is Con Edison, because Con Edison is the electric utility for nearly every address from Battle Hill to Gedney Farms.
The 2026 numbers:
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Air-source heat pump incentive | Up to $12,000 per household |
| Cost cap, standard tier | 70% of total project cost |
| Cost cap, enhanced | 85% in Disadvantaged Communities or Weatherized Tier |
| Income-eligible tier (EmPower+) | Up to $24,000 at 85% of cost |
| Eligible buildings | 1-4 unit homes (as of 1/1/2026) |
| Qualifying equipment | ccASHP on the NYS Clean Heat / NEEP-qualified list |
| Geothermal | Separate, higher incentive |
Two caps operate at once, and your incentive is the lower of the two: the $12,000 household cap or 70 percent of what the project actually costs. On smaller projects the percentage cap binds first; on larger ones the household cap does. Either way, the state is offering to cover most of a qualifying installation, and Con Edison's version of the program pays higher amounts in designated disadvantaged communities.
EmPower+: The Tier That Doubles the Ceiling
Income-eligible households qualify for the enhanced tier through EmPower+: up to $24,000 at an 85 percent cost cap. This is not a bonus stacked on top of the standard incentive; it replaces the standard tier on the same project, and for a qualifying household it is dramatically better.
On a typical whole-home conversion, the difference between tiers is the difference between paying roughly a third of the project and paying closer to a sixth. If there is any chance your household qualifies, screen for EmPower+ before you size a system, because the answer can change what is worth building.
The Federal Credits Are Gone, and It Changes Less Than You Think
Clear the record on the money that no longer exists. The federal 25C and 25D tax credits ended December 31, 2025, and the DOE HEAR program is dead. Nothing federal applies to a 2026 Westchester installation.
That matters twice. First, any stack math you read that still includes a federal line is out of date; the state program above is the entire stack. Second, it is a vetting instrument: a contractor who quotes a federal credit as live money for a 2026 install is running on stale information, and our guide to choosing a White Plains HVAC contractor treats that as a disqualifying red flag.
Structurally, the state money is better than the tax credit ever was. A credit arrived a year later, on your return, only if you had the liability to absorb it. NYS Clean Heat arrives as a discount on the invoice before you pay a dollar.
The Rule That Decides Everything
Here is the procedural fact that determines whether the $12,000 exists for your project: the incentive is typically assigned to and applied by a NYS Clean Heat participating contractor as a project discount.
You do not file for this money. You do not front the cash and wait for a rebate check. The participating contractor applies the discount to your invoice and handles the paperwork with the program. Which means a contractor who is not enrolled cannot deliver the incentive at all, no matter how sharp their price looks. The first question for every Westchester bidder, before price, before brand: are you a NYS Clean Heat participating contractor?
Worked Example: A Fisher Hill Colonial
Take an illustrative Fisher Hill single-family converting to a qualified-list cold-climate system:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Installed price | $21,000 |
| 70% cost cap | $14,700 |
| Household cap | $12,000 |
| Incentive applied (lower of the two) | $12,000 |
| Net out-of-pocket | $9,000 |
On this project the household cap binds before the percentage cap, so $12,000 comes off the invoice. If the same household qualified for EmPower+, the math runs at 85 percent up to $24,000: $17,850 applied, and a net of $3,150 on a $21,000 project.
Illustrative figures, not quotes. Real prices vary by house and system, and our installation cost guide breaks out the ranges by system type. The structure of the math, two caps with the lower one governing, holds everywhere in the county.
Equipment: The Qualified List Is the Gate
The full incentive pays only on cold-climate air-source heat pumps (ccASHP) that appear on the NYS Clean Heat / NEEP-qualified equipment list, ducted or ductless. This is not box-checking. White Plains sits on a -3F heating design temperature, and the qualified list exists to screen for machines that deliver real heat at temperatures like that. Off-list equipment loses twice: winter performance and the incentive itself.
The equipment question has its own guide: the best cold-weather heat pumps for White Plains covers what the ratings mean and what to demand on a quote.
Your Claim Path, Compressed
- Confirm your utility. Across White Plains, Scarsdale, Harrison, and New Rochelle, that is almost certainly Con Edison; the bill settles it.
- Read the source if you like: cleanheat.ny.gov and nyserda.ny.gov are the program's own pages, and coned.com carries the administrator's version.
- Screen for EmPower+ income eligibility before sizing anything.
- Get two or three quotes, exclusively from NYS Clean Heat participating contractors.
- Require the incentive as a line item on every quote: gross price, discount, net price.
That is the whole process. The contractor does the filing; your job is choosing a contractor who can, and holding every bid to the same written standard so the discounts are comparable across the table rather than promised in the air.
Get Your Free White Plains Quote
Start your free quote: two minutes, free, no obligation. You will be matched with NYS Clean Heat participating contractors serving Westchester County who quote qualified-list equipment and put the incentive on the invoice as a discount, where you can verify it before you sign.