The rebate on a new air conditioner or heat pump comes from the wires company named on your electric bill, not from the electricity provider you chose. Around the Houston Ship Channel and the Bay Area that means one of three programs: CenterPoint Energy, Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) or Entergy Texas, and each one pays differently. The federal heat pump tax credit ended for equipment installed after December 31, 2025, and Texas's state rebate program has not opened yet.
We checked every program named on this page against the utility's own site on the date above. Program-year budgets run out, amounts change and enrollment pauses, so treat the date as part of the answer. If you want the current rule for a specific address, call 281-402-5100 and we will look it up before you sign anything.
Texas split its electric market in two. The retail electric provider (the company whose name is on the top of the bill and whose plan you shop for every year) sells the kilowatt-hours. The transmission and distribution utility, usually called the wires company or TDU, owns the poles, the meter and the lines, and it collects a delivery charge on every bill no matter which retail provider you use. The Public Utility Commission requires each wires company to run energy-efficiency programs with that money. That is why the rebate belongs to CenterPoint, TNMP or Entergy, and why switching retail providers changes nothing about it.
To find yours, look for the delivery charges line on the bill. It names the TDU directly. If the bill only shows a single bundled rate, the retail provider's account page or a quick call will tell you which wires company delivers to the address.
Service territories follow old franchise lines, not city limits, and the borders split streets in Friendswood and Pearland. Use this table as the starting point and confirm with the bill.
| Wires company | Towns and neighborhoods | How the incentive is paid |
|---|---|---|
| CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric | Deer Park, La Porte, Pasadena, Clear Lake, Seabrook, Kemah, Shoreacres, El Lago, Baytown, Highlands, Mont Belvieu, Cove, most of Pearland, and the Houston neighborhoods we serve (Memorial Villages, West University, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Museum District, Briar Forest, Westchase) | To the participating contractor, applied to the project |
| Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) | League City, parts of Friendswood, a small part of Pearland | To the participating contractor, applied to the project |
| Entergy Texas | Parts of The Woodlands and Montgomery County | To the equipment distributor, not the homeowner |
CenterPoint runs two residential programs that touch HVAC. The Residential Standard Offer Program pays incentives to contractors, service companies and other organizations for installing energy-efficiency retrofit measures at homes inside the CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric territory. The homeowner does not file a rebate claim; the incentive is applied by the participating contractor on the project. Incentive amounts are set per program year and change, so we do not print a dollar figure here. Ask for the current amount before you sign a replacement quote.
CoolSaver is the tune-up side. It is implemented by CLEAResult and sponsored by CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, and it covers a free or discounted tune-up on an existing system. To qualify, the home has to be a residential customer inside the CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric territory with a working central air conditioner or heat pump of five tons or less that is at least one year old, and it cannot have received a CoolSaver tune-up in the last five years. Geothermal, window units, mini-splits and chillers are excluded, and apartments are not eligible (single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes and condominiums are). The work has to be done by a program-qualified technician. Current details are on the CoolSaver program page.
TNMP runs a Residential and Hard-to-Reach Standard Offer Program for existing homes. Incentives go to participating contractors and other approved organizations, not to the homeowner, and homeowners do not apply directly. The measures TNMP lists include heating and cooling equipment, A/C tune-ups, duct sealing, insulation, smart thermostats and heat pump water heaters. The way it works in practice: the homeowner hires a contractor from TNMP's participating list, the contractor submits the project through TNMP's system, and the incentive shows up on the quote. TNMP does not publish a per-unit dollar amount on its program page, so ask for it in writing. Details are on TNMP's energy-efficiency page.
Entergy Texas works differently from the other two. Its HVAC Distributor Program pays the incentive to the air-conditioning distributor that sells the equipment to the contractor, and Entergy's own page says it plainly: "Entergy Texas does not pay direct incentives to homeowners for this program." The equipment has to be a high-efficiency central air conditioner or heat pump rated 16 SEER or higher and listed as an AHRI-matched system. Entergy lists incentives of up to $2,700 for qualifying systems, a $25 bonus per ENERGY STAR certified thermostat installed with the system, and three times the heat pump incentive when a heat pump replaces electric resistance heat. Because the money moves at the distributor level, the homeowner sees it as a lower equipment price on the quote, not as a check. Entergy also runs its own CoolSaver A/C tune-up at no cost to the homeowner; on the date above the program page said it was at capacity and enrollment was temporarily closed. Details are on Entergy Texas's HVAC program page.
The federal 25C credit ended for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. If your system was installed and operating in 2025, you still claim it on your 2025 federal return with IRS Form 5695, and you should keep the AHRI certificate and the invoice with the return. For a system installed in 2026 there is no federal credit to claim. Any Houston web page, mailer or quote that still promises a federal heat pump tax credit for this year's install is out of date, and it is worth asking the contractor what else on the quote has not been checked recently.
Texas was allocated about $690 million in federal Home Efficiency Rebates (HOMES) and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) funding, administered by the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO). As of SECO's August 21, 2026 update, its status line reads "Rebates are not currently available." SECO hired a third-party implementer, APTIM Federal Services, in April 2026, and says a launch date will be set once the state has approval from the U.S. Department of Energy. There is no approved contractor list yet. A quote that guarantees a Texas state rebate today is marketing, not a program. We will update this page when SECO opens enrollment. Status: SECO's IRA program page.
SEER2 is the cooling-efficiency rating that replaced SEER in 2023, measured under a test procedure with more realistic duct static pressure, so the same unit scores a little lower on SEER2 than it did on SEER. Utility rebate thresholds are efficiency thresholds: a program that says 16 SEER or higher is drawing the line between a baseline replacement and the equipment it is willing to pay for. Two things follow. First, the model number on the quote has to appear on the AHRI listing as a matched indoor and outdoor pair, or the rating does not count. Second, a rebate-qualifying unit still has to be sized for the house, because an oversized high-efficiency system short-cycles and never reaches its rated efficiency. That is what a Manual J load calculation settles before the paperwork starts.
Tell us the service address and we will tell you which wires company serves it, which program applies to the equipment you are considering, and what the paperwork is. On a replacement, we quote the AHRI-matched system that meets the program's threshold, size it with Manual J, and show the incentive as a line on the estimate so you can see what you are paying after it. On an existing system, we will tell you whether a tune-up program applies before you pay for a tune-up. Program enrollment and amounts change each year, so the answer for your address is a phone call, not a number on a web page: 281-402-5100. Texcellent is licensed under TACLA77699C and is an Armstrong Air dealer.
Ready to price a replacement? See AC installation and replacement or heat pump installation and repair. Keeping the current system? Start with a tune-up or repair visit. For payment options, see financing, and for the current manufacturer promotions, see specials and savings. Wondering whether a heat pump can carry the house through a hard freeze? Read will a heat pump keep your Houston home warm in a freeze.
A: No. In deregulated Texas the retail electric provider you choose sells you the electricity, but the wires company (the transmission and distribution utility) runs the efficiency program and funds it through the delivery charges on every bill. Switching from one retail provider to another does not change which wires company serves your address, so it does not change which rebate program you can use.
A: For most eligible homes, yes. CenterPoint's CoolSaver program describes the tune-up as free or discounted, and Entergy Texas has run its CoolSaver tune-ups at no cost to the homeowner. Both programs have eligibility rules (a working central AC or heat pump at least a year old, no CoolSaver tune-up in the last five years, and a program-qualified technician), and both can pause enrollment when the year's funding is used up. Entergy Texas listed its program as at capacity when we last checked.
A: Not for a 2026 install. The federal 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit ended for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. If your heat pump or air conditioner was installed and running in 2025, you still claim it on your 2025 federal return. Any Houston quote or web page that promises a federal heat pump credit for work done this year is out of date.
A: It depends on the program and the model. Ductless mini-splits are excluded from the CoolSaver tune-up programs, which cover central AC and heat pumps only. For equipment incentives, a mini-split heat pump usually has to meet the same efficiency threshold and AHRI-matched listing as a central system. Tell us the address and the model you are considering and we will check the current program rules before you sign.
A: No. Utility incentives pay for measured energy savings, so they cover new high-efficiency equipment, tune-ups, duct sealing, insulation and smart thermostats. Replacing a capacitor, a fan motor or a refrigerant leak on an existing system does not qualify. If a repair estimate is high enough that you are weighing replacement, that is the moment the rebate math matters.