Multifamily Incentives
With 50% of Californians living in multifamily buildings, there is great opportunity to bring the benefits of healthier homes and clean energy to these residents. Yet, switching to heat pumps for space and water heating requires adopting new technologies, which may be unfamiliar to property owners, designers, or MEPS. Capital costs and electrical infrastructure needs can create additional challenges.
TECH Clean California offers incentives, pilot activities, technical assistance, and training to address barriers associated with electrification and energy efficiency upgrades in multifamily properties.
As of January 29, 2025, TECH Clean California small multifamily heat pump water heater incentives are available to multifamily residents and property owners.
As of February 26, 2025, multifamily heat pump HVAC, heat pump water heater, cooktop, range, oven, and/or heat pump clothes dryer HEEHRA rebates offered through TECH Clean California to income-qualified multifamily property owners are paused due to a pause of federal funding by President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order (Section 7, Unleashing American Energy).
Currently, TECH Clean California standard multifamily heat pump water heater incentives (both central and unitary) submitted for reservation will be placed on a waitlist and reviewed as budget becomes available.
Multifamily Incentives
These multifamily incentives are only eligible in retrofit scenarios where a heat pump is replacing a non-heat pump system, and can be stacked with other federal, state, local incentives, or tax credits. Please note that 100 percent of the multifamily incentives must be passed through to the property owner.
The following incentives apply to qualifying heat pump water heater installations in multifamily buildings. For the purposes of project qualification, multifamily is considered to be any property with two or more dwelling units where units are owned by a property owner. This includes multifamily, unitary and central projects with one large central system or a single heat pump water heater with an integrated tank that serves two or more households.
Individual homeowner units that are installing a unitary heat pump water heater, where the customer is the owner of the individual dwelling units, are considered single family. Any central heat pump water heaters serving two or more households are always considered multifamily.
TECH Clean California is currently offering additional incentives to support electrical upgrades for all multifamily unitary customers and additional pre-electrification incentives for customers who are eligible for equity incentives. Please note, only costs for work done under the participant's license may be considered as part of eligible costs.
Unitary Heat Pump Water Heater Incentives
| Category | Customer Class | HPWH Incentive | Low-GWP Kicker* | > or = to 55 Gal Capacity Incentive | Max Incentive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Unitary | General Market | $3,100 | $1,500 | $700 | $7,300 |
| Residential Unitary | Equity | $4,185 | $1,500 | $700 | $10,385 |
Unitary Electrical and Pre-Electrification Upgrades
| Incentive Rate | Electrical/Pre-Electrification Upgrade Incentive | Incentive Cap |
|---|---|---|
| General Market | $2,000 | Capped at lesser between 50% of reported costs or $2,000 |
| Equity | $4,000* | Capped at lesser between 100% of reported costs or $4,000 |
*For equity customers, the $4,000 incentive may cover a variety of other "pre-electrification" costs associated with a heat pump water heater installation.
Central Heat Pump Water Heater Incentives
| Customer Class* | Central Heat Pump Water Heater Incentive | Low-GWP Kicker** | Max Incentive per System |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Market Multifamily Central | $900/kWh | $200/kWh | $300,000 |
| Equity Multifamily Central | $1,000/kWh | $200/kWh | $300,000 |
*Contractor caps may apply for certain reservation types.
**The low-GWP kicker applies to heat pump water heaters that use refrigerants with 150 GWP or less.
TECH Clean California is currently accepting reservations for small multifamily heat pump water heater incentives
TECH Clean California multifamily incentives are available to contractors installing heat pump water heaters for qualifying customers throughout California. Incentives are available for both in-unit and common area applications. To reserve your standard incentive funds, complete the TECH multifamily incentive reservation form. If you have any questions, contact techmf@aea.us.org.
- The new reservation form will accommodate both small multifamily and standard multifamily reservation requests
- Currently, standard multifamily heat pump water heater incentives (both central and unitary) submitted for reservation will be placed on a waitlist and reviewed as budget becomes available.
As of February 26, 2025, applications for multifamily HEEHRA rebates are currently paused.
Applications for multifamily HEEHRA rebates Stage 1 began being accepted on October 8, 2024. Multifamily HEEHRA rebates are paused due to a pause of federal funding by President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order (Section 7, Unleashing American Energy). If you are a multifamily property owner and interested in finding out more, please visit techcleanca.com/heehra.
As of December 6th, 2023 Electrify Your Home is accepting multifamily reservations
Electrify Your Home is a Central Coast Community Energy (CCCE) partnership with TECH Clean California for installations in the CCCE service area. To reserve your standard incentive funds, download and complete the CCCE Multifamily Incentive Reservation Form linked below. Please note: This form requires signatures from the Property Owner Primary Contact and the TECH Contractor Primary Contact. Once complete, email the form to techmf@aea.us.org.
Resources
Small Multifamily Incentive Qualifications for HPWHs
How to Complete the Multifamily Incentive Reservation Form
Ecosizer Central HPWH Calculator
TECH HPWH Central MF HPWH Control and Communication Requirements
Rules for Central HPWH Incentives - Presentation Slides
Rules for Central HPWH Incentives - Video Recording
Statewide Unitary HPWH Multifamily Incentives Webinar - Presentation Slides
Statewide Unitary HPWH Multifamily Incentives Webinar - Video Recording
SB 535 Disadvantaged Communities Map
Knowledge Base Articles:
Knowledge Base Articles:
Please note, the below information and resources are provided as reference materials and only apply to reservations submitted before 12/5/2023.
Webinar Presentation - Slides (.pdf)
Learn More
Interest Form
Want to learn more about TECH Clean California multifamily incentives and pilot activities? Submit this form with your basic information and electrification retrofit needs.
Related Pages
AEA’s TECH Clean California Electrification Hub: Workforce training to support successful heat pump installations, plus trainings for stakeholders like multifamily property owners, developers, engineers, architects, and general contractors .