City of Cupertino, CA | Climate Action Dashboard
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As a Cupertino resident, you could be eligible for federal, state, and local incentives—many of which are stackable—that could reduce the purchase of sustainable technologies like this EV by up to $8,000 or more! Read more below about the top 5 climate incentives that Cupertino residents should be aware of.
We're in a historic moment in the 21st century where more countries, states, and cities are taking action to reduce global emissions and address the climate crisis than ever before. In the last few years, the United States, in particular, has authorized hundreds of billions of dollars of funding to help reduce our country's emissions, fund sustainable infrastructure upgrades, and make our communities more resilient and adaptable to the changing climate.
So, you may be wondering, as a resident of Cupertino, what are the most promising climate incentives that I should be aware of? We've rounded up the top five most impactful incentives below from across different areas of this Dashboard to help you kickstart reducing your carbon footprint and saving money while you do it.
The top incentive you should be aware of is the IRS's Clean Vehicle Tax Credit which offers up to $7,500 to those purchasing a new, qualified plug-in EV or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCV) and up to $4,000 for those purchasing a used, equivalent vehicle. Note that the full tax rebate is dependent upon the sales price of the vehicle, and the tax credit comes with an adjusted gross income requirement in order to be eligible.
Check if you're eligible and learn more on the IRS's web pages for the New Clean Vehicle Credit and the Used Clean Vehicle Credit respectively.
The Residential Clean Energy Credit is another tax credit offered by the IRS. It is an extension of the original Investment Tax Credit which helped kickstart the proliferation of solar panels throughout the US over the past two decades.
The Residential Clean Energy Credit provides a tax rebate equivalent in value to up to 30% of the cost of a clean energy installation on your residential property. The IRS's definition of a clean energy installation is more expansive than you might think and covers more than just solar panels. It extends to battery energy storage systems, wind energy systems, geothermal setups, and fuel cells as well.
Read the full details about the credit on the IRS's Residential Clean Energy Credit webpage to see if you qualify.
Similar to the Residential Clean Energy Credit, the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit is targeted at homeowners who want to make energy-related improvements to their property. It is a tax credit worth up to $3,200 in value and covers a variety of different energy-efficiency-related improvements, such as:
You may have caught above that not only do physical property improvements apply but that home energy audits are also eligible. This means the tax credit can help subsidize a home energy audit to determine the highest impact improvements for your home in terms of cost savings and emissions reductions and then you can use the remainder of the tax credit to fund those improvements!
Visit the IRS's webpage on the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit to learn more.
The City of Cupertino's primary electric utilities are PG&E and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE). Note that SVCE is a community choice aggregator (more on how that works here) and still relies upon PG&E for transmitting and distributing the energy generated by SVCE. Because of this relationship between the utilities, SVCE customers—which are the majority of Cupertino's residential utility accounts can benefit from rebates and incentives offered by PG&E as well.
One of these rebates, the Pre-Owned Electric Vehicle Rebate, is a fantastic program that offers up to $4,000 in incentives for those purchasing or leasing an eligible, pre-owned electric vehicle. By default, the rebate offers $1,000 to eligible participants—but income-qualified applicants can receive up to $4,000! Additionally, income-qualified applicants are automatically approved for a $700 rebate for purchasing eligible EV charging equipment for charging their EV at home.
Note that this rebate stacks atop the aforementioned Clean Vehicle Tax Credit, so if you purchase a pre-owned electric vehicle, you could receive up to $8,000 in rebates between the two programs given income eligibility. Learn more about the full program requirements here.
California's Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) runs the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) which provides rebates to homeowners installing an energy storage system. The most common type of energy storage system is a battery system, often used to store excess energy generated by rooftop solar systems.
However, the SGIP incentives do not require that you have already purchased and installed solar panels or another clean energy generation system. This is because the rebates are designed to incentivize homeowners to install energy storage systems that are particularly at risk for power outages due to wildfires and other natural disasters—a common occurrence in many parts of California.
The SGIP program offers three levels of rebates depending on the specific eligibility requirements:
Eligibility requirements and full program details can be found on the CPUC's Self-Generation Incentive Program webpage.
Resources
The IRS's program to lower the cost of purchasing a new or used electric vehicle.
The IRS's program to help fund the installation of a solar panels, battery systems, geothermal technologies, and more.
The IRS's program to subsidize the cost of retrofitting and improving the energy efficiency of your home.
PG&E's rebate for purchasing or leasing a pre-owned electric vehicle.
CPUC's rebate to help pay for installing an energy storage system, such as battery technology, on your property..
| Action | |
|---|---|
 | The Top 5 Climate Incentives You Should Know About |
 | The Science of Climate Change |
 | Climate Action Plan 2.0 |
