News · Maryland

Maryland resubmitted its HEEHR and HOMES applications to DOE on September 30; launch date still open

By Ionel Glogoveanu, editor. Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown.

Published October 3, 2026. Facts read on the official source on October 3, 2026.

MEA rewrote its rebate status page: DOE issued new guidance, unlaunched states must resubmit, Maryland did so September 30, 2026. No launch date; EmPOWER still pays.

The Maryland Energy Administration rewrote its IRA Home Energy Rebate Programs page on September 30, 2026. Our daily re-read of official sources reported the change on October 2; we read the new page by hand on October 3. The “Program Status Update 9/30/26” says DOE recently issued updated program guidance and application materials, that states which have not yet launched, like Maryland, must revise and resubmit their applications, and that on September 30, 2026 MEA submitted updated applications for both programs to DOE. The launch timeline, the page says, depends on when DOE reviews and approves them.

What disappeared matters too. The previous page said DOE had conditionally approved Maryland’s applications and that MEA was reviewing guidance issued on June 1; that wording is gone, with the name HERO, the 2024 public meetings and the 2025 procurement notice. The programs are now named HOMES and HEEHR, following DOE’s May 2026 renaming. Montana’s energy office described the same step earlier this year.

Our Maryland page, registry row and deadline entry carried the older wording, verified September 26; all three now follow the September 30 update, and the earlier text stays in the page history. Guides still calling Maryland’s rebates conditionally approved cite a page that no longer exists.

What this means for you

Nothing changes for a Maryland household this heating season: the federal rebates are not available, no date exists, and EmPOWER Maryland remains the program that pays — up to $15,000 for switching fossil-fuel heat to a heat pump, with Pepco reservations due by December 31, 2026. Subscribe to MEA’s email alerts on its rebate page if you want to hear about a launch the day it comes.