This is an independent service. NYSERB is not affiliated with New York State, NYSERDA, or any government agency. Learn more
New York Energy Resource Bureau
An independent homeowner guide to NY energy incentives
Source quality: Mixed

Tompkins County

County or city: Tompkins County, NY Utility territory: NYSEG (electric across the county; gas in Ithaca and a few surrounding areas, with significant pockets of no gas service) Verified: May 27, 2026 Source quality: Mixed — HeatSmart Tompkins is in transition between Solar Tompkins and successor organizations (Cornell Cooperative Extension and the regional NYSERDA Clean Energy Hub). Confirm current intake before referring a homeowner.

What programs apply here

A Tompkins homeowner has the same statewide funding menu as the rest of New York. The local distinction is heavy heat pump adoption, a long-running community-led campaign, and an electric utility (NYSEG) whose own rebate menu now routes through Clean Heat. At a Tompkins address you can apply for:

  • NY-Sun: the state's upfront solar incentive.
  • NY-Sun Community Solar: subscription-based solar credits for renters and homeowners without a suitable roof.
  • NY State Solar Tax Credit: 25% state income tax credit on solar systems.
  • NY State Geothermal Credit: 25% state income tax credit for ground-source heat pump installs.
  • NYS Clean Heat: heat pump rebates through NYSEG, the sponsoring utility for almost every Tompkins address.
  • Comfort Home: flat per-measure incentives for insulation and air sealing.
  • EmPower+: free or low-cost upgrades for income-qualified households, and the delivery path for the federal HEAR rebate.
  • Solar for All: no-cost community solar subscriptions for income-qualified households.
  • NYSEG Rebates: the utility-specific layer for thermostats and insulation, plus the NYSEG tier of Clean Heat.

What stacks at this address

The most useful stacks for a Tompkins homeowner:

  • NYSEG Clean Heat tier + Comfort Home. Tighten the envelope through Comfort Home first, then size the heat pump on the tighter load. Both are independently fundable; running them together usually produces a smaller, cheaper system.
  • NYSEG Clean Heat tier + state geothermal credit. Ground-source installs qualify for both the utility Clean Heat rebate and the 25% state geothermal income tax credit. Air-source installs do not. Soil and lot conditions across much of the county favor geothermal.
  • NY-Sun + state solar tax credit. A Tompkins solar install stacks the upfront NY-Sun rebate with the 25% state tax credit. The tax credit is computed on the post-rebate net cost.
  • EmPower+ then a heat pump. Income-qualified households should apply through EmPower+ first. Free weatherization usually shrinks the required heat pump; the same intake routes the federal HEAR funding.
  • HeatSmart Tompkins guidance + NYS Clean Heat funding. HeatSmart does not write the check. It walks you through the decision, matches you to a vetted installer, and that installer files the Clean Heat rebate paperwork against your NYSEG meter.

County or city programs unique to here

The defining local program is HeatSmart Tompkins, a community-led campaign run by Solar Tompkins (the parent nonprofit) since the mid-2010s. Tompkins County has the highest residential heat pump adoption rate of any county in New York, and HeatSmart Tompkins is the reason cited in state-level reporting.

What HeatSmart Tompkins actually does:

  • Free heat pump consultations. An Energy Coach walks through your house (in person or virtually) and explains what a system would look like at your address. No charge, no obligation to install.
  • Contractor matching. HeatSmart maintains a list of installers it has vetted for quality, pricing, and Clean Heat participation. You receive quotes from vetted installers rather than starting cold.
  • Community campaigns. Town- and village-level campaigns (Lansing, Newfield, Ulysses, and others) bring HeatSmart programming to specific municipalities for a defined period, with webinars and neighbor-to-neighbor outreach.
  • Educational materials. A learning library covering air-source heat pumps, ground-source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and weatherization basics.

HeatSmart Tompkins is in transition. The organization has signaled it is winding down its standalone operations and shifting parts of its service into Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County and the regional NYSERDA Clean Energy Hub. As of May 27, 2026, the HeatSmart Tompkins website and phone line still take homeowner intakes. Confirm the current intake path before a referral.

The funding comes from elsewhere. HeatSmart is the front door. The check is written by NYS Clean Heat through NYSEG, by Comfort Home and EmPower+ through NYSERDA, and by the federal and state tax codes through your return. HeatSmart's role is to keep a homeowner from picking the wrong contractor or the wrong system.

Cornell University's campus-scale energy work (lake-source cooling, the Earth Source Heat project) is not residential and does not produce homeowner rebates. Cornell's presence does deepen the local contractor base; many HeatSmart-network installers have worked on or adjacent to campus.

Who to call locally

  • HeatSmart Tompkins: (850) 291-5259. Lisa Marshall is the long-running program director. Email through the contact form at solartompkins.org. First call for almost any Tompkins homeowner considering a heat pump.
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County: (607) 272-2292. 615 Willow Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14850. Energy team handles educational programming and is taking on more of the heat pump intake work as HeatSmart Tompkins winds down.
  • Tompkins County Department of Planning and Sustainability: the county's sustainability staff sit under the Department of Planning. Useful for Climate Smart Communities questions and for grant-funded municipal programs.
  • NYSEG residential customer service: for Clean Heat questions, the address-based finder at cleanheat.ny.gov returns your specific rebate tier and a participating contractor list faster than the NYSEG portal does.

Climate Smart Communities status

Tompkins County is certified at the silver tier under the New York State Climate Smart Communities program. The county recertified at silver on April 24, 2024 (363 points across 47 completed actions), and the certification runs through September 30, 2029. Silver is the highest currently active tier; gold is defined in the program rules but has not been awarded to any New York community as of the verification date. Tompkins is one of a small number of New York counties certified at silver.

Several Tompkins municipalities (including the Town of Ulysses and the Village of Lansing) are separately certified. Municipal certification carries its own grant eligibility for resident-facing work; check with the town clerk or sustainability committee in your municipality.

Important local dates

  • HeatSmart Tompkins campaign windows run on a municipality-by-municipality basis. A campaign in your town may publish a sign-up deadline. Town and village announcements are the canonical source.
  • NYSEG and the rest of the Clean Heat sponsoring utilities sunset their standalone heat pump rebates on June 30, 2025. From that date forward all heat pump rebates in Tompkins County run through NYS Clean Heat.
  • Clean Heat block status and budget cycles are tracked on the program-level NYS Clean Heat page.

Source

NYSERB.com is an independent research site. It is not affiliated with Tompkins County, HeatSmart Tompkins, Solar Tompkins, Cornell Cooperative Extension, NYSERDA, the State of New York, or any utility. Verify all program details and incentive amounts directly with the relevant program administrator before making any financial decision.

Verified against www.heatsmarttompkins.org, www.nyseg.com, climatesmart.ny.gov on May 27, 2026.

See every rebate you qualify for

The eligibility check matches your home against every active New York rebate program in under 90 seconds.

Check Eligibility ›