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New York Energy Resource Bureau
An independent homeowner guide to NY energy incentives
Source quality: Secondary

Wayne County

County or city: Wayne County, NY Utility territory: RG&E (electric across most of the western half of the county); NYSEG (electric across most of the eastern half); gas service from both utilities in limited areas, with rural addresses on oil or propane Verified: May 27, 2026 Source quality: Secondary

What programs apply here

Wayne County runs along the south shore of Lake Ontario between Monroe County to the west and Cayuga County to the east. Two things shape the local picture. The first is fruit, especially apples: Wayne is the largest apple-producing county in New York and produces a meaningful share of the state's tart cherries, pears, and peaches as well. The second is a split utility footprint. Most of the western half of the county (Macedon, Walworth, Ontario, parts of Sodus) is on RG&E electric. Most of the eastern half (Lyons, Galen, Rose, parts of Wolcott and Huron) is on NYSEG electric. The boundary is not a clean line; some addresses just west of Lyons are NYSEG and some just east of Newark are RG&E. Confirm with your meter before assuming which rebate menu applies. At a Wayne address you can apply for:

  • NY-Sun: the state's upfront solar incentive.
  • NY-Sun Community Solar: subscription bill 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 RG&E or NYSEG depending on your meter.
  • 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.
  • RG&E Rebates: the utility-specific layer for RG&E-served Wayne addresses (western Wayne).
  • NYSEG Rebates: the utility-specific layer for NYSEG-served Wayne addresses (eastern Wayne).

What stacks at this address

The most useful stacks for a Wayne County homeowner:

  • Clean Heat tier + Comfort Home. The Wayne housing stock includes a large share of older village wood-frame homes (Newark, Lyons, Sodus, Clyde, Palmyra) and rural farmhouses on apple-growing land. Both benefit from envelope work before a heat pump install. Tighten through Comfort Home first; size the heat pump on the tighter load.
  • Clean Heat tier + state geothermal credit. Ground-source installs qualify for the utility Clean Heat rebate and the 25% state geothermal credit, up to $5,000. Wayne has plenty of agricultural acreage suitable for horizontal loop fields, which lowers loop cost. Air-source installs do not qualify for the geothermal credit.
  • NY-Sun + state solar tax credit. A Wayne 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. Working farms with south-facing acreage can host ground-mount arrays where rooftops are unsuitable; agricultural operations also have access to USDA REAP grants on the farm-business side.
  • EmPower+ then a heat pump. Income-qualified Newark, Lyons, and Sodus households should apply through EmPower+ first. Free weatherization usually shrinks the required heat pump and routes federal HEAR funding through the same intake.
  • Lakeshore second homes. The Lake Ontario shoreline in Wayne (Sodus Bay, Pultneyville, Fair Haven adjacent areas) has a meaningful population of seasonal homes. Most NYSERDA rebates are designed for primary residences. Confirm primary-residence status before assuming a seasonal home qualifies at the same incentive level.

County or city programs unique to here

There is no county-administered residential energy rebate program in Wayne County. The county's role for residents is referral to state programs and to local nonprofit weatherization providers.

Wayne County Action Program (WayneCAP) runs the federal Weatherization Assistance Program for income-qualified Wayne County households. WayneCAP delivers air sealing, insulation, and heating-system safety work at no cost to qualifying households. Most EmPower+ deliveries in Wayne County route through WayneCAP's weatherization crews. The agency also runs HEAP and other social services and is the canonical intake point for income-qualified energy upgrades.

Apples and agriculture. Wayne is the largest apple-producing county in New York, with hundreds of orchards and dozens of packing and cold-storage operations. Cold storage is one of the most energy-intensive line items on an apple operation's books. NYSERDA Agricultural Energy Efficiency and USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants fund refrigeration upgrades, controlled-atmosphere storage, solar, and on-farm efficiency. These are farm-business programs, not residential. The farm residence itself may still qualify for the homeowner programs above on the residential side of the operation, and many Wayne farms run both at once. Cornell Cooperative Extension Wayne County is the practical entry point on the agricultural side.

Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council. GFLRPC covers Wayne and several surrounding counties. It is municipal- and commercial-facing.

Mixed-utility complication. The single most common Wayne County mistake is assuming the wrong utility tier. A contractor pulling a Clean Heat rebate quote needs your specific meter; the address-based Clean Heat finder resolves this correctly. Older RG&E or NYSEG PDFs circulating in contractor channels may also misroute Wayne addresses; the canonical lookup is the Clean Heat finder, not a printed map.

Who to call locally

  • Wayne County Action Program (WayneCAP): (315) 946-6993. The county's community action agency and the local intake for the federal Weatherization Assistance Program. First call for any income-qualified Wayne household.
  • Wayne County Department of Planning: (315) 946-5919. Handles county planning, Climate Smart reporting, and municipal sustainability work.
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension Wayne County: (315) 331-8415. Runs agricultural energy programming, especially relevant for the county's orchards and farms.
  • Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council: (585) 454-0190. Regional planning body for the nine-county Finger Lakes region.
  • RG&E residential customer service: for RG&E-served Wayne addresses; the Clean Heat address finder is faster than the RG&E portal.
  • NYSEG residential customer service: for NYSEG-served Wayne addresses; same Clean Heat finder applies.

Climate Smart Communities status

Wayne County's certification status under the Climate Smart Communities program is limited as of May 27, 2026. Some Wayne municipalities have registered with the program. Verify current county and municipal status at climatesmart.ny.gov before citing a tier in dated material.

Important local dates

  • Federal Weatherization Assistance Program intake through WayneCAP operates year-round.
  • RG&E, NYSEG, and the other Clean Heat sponsoring utilities sunset their standalone residential heat pump rebates on June 30, 2025. From that date forward all heat pump rebates in Wayne County run through NYS Clean Heat.
  • Clean Heat block status and utility 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 Wayne County, Wayne County Action Program, RG&E, NYSEG, 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 web.co.wayne.ny.us, www.rge.com, www.nyseg.com on May 27, 2026.

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