Maryland GRECs: Residential Eligibility

Who is eligible to receive renewable energy credits for residential geothermal heating and cooling systems?

• Your system must be installed in a residential home that is not owned by a business.
• The system must meet ENERGY STAR standards and not feed electricity back into the grid.
• It must also also have a residential classification on the utility bill.
• The geothermal system replaces or displaces inefficient space cooling systems that do not meet federal Energy Star product specification standards.

A single residential home qualified as low or moderate income housing is also eligible for RECs under the new carve-out if the system was installed on the property on or after January 1, 2023.

How do I know if a geothermal heating and cooling system is considered “low or moderate income”, and how do I provide the information in my renewable energy credit application?

Low or Moderate Income (LMI) Housing is affordable housing for a household with an aggregate annual income that is below 120% of the area median income.

To qualify for residential LMI single housing carve-out, your two most recent consecutive pay stubs must be provided to prove the LMI eligibility. To qualify for non-residential LMI carve-out (e.g., multi-family housing units and institutions that serve LMI families), two most recent consecutive pay stubs from each household must be provided to prove the LMI eligibility. Incomplete applications or missing documentation will be rejected and cause delays in the processing of applications.

Note: If you don’t meet the above requirements, you can still be eligible for programs like those hosted by Virginia, although with a potentially lower price point.