On July 4, 2025, Congress and the White House enacted H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), sweeping through a wide range of tax and spending provisions.
While its main aim was to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the legislation also dramatically reshaped—and in many cases phased out—clean energy incentives introduced in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that were originally intended to run for many more years.
Understanding these changes is going to be critical for HVAC, home performance, and solar contractors, and how you approach the remainder of this year and start planning out your 2026 marketing strategies to best position your business for the future.
Here are the key updates to the tax incentives most relevant to high performance contractors, plus resources to guide you moving forward.
What’s Phasing Out—and When
OBBBA rolls back or accelerates phase-outs for many residential clean-energy credits, including:
The Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D)
The 30% tax credit for rooftop solar now fully sunsets on December 31, 2025, with the traditional “placed in service” test supplanted by an “expenditures made” test.
In practice, this means homeowners who pay for their solar system by the end of 2025 may still be able to lock in their solar tax credit, even if the panels aren’t turned on until 2026 or later.
The Investment Tax Credit (48E) and Production Tax Credit (45Y)
The 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for commercial solar and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for commercial solar both face newly tightened timelines. Projects started after July 4, 2026, must be placed in service by December 31, 2027, to qualify for either credit.
The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C)
The 30% tax credit for insulation, windows, doors, heat pumps, and high-efficiency HVAC equipment now expires December 31, 2025. This means upgrades need to be installed by the end of this year to qualify.
Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (Sec. 179D)
Anyone looking to take this tax deduction for energy-efficient commercial building property now needs to have their project started by June 30, 2026.
New Energy Efficient Home Credit (Sec. 45L)
Homebuilders constructing or substantially reconstructing energy-efficient single-family and multi-family homes will have until June 30, 2026 to claim up to $5,000 per dwelling.
Electric Vehicle & EV Charger Credits
EV purchase credits now end September 30, 2025, and charging equipment credits expire June 30, 2026.
What Remains: IRA Home Energy Rebates
The OBBBA did not affect a pair of separate home-energy rebate programs that the Inflation Reduction Act created in 2022.
The IRA allocated nearly $9 billion for two rebate programs, Home Efficiency Rebates (HER) and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR), that offer savings on qualifying efficiency upgrades, including heat pumps, insulation and air sealing, electrical panel upgrades, and water heaters.
However, a funding freeze instituted in January 2025 has thrown a wrench in the gears. As of last month, only 12 states plus D.C. have at least one rebate program up and running; the remaining 36 states are awaiting final sign-offs, and two (Idaho, South Dakota) opted out entirely.
What Contractors Can Do to Maximize the Value of Remaining Clean Energy Incentives
With clear phase-out dates in sight, now is the time to drive an end-of-year rush and lock in every available dollar of tax savings. Here’s how contractors can turn urgency into booked jobs and 2025 revenue:
Lean into Urgency Marketing
Back in May, we hosted a live webinar, titled“Last Call for Tax Credits? Urgency Marketing Starts NOW!”—where we warned that clean energy tax credits were at risk and laid out step-by-step tactics and marketing recommendations, including:
- How to leverage lower-cost approaches like social media advertising
- Optimizing Google Ads messaging to highlight urgency
- The most essential content updates your website needs
Now that the OBBBA has passed, that May webinar is more relevant than ever for high performance contractors.
Watch a recording for free on-demand here.
Insulation Contractors: Enroll in 25C Means Business
Last year, Energy Circle helped develop and launch the free 25C Means Business program on behalf of NAIMA (the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association), offering contractors free assistance in marketing and selling insulation via the 25C tax credit.
Enrolled contractors receive, for free:
- Customized Landing Pages & Blog Content: Professionally written and SEO-optimized pages that highlight the 30% insulation tax credit, tailored to your service area and branding.
- Videos & Mock-Up Ads: Ready-to-go custom video and digital ad designs designed to educate homeowners and drive business.
- Hands-On Website Support: Our team will work directly on your site—at no charge—to publish new content and launch your campaign.
- Email & Social Creative: Plug-and-play email copy and infographics that emphasize urgency and deadline reminders.
Since launching, we have continued to add new assets to this program, including recent updates highlighting the early phaseout and driving urgency.
Enroll today at 25CMeansBusiness.com.
Energy Circle Is Here to Help Your Business Navigate Changing Incentives
With the “One Big Beautiful Bill” reshaping the incentives landscape, now is the time to update your marketing playbook.
As the website and marketing expert working exclusively with high performance contractors, Energy Circle can help ensure your marketing efforts capitalize on every remaining and new opportunity before these credits vanish, and set you up for continued success after they’re gone.
Not sure how incentive-savvy your website and marketing efforts are? Get a free competitor analysis today from our team to see what you and your competition are doing right (and wrong) online.