Frequently askedquestions

RISE Homes (Rebuilding Incentives for Sustainable Electric Homes) is a California program offering financial incentives and support to help residents rebuild energy-efficient, all-electric homes after a natural disaster.

• The new home cannot have an active or uncapped gas line or a gas meter or a propane tank to serve a primary building function.
• Your new home must also meet California’s Title 24 (T-24) building efficiency standards. If it is a manufactured home, it must be certified as ENERGY STAR^® Version 2.0 or higher.

The RISE Homes Program aims to help California meet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals established by Assembly Bill 32 (Nuñez, 2006) by incentivizing lower-carbon all-electric rebuilding of homes post-wildfire and other natural disasters. The program provides incentives and support for all-electric rebuilding of residential properties destroyed or red-tagged due to a wildfire or other natural disaster on or after Jan. 1, 2017, in a city, county, or combined jurisdiction that has declared a Local Emergency Proclamation.

Rebuilding all-electric means that, at a minimum, your rebuilt home must have:

• Electric induction range or cooktop with electric oven
• Electric clothes dryer (heat pump or combo unit preferred)
• Heat pump water heaters
• Heat pump space heating systems

You can save money, have a safer and more comfortable home, and help protect the environment.

• You can save money with modern, energy-saving appliances with lower maintenance costs.
• You can reduce the fire hazards in your home and have cleaner indoor air without pollutants.
• You can help reduce the demand for fossil fuels and contribute to lowering GHGs to reduce the risks of extreme weather.

Both homeowners and builders can apply for the program. Builders can apply for a specific homeowner’s project as long as it meets the following qualifications:

• Eligible properties include any destroyed or “red-tagged” single-family or multifamily residential building in a city, county, or combined jurisdiction that has declared a Local Emergency Proclamation.
• “Red-tagged” means a building has been determined to be unsafe for occupancy by the local building authority (D.21-11-002).
• The property must be rebuilt as an all-electric home. It does not need to be the same property type. For instance, a single-family stick-built home could be rebuilt or replaced with a manufactured home.
• The destroyed property must have received electric service from one of the six California electric investor-owned utilities (IOUs).
  • Southern California Edison (SCE)
  • Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
  • San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E)
  • Liberty Utilities (CalPeco Electric) LLC
  • Bear Valley Electric Service, Inc.
  • PacifiCorp, dba Pacific Power
• The property must be rebuilt in the service territory of one of the six electric IOUs.
• Building permits for the rebuilt home must be approved after Nov. 4, 2021, the effective date of the decision establishing the RISE Homes Program.
• Applicants with previous building permits may qualify on an individual basis if they were rejected by another all-electric reconstruction program.
• The Certificate of Occupancy issue date for the rebuilt property must be on or after the launch date of the RISE Homes Program.

Only residential properties are eligible for the RISE Homes Program. Types of eligible residential properties include:

• Single-family homes (single family, duplexes, townhomes)
• Manufactured homes (must comply with ENERGY STAR^® Version 2.0 or higher)
• Modular homes (built in a factory to the local building code and trucked to the site where sections are craned into place and installed on a permanent foundation)
• Accessory dwelling units (ADUs)
• Multifamily buildings (must be four or more units)

You do not need to rebuild the same type of home you lost, but the new property must be all-electric.

If you qualify for the RISE Homes Program and rebuild all-electric, you can receive the following incentives based on the type of home you build. If you qualify as an equity participant, you can receive higher incentives.

• To qualify, equity participants must have low to moderate income or have a destroyed home or new home located in a designated Disadvantaged Community (DAC).
• According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), low- to moderate-income (LMI) households earn up to 80% of the area median income for their location.

You can receive even more incentives for including additional energy-saving measures in your new home. There are additional incentives for installing a whole-home battery and/or an ultra-low GWP refrigerant heat pump water heater. An ultra-low GWP refrigerant heat pump water heater uses a special refrigerant that has a minimal effect on the environment.

You can earn an additional incentive if you choose to have your new home certified as a Passive House. A Passive House follows rigorous design principles and standards to achieve energy efficiency that reduces the building’s carbon footprint, resulting in ultra-low-energy homes that require less energy for space heating or cooling. A Passive House must be certified by either the Passive House Institute (PHI) or the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS).

You may be eligible for equity incentives by meeting ANY of the following criteria:

• You participate in the California Alternative Rates for Energy (CARE) program or the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program. These programs discount energy bills for income-qualified customers.
• You participate in the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
• You are an LMI participant in a HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
• Your family income is at or below 80% of the area median income for your area.
• You participate in one or more of the programs listed in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Programs Approved for Categorical Eligibility for DOE Home Energy Rebates. This list covers numerous programs, including Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Head Start.
• Your red-tagged or destroyed home was in a designated DAC or a HUD-designated LMI census tract.
• Your new home will be rebuilt in a DAC or a HUD-designated LMI census tract.
• Your project is a multifamily property utilizing federal or state low-income housing tax credits to rebuild.

Yes, your incentives may be layered or stacked with incentives or awards from other programs. RISE Homes Program staff can suggest other programs you may want to consider too. There is one exclusion: Rebuilt homes MAY NOT participate in both the California Energy Commission-funded BUILD program and the RISE Homes Program.

The incentives offered by the RISE Homes Program do not affect benefits that survivors receive from private insurance, FEMA, Small Business Administration loans, or HUD CDBG-DR.

Yes, if your property was destroyed or red-tagged in a declared disaster since 2017 and you meet the other qualifications. For multifamily properties, EACH residential unit qualifies for incentives.

• The RISE Program will serve “red-tagged” single-family and multifamily residential buildings that were made unsafe to occupy by an emergency declared by a federal, state, or local jurisdiction.

Yes, if you meet the other qualifications and you rebuild both structures as all-electric, BOTH structures qualify for their own incentives.

Incentives are paid based on dwelling units built; you would qualify for two sets of incentives—one for each of the units in the duplex.

Complete the interest form at RiseHomesCA.com. Make sure to include accurate contact information. A member of the RISE Homes team will get back to you within 24 hours to discuss your eligibility.

To apply to the RISE Homes Program, either you or your builder will need to register on the application portal and fill out the online application. You will be able to check your application status online or by calling 833-202-3654.

You will need the following information and proof of your eligibility during the Application Submission stage:

• Your name and contact information (phone number and email)
• Address of the red-tagged home or property
• Proof that the red-tagged property received electric service from one of the six participating electric utilities (for example, an electric bill)
• Proof that you owned the property that was red-tagged or destroyed (for example, a deed or property tax record)
• Proof that the property was red-tagged or destroyed as a result of a disaster after Jan. 1, 2017 (for example, a picture of the red tag, a letter from the jurisdiction, or a copy of the CAL-Fire interactive map showing the address)
• The electric service provider for the new property
• Address where the residential structure will be built (may be the same as previous)
• Type of building (single-family home, multifamily, ADU, modular home, or manufactured home)
• Number of units (for multifamily, a minimum of four is required)
• For equity incentives, proof of qualification such as CARE/FERA (or other) program participation, household income, location in a HUD LMI census tract, or intent to rebuild in a DAC

Rebuild Documentation

As you move through the program, you will need to provide information about your new home and the all-electric equipment and appliances you are installing. This will vary depending on the type of home you are building. Most of these documents can be supplied by your builder or manufacturer (see examples below). RISE Homes Program staff will work with you to get the required documentation for your specific property.

• Builder, developer, or manufacturer contact information
• Construction schedule
• Construction documents and plans
• Energy models (does not apply to manufactured homes)
• Building permits
• Equipment and appliance specifications
• A RISE Homes signed participant agreement, which attests that gas appliances have not been installed
• Occupancy permit (when your home is completed)

There is no application deadline at this time. Please remember that eligibility does not guarantee participation. The RISE Homes Program has limited funding. It is important to complete the interest form at RiseHomesCA.com as soon as possible. A member of the RISE Homes team will get back to you to discuss your eligibility.

For more information, visit RiseHomesCA.com or call 833-202-3654.