Texas EV Charger Rebates by Utility: Austin, San Antonio, Houston and DFW (August 2026)
Updated 2026-08-16
Rebate pages go stale fast, and a lot of what’s written about Texas EV rebates is wrong — particularly for Houston, where several aggregator sites list a “CenterPoint EV charger rebate” that does not exist. Everything below was checked against the utility’s own pages on August 16, 2026, and each entry links to that source. If a program has changed since, the utility’s page wins, not us.
The short answer, by metro
| Metro | Utility | Residential charger rebate? | Best available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | Austin Energy | Yes | 50% of purchase + install, up to $1,200 |
| San Antonio | CPS Energy | No upfront rebate | Off-peak charging bill credits |
| Houston | CenterPoint Energy | No — closed Oct 2024 | Retail plan shopping; optional paid protection plan |
| Dallas–Fort Worth | Oncor | Not verifiable on Oncor’s own site | Retail plan shopping |
Federal credit: expired for new installs
The federal 30C Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit (30% of install cost, up to $1,000) expired for chargers placed in service after June 30, 2026. If yours was installed before that date and your home is in an eligible census tract, you may still be able to claim it — ask your tax preparer. We aren’t tax advisors and this isn’t tax advice.
Austin Energy — up to $1,200 (the best deal in Texas)
Austin Energy’s Home EV Charger Rebate covers 50% of the cost to buy and install a qualified Level 2 (240V) charging station:
- Up to $1,200 if the station or vehicle is Power Partner℠ EV compatible
- Up to $900 for non-compatible stations and vehicles
Enrolling in Power Partner EV adds a $50 bill credit for enrolling and another $25 after a year of participation. The rebate assumes a code-compliant, permitted install — so the permit isn’t optional if you want the money.
CPS Energy (San Antonio) — credits for charging off-peak, not for buying
CPS Energy does not pay you to buy a charger. It pays you to charge at the right times. Through CPS Energy’s EV programs, residential customers enrolled in FlexEV Off-Peak Rewards can earn a $30 upfront credit and $10 per month — up to about $120 a year — for not charging more than twice during on-peak hours (4–10 p.m., Monday–Friday). Eligible chargers named by CPS include ChargePoint, Emporia and Wallbox.
Worth doing, but budget your install at full price.
Houston / CenterPoint Energy — there is no charger rebate
This is the part most pages get wrong. As of August 16, 2026, CenterPoint Energy offers no residential EV charger purchase or installation rebate. What exists is a different thing entirely: an optional paid Interior Electric with EV Charger Protection Plan from HomeServe — advertised at $4.49/month for the first year, $8.99/month on renewal — which reimburses up to $500 toward replacing a charger that fails from normal wear and tear. That’s an insurance product you pay a subscription for, not an installation rebate, and it pays out only when your existing charger breaks.
CenterPoint’s Electric Equipment Incentives program is explicitly non-residential and its eligible-equipment list doesn’t include EV charging. CenterPoint’s residential efficiency program covers lighting, solar PV, HVAC, insulation, refrigerators and dishwashers — not chargers.
Why so many sites list a CenterPoint rebate that isn’t there
Because one used to exist, and the listings were never taken down. CenterPoint ran an EV charger rebate in the 2023 and 2024 program years. According to the program record published by EV charging installer EV Gas, the 2024 round opened 01/08/2024 and closed 10/18/2024, with installations required to be complete by 12/02/2024. It has not reopened for 2026.
There’s a second, more useful catch in that same record. The residential side was never a cost-share — it was a custom rebate calculated on deemed energy savings at $225/kW and $0.087/kWh. On the program’s own deemed-savings figures for a home charger, that worked out to roughly $1–$2 per charger. The “up to 50% of project cost” figure that aggregator sites repeat was the theoretical cap on the calculation, not what homeowners actually received.
So the headline is not just that the Houston rebate is closed. It’s that even when it was open, the residential payout was a rounding error. Budget accordingly, and treat any quote that discounts for a “CenterPoint rebate” as a red flag worth questioning.
So if you’re in Houston: budget the full install cost, and put your energy into getting three itemized quotes rather than hunting a rebate that isn’t there. Estimate your job with the cost calculator.
Dallas–Fort Worth / Oncor — claimed, but we couldn’t verify it
Several third-party sites list an Oncor discount of around $100 on select Level 2 chargers, paid through approved service providers rather than direct to you. We could not confirm this on Oncor’s own pages. Oncor’s electric vehicles page describes grid readiness and new-construction processes and points to its Take A Load Off Texas efficiency programs — with no residential EV charger rebate stated. Oncor’s residential incentives also run on an annual budget that typically opens in February and can be exhausted before year end.
Our honest position: treat it as unconfirmed. If an installer tells you an Oncor incentive applies, ask them to show you the program document before it appears in your quote as a discount — they’d be the ones claiming it, since Oncor pays approved service providers rather than homeowners.
Retail electric providers (Houston and DFW)
In deregulated markets, some retail providers sell free-nights or EV-specific plans that cut your ongoing charging cost. That can be worth more over a few years than any one-time rebate — but it’s a plan-shopping decision made on Power to Choose, not part of your installation quote. Don’t let an installer bundle it into the sales pitch.
Sources and verification
| Program | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Energy Home EV Charger Rebate | austinenergy.com | 2026-08-16 |
| CPS Energy EV incentives | cpsenergy.com | 2026-08-16 |
| CenterPoint EV charger protection plan | centerpointenergy.com | 2026-08-16 |
| CenterPoint electric equipment incentives (non-residential) | centerpointenergy.com | 2026-08-16 |
| Oncor electric vehicles | oncor.com | 2026-08-16 |
| CenterPoint EV charger program record (2023–24, closed) | getevgas.com | 2026-08-16 |
Most rebates require a permitted installation by a licensed contractor. Every listing on VoltVetted shows verified state license status for the company doing the work — find one in your metro, and see why the license is legally required.