By Alexandr Godonoaga, Owner & Lead Electrician, Cob Services LLC — ICC-Certified, ComEd-Approved EVSP, Illinois License #26-00032356
Last updated: May 2, 2026
If you’re reading this in May 2026 hoping to grab the ComEd rebate before installing a Level 2 charger at your Naperville home, here’s the part nobody wants to put in the headline: the Base $1,000 rebate window for 2026 closed on February 28. ComEd publicly confirmed funds were nearly out by then, and Base applications submitted after that date are not being accepted. (ComEd Residential EV Charger and Installation Rebate Program Terms and Conditions)
That is the version most blog posts on this topic don’t tell you. Most still read like the program is wide open. It isn’t.
What is still open as of today:
- The $2,500 Select Customer rebate (Low-Income / Equity Investment Eligible Community tier) is still accepting applications. Roughly half of ComEd’s 2026 EV funding is reserved for this group and will keep accepting applications until further notice.
- The federal Section 30C tax credit for residential charging in eligible census tracts is still available — but only until June 30, 2026. After that, it’s gone.
- ComEd’s hourly pricing plan is still the lever that makes a home charger pay for itself month after month, rebate or not.
I’ve installed somewhere north of 60 Level 2 chargers across Naperville, Aurora, Lisle, Plainfield, and the rest of DuPage and Will County in the past year. About a third of those involved a ComEd rebate application I filed for the customer. So this isn’t theory. This walkthrough is what I’d tell a neighbor on a Saturday morning if they showed me a Tesla in their driveway and asked what to do next.
Who can still get a ComEd rebate in 2026
The Base rebate ($1,000 for any ComEd residential customer with a qualifying Level 2 install) is closed for the year. Funds were exhausted ahead of the February 28 deadline. Customers who already had a complete application in by then are still being processed in order received.
The Select Customer rebate ($2,500) is still open. You qualify if either of these is true:
- Your household income is at or below 80% of the Illinois median household income, or
- Your home is in an Equity Investment Eligible Community (EIEC) as defined by ComEd
ComEd publishes an EIEC map. Plug your address in. If you’re in the green or blue shaded zones, you’re eligible for the $2,500 tier. A surprising number of older parts of Naperville, Aurora, and Joliet land in EIEC tracts. I’ve had customers on quiet residential streets in central Naperville assume they were obviously not eligible, then check the map and qualify.
If you’re in neither category and you didn’t get a Base application in before February 28, you missed the 2026 ComEd rebate. The 2027 program hasn’t been announced yet. Funding usually opens late winter. I’ll update this post when it does.
What ComEd requires from your installer (and why “any electrician” doesn’t work)
For your application to go through, three things have to be true on the installer side:
- The electrician has to be ICC-certified (Illinois Commerce Commission). This is a separate credential from a general electrician’s license. Most general electrical contractors are not ICC-certified.
- The electrician has to be a ComEd-approved EVSP (Electric Vehicle Service Provider) on ComEd’s published list.
- The EVSP files the rebate application on your behalf within 90 days of installation. As of 2025, ComEd doesn’t accept customer-submitted applications. The installer files. You sign an authorization form.
If you hire a handyman or a non-ICC-certified electrician, your charger install can be perfectly safe and code-compliant and still get rejected by ComEd because the application can’t be filed by an unapproved installer. I’ve had two customers come to me in the past 18 months after this happened — they had a working charger and a useless rebate path. We couldn’t retroactively fix it. The installer who did the work has to be the one filing.
Cob Services LLC is ICC-certified and on ComEd’s approved EVSP list under Illinois License #26-00032356. That means I can file your application as part of the install. If you’re searching for an EV charger installer in Naperville, this is the credential to ask about before you compare prices.
What the charger itself has to be
ComEd’s program has specific equipment requirements. Skip these and the rebate dies.
- Level 2 (240V) — Level 1 trickle chargers don’t qualify
- Smart / connected — must be Wi-Fi or cellular-enabled. The charger has to be able to report charging data
- UL-listed — every major brand qualifies, but off-brand Amazon units often don’t
- Purchased on or after February 1, 2024 — keep your receipt
- Self-installed chargers don’t qualify — has to be a permitted, professional install
Models I install most often that meet all the requirements: Tesla Wall Connector (Gen 3+), ChargePoint Home Flex, Wallbox Pulsar Plus, Emporia EV Charger, Grizzl-E Smart, JuiceBox 40/48. We have an installer’s comparison of Tesla Wall Connector vs ChargePoint vs Wallbox over on the blog if you’re still picking.
The application process, step by step
This is what actually happens, not the marketing version.
Step 1 — Free site walk and quote (1–2 days). I come out, look at your panel, where your car parks, and the run length to the install location. I confirm whether your panel can take a 40 or 50 amp circuit or whether you need a panel upgrade. I confirm you’re a ComEd customer (we need your account number). I check the EIEC map for your address. If you qualify for the $2,500 tier, I’ll tell you on the spot.
Step 2 — You enroll in a qualifying ComEd rate plan. This is a non-negotiable program requirement and the part most posts gloss over. To get the rebate, you have to enroll in either:
- ComEd’s Hourly Pricing (Rate BESH), or
- ComEd’s Delivery Time-of-Day (DTOD) plan
You’re locked into that rate for three years from the date your rebate application is approved. We’ll get into the math on this below — for most Naperville households who charge overnight, it saves money. For households with high daytime AC use and no EV-specific charging window, it can cost more. Look before you sign.
Step 3 — Permit and install (1–5 days from quote). Cob Services pulls the permit through the City of Naperville’s building department in our contractor name. If the panel handles the load, the install itself is usually 3 to 5 hours. If you need a panel upgrade, it’s a full day plus a separate ComEd meter pull appointment. We document everything ComEd needs photos of: the charger, the panel, the breaker, the disconnect.
Step 4 — Inspection. Naperville inspector comes out, signs off on the permit. Charger goes live the same day in most cases.
Step 5 — I file your rebate application. Within 90 days of install. You sign the Rebate Authorization Form. I submit the photos ComEd wants, the equipment receipts, the load calculation, and your account info. Most of my customers see the rebate applied directly to their final invoice, so the out-of-pocket on the install drops by $1,000 or $2,500 depending on tier.
Step 6 — You wait. ComEd processes applications in order received. Funded apps usually pay within 6 to 10 weeks from submission. Then the three-year rate plan commitment starts.
The time-of-use rate math (this is the real value)
The rebate is a one-time check. The rate plan is what changes your electric bill for the next decade.
Here’s the math I walk customers through. Numbers below are 2026 ComEd hourly pricing averages, not promises. Your real bill will vary.
Say you drive a typical EV — 30 miles a day, 4 miles per kWh, so about 7.5 kWh per day or roughly 225 kWh per month just for charging. That’s a conservative middle case.
On the standard fixed rate (~12¢/kWh delivered + supply, all-in for 2026 in northern Illinois): 225 kWh × $0.12 = $27 per month to charge
On ComEd Hourly Pricing, charging only between midnight and 6 a.m.: Off-peak hourly prices in 2026 have averaged 3 to 5¢/kWh on the supply side, plus delivery. Real-world all-in customer cost during those windows runs around 5 to 7¢/kWh. 225 kWh × $0.06 = about $13.50 per month to charge
That’s roughly $160 a year saved on charging alone, just for shifting the schedule. Over the three-year rate lock, that’s nearly $500 — without counting the rebate.
The catch: hourly pricing also applies to everything else in your house. Run your dryer, dishwasher, and AC during 4–7 p.m. peak in July and that 35¢/kWh peak hour will sting. Customers with smart thermostats, scheduled appliances, and the discipline to actually schedule things come out ahead. Customers who don’t pay attention sometimes come out behind.
If you want the savings without micromanaging every appliance, the Delivery Time-of-Day plan is more forgiving. It only varies the delivery portion of the bill by time of day, not the full supply rate. Smaller upside, smaller downside.
I tell customers the rule of thumb: if you can plug in at 11 p.m. and unplug at 6 a.m., hourly pricing is almost always the winner. If your charging schedule is irregular, DTOD is safer.
ComEd publishes current real-time and historical pricing on their hourly pricing page. Check it before you commit. (ComEd Hourly Pricing tool)
Stacking the federal tax credit (deadline matters)
Section 30C of the federal tax code — the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit — pays back 30% of installation costs, capped at $1,000 for residential, if your home is in an eligible census tract. It can be stacked with the ComEd rebate.
A real example from a job I did in February: $2,200 install, customer was in an EIEC, qualified for the $2,500 ComEd Select rebate AND the federal credit. Net out-of-pocket after rebate and credit was negative. They got paid to install a charger.
The hard part: Section 30C expires June 30, 2026. Your charger has to be installed and in service by that date for the install to count toward the 2026 tax year filing. After June 30, the federal credit goes away. Congress hasn’t extended it.
If you’re on the fence and you’re in an eligible census tract, the next 60 days are the window. We’re booking out about three weeks at the time of writing.
A note: I’m not a CPA. Final eligibility depends on your specific tax situation and your census tract. Use the IRS census tract lookup tool, or ask your tax preparer to confirm before you assume the credit applies. I just structure the documentation so it’s filing-ready.
What the rebate doesn’t cover
A few items customers expect to be covered that aren’t, fully:
- Panel upgrades to make room for the EV circuit are partially covered if they’re part of the same project, but only up to the program’s per-customer cap. A typical Naperville panel upgrade from 100A to 200A runs $2,500 to $4,000 separately. If your charger install requires it, the total project will exceed the $2,500 rebate.
- Trenching for detached garages with long underground runs adds cost the rebate doesn’t fully reach.
- Subpanels in detached structures are treated as a separate project under most program interpretations.
For a deeper dive on whether your panel can handle a charger at all, we have a self-assessment guide for Naperville homes with the basic load calculation walked out.
What I’d do if I were you, today
If you’re a ComEd customer in Naperville thinking about an EV charger in May 2026:
Check the EIEC map first. If you qualify for the $2,500 Select rebate, get your install scheduled before federal Section 30C expires June 30. The combined incentive can cover most or all of a standard install.
If you’re not in an EIEC tract, the 2026 Base rebate is gone. Your options are: install now anyway and take the federal Section 30C credit before June 30 (still 30% back up to $1,000), or wait for the 2027 ComEd program announcement, probably in late winter. I’ll be honest — if you need a charger now, waiting another nine months for an uncertain rebate isn’t usually worth it. The federal credit alone, plus the time-of-use rate savings, justifies installing now for most customers.
Either way, get a real site walk before you commit. Half my quotes change after I see the panel. Online estimates that don’t account for panel headroom or run length are how customers end up surprised on install day.
We do free site walks across Naperville, Aurora, Plainfield, Lisle, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, and the rest of DuPage and Will County. If you want me to come look, the EV charger installation page has the request form, or call (630) 427-5923. Same crew on every install. Same person filing your rebate paperwork as quoted the job.
FAQ
Is the ComEd EV rebate still available in May 2026?
The $2,500 Select Customer rebate (low-income or EIEC residents) is still accepting applications. The $1,000 Base rebate for all other residential customers closed February 28, 2026 due to funds being exhausted.
How do I know if my Naperville address is in an EIEC tract?
ComEd publishes a public EIEC map on their EV rebate program page. Enter your address. Green and blue zones qualify for the $2,500 tier.
Can I file the rebate application myself?
No. As of the 2025 program update, only ComEd-approved EVSPs can file rebate applications on a customer’s behalf. You sign a Rebate Authorization Form; the installer submits the rest.
Do I have to stay on the ComEd hourly rate plan forever?
No. The lock-in is three years from the date your rebate application is approved. After that, you can switch back to a standard fixed rate without penalty.
Can I stack the ComEd rebate with the federal tax credit?
Yes. Section 30C federal credit (30% of install, capped at $1,000 residential) stacks with ComEd’s rebate. Section 30C expires June 30, 2026. Your charger must be installed and in service by that date for the 2026 tax year.
What happens if I install a charger without using a ComEd-approved EVSP?
Your charger will work fine, but the rebate application can’t be filed. You can still claim the federal Section 30C credit if you’re in an eligible census tract, but you’ll forfeit the ComEd rebate.
How long does the rebate take to pay out?
6 to 10 weeks from application submission, in my experience. Some installers (including Cob Services) apply the rebate amount directly to your invoice so you don’t pay the full price up front and wait for reimbursement.
Alexandr Godonoaga is the owner and lead electrician at Cob Services LLC, an Illinois-licensed (#26-00032356), ICC-certified, ComEd-approved EVSP serving Naperville and the western suburbs. He has personally led EV charger installations across DuPage and Will County for years. Connect on LinkedIn or call (630) 427-5923.