By Alexandr Godonoaga, Owner and Lead Electrician, Cob Services LLC. ICC-certified, ComEd-approved EVSP, Illinois Electrical Contractor License #26-00032356. Published April 2026. Substantially rewritten and fact-checked September 5, 2026.
Three things have changed since the spring, and all three matter if you are pricing a Level 2 charger right now.
The ComEd residential rebate is closed for 2026. Both tiers. The federal tax credit that used to stack on top of it expired on June 30. And most homes with a Naperville address are not ComEd customers at all, which is the part almost every article on this topic gets wrong, including an earlier version of this one.
None of that means installing a charger stopped making sense. It means the money is now in a different place: the City of Naperville’s own incentive, and the rate you charge on. Both are covered below with current numbers.
I have installed north of 60 Level 2 chargers across Naperville, Aurora, Lisle, Plainfield, and the rest of DuPage and Will County in the past year, and filed the rebate paperwork on about a third of them. This is the version I would give a neighbor standing in his driveway.
Start here: which utility actually bills you?
This single question decides everything else, and it is where most homeowners in this area go wrong.
The City of Naperville owns and operates its own electric utility. It has served the city since 1899, delivers power to more than 62,000 customers across roughly 46 square miles, and buys its wholesale power from the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency. If your address is inside Naperville city limits, your electric bill almost certainly comes from the City, not from ComEd, and you cannot enroll in a ComEd rate plan or claim a ComEd rebate.
ComEd territory picks up outside the city line. Unincorporated Naperville Township is ComEd. So are Aurora, Lisle, Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, and La Grange, all of which we serve.
The fastest way to check: look at who sends your electric bill. City of Naperville means municipal utility. ComEd means ComEd. A Naperville mailing address proves nothing either way, because plenty of township addresses use one.
Everything below is split along that line.
If the City of Naperville is your electric utility
Naperville Electric Utility runs its own EV charging station incentive. It is smaller than ComEd’s was, but it is real, it is local, and hardly anyone mentions it.
The terms, as the City publishes them:
- Up to $500 for a Level 2 or Level 3 charging station, residential or non-residential
- Capped at 50% of your total cost (charger plus installation), excluding tax, discounts, permit fees, and ineligible costs
- The charger must be hardwired and permitted by the City. Plug-in units do not qualify
- The charger must be UL-listed or equivalent, and you submit a photo of the UL rating
- Your installation must pass a City electrical inspection
- The application and all documentation are due within six months of installation
- You must be a contributor to the City’s Renewable Energy Program to qualify
- The incentive is paid as a credit on your utility bill
Two practical notes. First, a City building permit with a completed Residential Load Calculation Worksheet is required for wiring upgrades, which a Level 2 charger circuit generally is. We handle both.
Second, and this is the part to act on: City incentives close when the year’s budget is spent, and there is no waiting list. The City’s electric lawn equipment incentive hit its cap on June 26 this year and shut down for the rest of 2026. Only projects purchased on or after January 1 of a funding year are eligible for that year. If the EV incentive is still funded when you read this, that is a reason to book rather than wait.
Because program terms get revised between years, confirm the current amount and requirements on the City’s incentives page before you count on a number. We check it as part of every quote.
If ComEd is your electric utility
The 2026 residential rebate is closed. This is not a matter of interpretation. It is in ComEd’s own program Terms and Conditions, version 3.0, effective March 31, 2026:
- The Base rebate (up to $1,000) closed to new applications on February 28, 2026
- The LI/LIC/EIEC rebate (up to $2,500) closed to new applications on March 31, 2026
- Applications submitted after those dates are not accepted
- There is no waitlist for either tier this program year
I want to be blunt about this, because an earlier version of this post said the $2,500 tier was still open a month after it had actually closed. That was wrong, it was my error, and it is corrected here. If you read that version and held off on a decision because of it, call me and I will make it right on the install price.
Why the money went so fast: ComEd’s 2026 EV funding was about $70 million in total, but only roughly $4 million of that was allocated to residential chargers. The rest went to fleet vehicles and make-ready infrastructure for businesses and the public sector. A $4 million residential pot serving four million customers empties in weeks, not months.
What happens next: ComEd’s second Beneficial Electrification Plan, approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, runs from 2026 through 2028, and the program’s Terms and Conditions carry a term end date of December 31, 2028. Funding has been announced around the Chicago Auto Show in February each of the last three years and disbursed starting at the beginning of the calendar year. ComEd has not published 2027 residential amounts or an opening date. When it does, I will update this page, and if you want a note when it happens, call and I will put you on the list.
One thing worth knowing for whenever it reopens: the rebate is a one-time benefit per ComEd account. If you have already received one, you are not eligible for another.
The federal tax credit is gone
Section 30C, the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit, paid back 30% of a residential charger installation up to $1,000. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, set its final expiration at June 30, 2026, and Congress did not extend it. Equipment placed in service after that date receives nothing.
If your charger was installed, energized, and operational on or before June 30, 2026, you can still claim it on the return you file for the 2026 tax year using IRS Form 8911, assuming your address was in an eligible census tract. That is a filing question, not an installation question. I am not a CPA. Ask yours.
For context on what has been lost: back in February I did a $2,200 install for a customer in an equity-eligible tract who qualified for the $2,500 ComEd rebate and the federal credit at the same time. Their net out of pocket was below zero. That combination no longer exists anywhere in Illinois.
The rate math, with September 2026 numbers
This is now the main financial argument for charging at home, and unlike a rebate it pays every month for as long as you own the car.
ComEd launched a combined Time-of-Day (TOD) rate that prices both supply and delivery in four blocks, the same blocks every day of the year. The expensive block is Mid-Day Peak, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Overnight, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., is the cheapest. The Citizens Utility Board publishes the current per-kWh figures, and these are for a single-family home without electric heat, as of August 2026:
| Period | Hours | Summer supply | Non-summer supply | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | 6a to 1p | 3.778¢ | 4.768¢ | 4.475¢ |
| Mid-Day Peak | 1p to 7p | 16.594¢ | 14.699¢ | 11.852¢ |
| Evening | 7p to 9p | 5.793¢ | 6.009¢ | 4.185¢ |
| Overnight | 9p to 6a | 2.829¢ | 3.394¢ | 3.345¢ |
For comparison, the same household on standard rates pays a 6.228¢ distribution charge and a 10.399¢ summer supply charge, so 16.627¢ per kWh combined.
Run the numbers on a typical commuter EV. Thirty miles a day at four miles per kWh is 7.5 kWh a day, about 225 kWh a month:
- Standard rate, summer: 225 × 16.627¢ = $37.41 a month
- TOD, charging overnight in summer: 225 × 6.174¢ = $13.89 a month
- TOD, charging during Mid-Day Peak in summer: 225 × 28.446¢ = $64.00 a month
So the same electricity costs about $24 a month less than standard if you charge overnight, and about $27 a month more than standard if you charge in the afternoon. Over the four summer months alone, overnight charging on TOD saves roughly $94 against standard rates. The overnight gap narrows in the non-summer months but stays in your favor.
Those are the two per-kWh components on the bill. Your actual total also includes the fixed customer charge, taxes, and other line items, so treat this as the delta between charging strategies, not a whole bill.
There is also a small EV bonus: ComEd pays a $2 per month bill credit per registered vehicle, up to two vehicles, for 24 months, to EV owners on a time-variant supply rate or on the Delivery Time-of-Day rate.
Four things that trip people up on TOD
TOD and Hourly Pricing cannot be combined. They are both supply rates. Delivery Time-of-Day and Hourly Pricing are compatible with each other, and that pairing is worth looking at if you want real-time supply pricing plus time-varying delivery.
If you buy supply from an alternative retail supplier, you have to terminate that contract first. Combined TOD cannot be paired with any other supply offering.
Legacy solar customers are excluded. If your system was interconnected before January 1, 2025 and you have no distributed generation rebate, you are not eligible for TOD. Systems installed after that date with a DG or storage rebate can be.
Enrollment is not instant. It can take up to three billing cycles to finalize, and up to three more to cancel. There is no penalty for leaving, but if you leave for a flat rate you forfeit any remaining EV credits.
Before enrolling, log into your ComEd account and run the Rate Comparison Tool against your own last twelve months. It uses your actual usage rather than my example household. If you cannot shift your dishwasher, dryer, and summer thermostat out of the 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. window, TOD may not be your rate, EV or not.
Equipment and installer requirements
Worth knowing now, both because the City incentive has its own rules and because the ComEd program will come back.
For ComEd, a qualifying charger must be Level 2, smart (internet-connected and able to report charging data), ENERGY STAR certified, and NRTL certified. Note that ENERGY STAR and NRTL certification is a stricter test than the “UL-listed” shorthand many installers use. Chargers must have been purchased on or after February 1, 2024, and self-installed chargers do not qualify at all.
ComEd’s terms specifically exclude Enel X and JuiceBox chargers, which are no longer treated as smart under the program. If a competitor is still recommending a JuiceBox for rebate purposes, that is a sign they have not read the current terms. Units I install that meet the requirements include the Tesla Wall Connector, ChargePoint Home Flex, Wallbox Pulsar Plus, Emporia, and Grizzl-E Smart. Our comparison of the Tesla Wall Connector, ChargePoint, and Wallbox goes deeper if you are still choosing.
On the installer side, ComEd requires that the contractor be ICC-certified through the Illinois Commerce Commission (a separate credential from a general electrician’s license, and one most electrical contractors do not hold) and enrolled as a ComEd-approved EV Service Provider. The EVSP files the application, not the customer, within 90 days of installation. You sign a Rebate Authorization Form with a wet or tablet signature.
That last rule has real consequences. Two customers have come to me in the past 18 months after a non-approved installer did the work. Their chargers were fine. Their rebate path was dead, and it could not be fixed retroactively, because the installer who performed the work has to be the one who files. Cob Services is ICC-certified and on ComEd’s approved EVSP list under Illinois License #26-00032356.
A detail most posts skip: ComEd rebates are delivered as a deduction on your final invoice from the installer, not as a check you chase afterward. Rebates over $600 may be reported to the IRS as taxable income, and ComEd reserves the right to inspect the installation for five years after payment.
What an install actually costs here
If your panel is modern and your car parks near it, plan on roughly $850 to $1,500 for the install. If you want us to supply the charger as well, add about $400 to $600 depending on the unit. Long runs, trenching to a detached garage, and panel upgrades all move that number, which is why we quote after a site walk rather than over the phone. Our EV charger installation cost breakdown for Naperville has the full picture.
The two costs that surprise people most: a panel with no room for a 40 or 50 amp circuit, and a detached garage with a long underground run. Neither is exotic. Both are worth knowing before you sign anything.
What I would do today
If the City of Naperville bills you, check whether the $500 EV incentive is still funded for 2026 and book before the budget closes. Then decide on the charger and get the permit and load calculation moving.
If ComEd bills you, the rebate math has changed shape. There is no rebate to wait for right now, so the decision is simply whether a home charger is worth $850 to $1,500 to you against public charging, and whether shifting to a time-of-day rate suits your household. For most people who can plug in at 9 p.m. and unplug at 6 a.m., it does. If you would rather wait, watch for ComEd’s February funding announcement and get in line early, because the residential pot did not last three months this year and there is no waitlist when it closes.
Either way, get a site walk before you commit to a price. Roughly half my quotes change after I see the panel, and online estimators that ignore panel headroom and run length are the main reason people get surprised on install day.
We do free site walks in Naperville, Aurora, Lisle, Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, La Grange, and the rest of DuPage and Will County. Use the form on our EV charger installation page or call (630) 427-5923. Same crew on every install, and the person who quotes your job is the person who files your paperwork.
Frequently asked questions
Is the ComEd EV charger rebate still available in September 2026? No. Under ComEd’s program terms, the Base rebate closed to new applications on February 28, 2026 and the LI/LIC/EIEC rebate closed on March 31, 2026. There is no waitlist for either tier this program year.
Am I a ComEd customer if I live in Naperville? Probably not. The City of Naperville runs its own municipal electric utility serving more than 62,000 customers inside the city. Addresses in unincorporated Naperville Township and in surrounding towns like Aurora, Lisle, and Plainfield are in ComEd territory. Check the name on your electric bill.
Does Naperville have its own EV charger rebate? Yes. Naperville Electric Utility offers up to $500 for a Level 2 or Level 3 charging station, capped at 50% of your total cost. The charger must be hardwired and permitted, the installation must pass a City inspection, you must be a contributor to the City’s Renewable Energy Program, and the application is due within six months of installation.
Can I still claim the federal EV charger tax credit? Only if your charger was placed in service on or before June 30, 2026. Section 30C expired that day under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Installations after that date receive no federal credit. Ask your tax preparer about claiming an earlier install on Form 8911.
When will ComEd’s 2027 rebate open? ComEd has not announced 2027 residential amounts or dates. Its Beneficial Electrification Plan runs through 2028, and funding has been announced in February and disbursed from the start of the calendar year in recent years. Nothing about that pattern is guaranteed.
Do I have to switch rate plans to install a charger? No. A rate plan was a condition of the ComEd rebate, not of the installation. With the rebate closed, the rate decision is purely about whether time-of-day pricing saves you money. Run ComEd’s Rate Comparison Tool against your own usage before deciding.
Does a JuiceBox charger qualify for the ComEd rebate? No. ComEd’s current terms specifically list Enel X and JuiceBox chargers as no longer qualifying as smart chargers under the program.
Can I file a ComEd rebate application myself? No. Applications must be submitted by a ComEd-approved EV Service Provider that performed the installation. You sign a Rebate Authorization Form and the EVSP files everything else within 90 days.
About the author. Alexandr Godonoaga is the owner and lead electrician at Cob Services LLC, an Illinois-licensed contractor (#26-00032356), ICC-certified and enrolled as a ComEd-approved EV Service Provider. He has personally led Level 2 charger installations across DuPage and Will County. Connect on LinkedIn or call (630) 427-5923.
Cob Services LLC 2020 Calamos Ct Suite 200, Naperville, IL 60563 (630) 427-5923 Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Rebate programs and utility rates change without notice. Figures on this page were verified against ComEd’s program Terms and Conditions (version 3.0), the Citizens Utility Board’s August 2026 rate tables, and the City of Naperville’s published incentive terms on September 5, 2026. Confirm current terms before making a financial decision. Nothing here is tax advice.