Commercial lighting rebates remain widely available in the U.S. but appear to be at an evolutionary crossroads as LED saturation increases, with programs finding themselves incentivized to promote lighting controls more heavily. In this column, I will review major trends based on BriteSwitch’s RebatePro database while previewing what the future of lighting rebates may look like based on a new study by utility consulting firm DNV.
In review, utilities and energy-efficiency organizations offer commercial lighting rebates to entice customers to install energy-efficient equipment, primarily in existing buildings. They have undeniably impacted product development, accelerated adoption of energy-efficient lighting, and reduced the need for power generation. The three most common rebate models are prescriptive downstream, prescriptive midstream, and custom. Of these, prescriptive downstream is most popular, where customers install a qualifying product and receive a cash reward. Lighting has always been a leading product category in rebate programs, traditionally offering high-volume, low-cost energy savings.
“Some programs recently changed to allow LED-to-LED upgrades, a sign that programs are casting a wider net to harvest energy savings.”
According to BriteSwitch, 77% of the U.S. is covered by an active program. In 2025, average rebates per LED product slightly increased, likely due to inflation, with the most popular product types shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. A big opportunity moving forward is in states implementing bans on popular linear and compact fluorescent lamps that are going into effect between 2024 and 2029. As fluorescent lamps stop being available, building owners can be enticed to leverage rebate dollars to convert en masse rather than piecemeal.
As for lighting control rebates, they remain widely available and substantial. In most of the U.S., if a lighting rebate is available, so too is a controls rebate, with the most popular standalone control options shown in Figure 3. Historically, these rebates have been consistent and lucrative, positioning lighting controls as an attractive upfront addition for lighting upgrades.
Meanwhile, networked lighting control (NLC) rebates continue to grow in availability. NLCs are intelligent systems in which devices are connected within a network to enact control strategies for greater flexibility, substantial energy savings, and non-energy benefits realized through documented building data. In 2025, 474 programs are currently incentivizing this control option in prescriptive rebates, including some midstream (instant) rebates realized at the point of sale, according to BriteSwitch. These rebates vary in incentive type, with the most popular being a rebate adder for NLC-controlled LED luminaires.
Again, the future of commercial lighting rebates will heavily prioritize lighting controls. We can see signs of it starting already. First, I will explain why.
The Department of Energy estimated that LED lighting achieved a near parity with traditional light sources in the commercial building sector in 2020. A 2024 study by DNV estimated that 60% of installed linear luminaires are now LED, which places LED adoption in the late majority phase. The remaining legacy market includes many smaller buildings and otherwise less-accessible projects, which are more challenging to convert. This is putting considerable pressure on rebate programs to meet their energy savings goals.
In the past, 10 to 25% of rebate programs would run out of funds prior to the end of the program year. In recent years, this percentage has steadily reduced, with an increasing number of programs ending the year with unspent funds. As a result, rebate programs have begun offering substantial bonuses ranging from 10 to 100%. According to BriteSwitch, a record 40 programs ended 2024 with such bonuses, and 5% were already offering them at the start of 2025. It can pay to check if bonuses are available when exploring rebates.
Some in the industry speculated that utilities would no longer offer rebates. But today they are as vital as ever, given projected increases in energy consumption due to various trends, notably the construction of more data centers in the emerging AI era. Lighting’s traditional role as low-hanging fruit for energy savings, however, is certainly diminishing as LED adoption increases and the remaining market is more challenging. As a result, and welcome news to our industry, rebate programs are evolving to expand their energy-saving opportunities and maximize the energy-saving value of each rebate transaction.
Some programs recently changed to allow LED-to-LED upgrades, a sign that programs are casting a wider net to harvest energy savings. Meanwhile, lighting controls are starting to be positioned more prominently in rebate program catalogs, with the lighting control rebate placed alongside the LED rebate instead of the back of the catalog; about 20% of programs now do this. Finally, some programs are starting to require that to receive an LED product rebate, the product must be controlled. For example, Mass Save changed its prescriptive downstream rebate to incentivize luminaires only if they include integral controls.
These are exploratory steps as rebate programs grapple with the challenge. In its 2024 study, DNV identified six lighting incentive opportunities it touted as next generation: LED-to-LED upgrades, advanced lighting controls, lighting system redesign with LED luminaires, lighting demand-side management, germicidal UV, and tunable lighting, grading each on its attractiveness for rebate programs. Of these, the two highest rated are LED-to-LED upgrades with an “A” rating and advanced lighting controls with a “B” rating. This suggests that the early inroads by rebate programs into focusing on these opportunities will likely accelerate, though these programs will have to adjust their economic valuations.
For decades, commercial lighting rebates have offered a powerful incentive for building owners to adopt energy-efficient lighting and controls. While rebates require effort and pose a degree of risk, numerous building owners have used them to help fund the installation of new lighting and controls.
The overall outlook for commercial lighting rebates in the U.S. in 2025 is very strong, with widely available rebates supported by freely available, detailed listings of qualified products in the DesignLights Consortium’s Qualified Products Lists. These rebates are particularly attractive for projects involving solutions adding lighting controls, including networked lighting controls. While capturing lighting upgrade projects may be more challenging as LED adoption increases, rebates can be even more critical to capture this business.
Gary Meshberg, LC, CLCP, LEED-AP, Member IES, is chair of the Lighting Controls Association (a council of NEMA) and strategic projects sales director, Building Control Systems for Legrand North America.
