National Grid serves roughly 4 million electric customers across two very different regulatory territories, and — unlike most utilities on this site — a third state it used to serve doesn’t apply to National Grid at all anymore. A homeowner in Worcester and a homeowner in Syracuse searching “National Grid EV charger rebate” are going to get completely different answers, and a homeowner in Providence needs to stop searching for National Grid entirely.
Massachusetts: up to $2,000, tiered by income and building type
National Grid’s EV Charging Upgrade Program pays for the home wiring behind a Level 2 charger — not the charger hardware itself — on a sliding scale:
- Standard rate: up to $700 for a single-family home, up to $1,400 for a 2-4 unit building.
- Environmental justice communities: up to $1,000 single-family, up to $2,000 for 2-4 units, provided the EV being charged is priced $55,000 or less.
- Low-income R-2 discount-rate customers: the same $1,000/$2,000 wiring tier, plus a separate $700 smart-charger rebate that standard-rate customers don’t get.
Every tier requires enrolling in National Grid’s Off-Peak Charging Program through the Charge Smart MA app — mandatory for single-family homeowners, though 2-4 unit landlords without EV-owning tenants or with shared parking can skip it. That same enrollment pays an ongoing credit of roughly $100 a year just for charging outside peak windows, on top of the one-time wiring rebate. Applications close December 10, 2026 — the work has to be completed and the application submitted by that date to qualify.
- This is a wiring rebate, not a charger discount. Our EV charger installation cost guide shows a typical hardwired Level 2 install running $1,200–$3,000; the $700–$2,000 credit can wipe out most or all of that before the charger purchase even factors in.
- It stacks with — but is separate from — MOR-EV. Massachusetts’ state EV purchase incentive pays up to $3,500 toward the vehicle itself, a different program with a different application, but nothing stops a household from claiming both.
Upstate New York: no residential rebate at all
This is the blunt part. National Grid’s Upstate New York EV programs — grouped under the “Take Charge” name — fund workplace charging, multifamily buildings, and retail/destination locations, not single-family homes. There’s no equivalent of Massachusetts’ wiring rebate for a homeowner installing a charger in their own garage.
It gets thinner, not thicker, going into 2026: the Level 2 and DC fast charging Make-Ready Program — the piece of Take Charge that funded electrical infrastructure for approved projects — stopped accepting new applications as of April 3, 2026. The only thing left for an Upstate NY homeowner is enrolling in National Grid’s managed-charging program for lower time-of-use electricity rates on the energy itself, which saves money over years of charging but puts zero dollars toward the charger or its install.
| Territory | Utility today | Residential charger rebate | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts (standard) | National Grid | Up to $700 (SF) / $1,400 (2-4 unit) | Home wiring only |
| Massachusetts (EJ / low-income) | National Grid | Up to $1,000 (SF) / $2,000 (2-4 unit) + $700 smart charger (R-2) | Wiring + charger (R-2 only) |
| Upstate New York | National Grid | None (residential) | Time-of-use rate savings only |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Energy (not National Grid) | Up to $1,500 install + $800 charger (PowerUpRI) | Purchase + install |
Rhode Island: wrong utility, right program elsewhere
If you’re searching “National Grid EV charger rebate” from a Rhode Island address, National Grid isn’t who you’re looking for anymore. National Grid sold its Rhode Island electric and gas business to PPL Corporation in 2022; the territory now operates as Rhode Island Energy, a separate company with its own branding, billing, and programs.
Rhode Island’s real incentive is the state-run PowerUpRI program, administered by the Office of Energy Resources and the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank rather than the utility itself: up to $1,500, or 75% of installation cost (whichever is less) for a Level 2 charger install, plus up to $800, or 100% of the charger’s purchase price (whichever is less) — potentially over $2,000 combined for a qualifying household, with higher amounts available for income-qualified applicants. The charger has to have been purchased on or after August 1, 2024.
Buy a charger that qualifies wherever you land
Massachusetts and Rhode Island both reward — or require, for the R-2 tier — a Wi-Fi-connected, ENERGY STAR-certified charger that supports scheduled off-peak charging. Buying one of those covers you whether you’re claiming National Grid’s Massachusetts wiring rebate or PowerUpRI’s purchase rebate in Rhode Island.
ChargePoint Home Flex
- App-based scheduling handles National Grid Massachusetts' mandatory off-peak enrollment automatically, instead of relying on manually timing every charging session.
- Adjustable 16–50A output means an Upstate NY homeowner without any rebate still gets a charger sized to whatever circuit their electrician can actually run.
- Read our full ChargePoint Home Flex review for the six SKU variants and how it compares against the competition.
Installing chargers for a business rather than your own garage? A free Amazon Business account unlocks quantity discounts and tax-exempt purchasing if you’re outfitting more than one unit — useful for the 2-4 unit landlords who qualify for National Grid’s higher Massachusetts tier.
Emporia Classic Level 2 EV Charger
- The lowest-priced ENERGY STAR-certified charger in our lineup — since Massachusetts' standard-rate rebate covers wiring rather than the charger, a cheaper qualifying unit keeps the total project cost down on top of the credit.
- Wi-Fi app scheduling meets the off-peak enrollment requirement out of the box for National Grid MA customers.
- See our full Emporia Classic review for the PowerSmart load-management tradeoffs.
The bottom line
National Grid pays real money for home charger wiring in Massachusetts — up to $2,000 for income-qualified 2-4 unit households — but that money doesn’t exist for Upstate New York homeowners, and it doesn’t exist under the National Grid name at all in Rhode Island anymore. Massachusetts customers should apply through the EV Charging Upgrade Program before December 10, 2026 and enroll in off-peak charging for the ongoing credit; Rhode Island customers should apply to PowerUpRI directly rather than searching National Grid’s site; and Upstate New York customers currently get nothing beyond time-of-use rate savings. Our EV charger rebate guide covers other utilities nationally if you’re outside National Grid’s footprint entirely, our EV charger installation cost guide shows what the underlying project runs before any credit, and our best home EV charger picks cover the full lineup beyond the two ENERGY STAR options above.