What Swamp Cooler Rebates Are Available in 2026, by Utility?

The biggest residential swamp cooler rebates in 2026 are in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. El Paso Electric pays up to $1,000 per unit in its New Mexico territory and $600 ($700 income qualified) in Texas, Xcel Energy Colorado pays $300, $675 or $1,200 depending on the cooler and the ducting, and PNM gives $400 off a whole-house unit or $200 off a window unit. In Utah, Rocky Mountain Power takes $50 to $125 off at the register. SRP and TEP in Arizona, Colorado Springs Utilities and the Southern Nevada Water Authority list no residential cooler rebate.

Below is every program side by side, what each one actually requires, and why the requirements keep pointing at the same kind of cooler. To see what the rebate is worth against the price tag, start with how much a swamp cooler costs.

2026 swamp cooler rebates by utility

Each row comes from the utility's own program page, application or rebate summary, listed under Sources. All of these programs are first come, first served: when the year's funding runs out, the rebate stops, even before the end date.

PNM's rebate cannot exceed the purchase price, excluding taxes, shipping and installation, and El Paso Electric's Texas rebate is capped at the total project cost. Neither cap matters for a whole-house cooler, but it can for a cheap window unit.

What qualifies: the same cooler, five ways

Read the requirements together and the programs describe one machine. The large rebates are not paying for "a swamp cooler." They are paying for a ducted rigid-media cooler with water management and a wall control, and each program states a different piece of that specification:

Saturation effectiveness of 85% or more

El Paso Electric (both states) and Xcel's premium tiers. This is how close the media brings supply air to the wet bulb temperature.

12-inch rigid media

PNM, for whole-house units. Its page says units with 8-inch media "do not qualify."

Permanently installed and ducted

El Paso Electric. Xcel's $1,200 tier goes further and wants at least three supply ducts, one of them new.

Purge pump and remote thermostat

Xcel's $675 and $1,200 tiers.

Minimum airflow

Xcel's $300 tier needs 2,500 CFM; Rocky Mountain Power's three tiers run from 500 to 7,000 CFM.

Why 12 inches and not 8? Our guide to pad types puts 8-inch rigid media at about 85 to 90% and 12-inch at about 90 to 95%, so an 8-inch unit sits on the edge of an 85% threshold while 12-inch clears it comfortably. Aspen pads, at about 60 to 80%, fall well short of it. The trade-offs are covered in aspen vs rigid media.

The eligibility lists confirm it. El Paso Electric's Texas list states "Eligible evaporative coolers must have a Saturation Effectiveness ≥ 85%," and its 39 entries come from the premium lines of a few makers: MasterCool units with model numbers ending in 5112 or 7112 (which both utility lists file under Champion and Essick Air), AeroCool Pro and AeroCool Trophy units from Phoenix Manufacturing, and Breezair and Convair units from Seeley International. Xcel's qualified list labels the Trophy 4812 and 6812 as 12-inch models and rates the premium models it lists from 86% (Breezair) to 93% (AeroCool Pro). For background on these makers, see the Breezair guide and the Champion and Essick Air guide.

Why "every Southwest utility pays for swamp coolers" is wrong

The belief persists because the New Mexico, Texas and Colorado programs are generous and well known, and because utilities in the region have long promoted evaporative cooling. But several of the largest utilities and water agencies in cooler country have no residential cooler rebate in 2026:

• SRP (Phoenix area). Its fiscal 2027 business program, effective May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027, pays $0.06 per CFM for evaporative coolers. Its residential Cool Cash program covers air conditioners and heat pumps; the terms and conditions do not mention evaporative coolers.
• TEP (Tucson). Its residential rebates cover heating and cooling through the Efficient Home Program, smart thermostats, heat pump water heaters, insulation and shade trees, with no evaporative cooler rebate.
• Colorado Springs Utilities. Its residential rebates cover HVAC and heat pumps, water heaters, insulation, smart thermostats, toilets and irrigation; none is for evaporative coolers.
• Southern Nevada Water Authority. SNWA pays in the other direction: its business program offers up to 50 percent of project cost, capped per ton, to convert evaporative cooling to mechanical or hybrid systems. It has no residential cooler rebate.

The underlying split is water versus power. Electric utilities pay for coolers because they draw far less power than refrigerated air. A water agency in a drought region looks at the same machine and sees gallons; see how much water a swamp cooler uses.

A note on Xcel's program year

Xcel's evaporative cooling page, run by Energy Federation Inc., lists the three tiers but shows no program year or deadline. The amounts are current: Xcel's Colorado 2025-2026 rebate summary, effective November 16, 2025, lists the same $300, $675 and $1,200 tiers. The qualified equipment list linked from Xcel's site is older. It says it covers the program "in 2020," and states that Xcel will "only rebate according to the current approved list." Confirm your model against the list Xcel supplies at the time you apply, not against a model number from that PDF.

What the rebate does to the price

A premium rigid-media whole-house cooler typically costs $2,500 to $5,500 before installation in 2026, against about $700 to $1,800 for an aspen unit, according to our cost guide. The rebates narrow that gap but do not close it: $1,000 from El Paso Electric New Mexico, $675 or $1,200 from Xcel, $600 or $700 from El Paso Electric Texas, and $400 from PNM. The rest of the case for rigid media comes from colder air and pads that last several seasons, not from the rebate.

Xcel's $1,200 tier is the one that changes a decision. It pays $525 more than the single-duct premium rebate if at least three supply ducts are installed and one duct and diffuser are new. If your house has hot back bedrooms, that extra money goes toward the duct work you needed anyway. Layout and sizing are covered in ductwork for evaporative coolers, and the full job cost in what installation costs.

How to claim each one

1. PNM. Verify eligibility on PNM's rebate site, choose Best Buy, Home Depot or Lowe's, and the instant coupon arrives by email for use at checkout. PNM's own page also offers an online claim and a mail-in form.
2. Rocky Mountain Power. Buy a qualifying unit at a participating Utah retailer; the discount is applied at checkout with no application.
3. El Paso Electric Texas. Within 45 days of the invoice date, submit the application with photos of the installed system, the nameplate and the invoice, by email, mail or the online portal. EPE or CLEAResult may inspect before paying.
4. El Paso Electric New Mexico. Apply online or mail the form with receipts. Checks are mailed within 4 to 6 weeks of receipt.
5. Xcel Energy Colorado. Apply after installation. For the premium tiers, the receipt must list every premium component; Xcel's list warns that otherwise "it will be considered a standard cooler ($300 rebate)." The same list notes that some standard coolers can be upgraded to premium with the thermostat, purge pump and media.

Whoever installs it, a permanent whole-house cooler may also need a building permit; check the rules in do you need a permit for a swamp cooler.

Where this table stops applying

• Funding runs out. Every program here pays first come, first served. A late-season purchase can miss the money even before the stated end date.
• Window and portable units. El Paso Electric excludes both. PNM pays $200 on a window unit only if it has rigid media, and Xcel's $300 standard tier needs 2,500 CFM, which rules out window coolers smaller than that. See window evaporative coolers for the trade-offs.
• New construction. Rocky Mountain Power's discount is for existing homes only.
• Next year. El Paso Electric requires purchase and installation in the current program year, PNM's dates end December 31, 2026, and Rocky Mountain Power can change its offer on 45 days' notice. Check again before a 2027 purchase.
• Other utilities. Co-ops and municipal utilities run their own programs, and this table does not cover them. Ask yours before you buy, because the instant discounts only work at the register.