Check your electric bill before you chase a rebate. If it says Trico Electric Cooperative, TEP’s Efficient Home rebates are a TEP program, so don’t count on them. As of October 2026, Trico’s program pages list no rebate for a heat pump or AC. What Trico does list is a low-interest loan for HVAC upgrades, repaid on your electric bill, and a summer smart thermostat program. Climate Pros Tucson matches homeowners in Marana, Sahuarita and Green Valley with licensed local pros once you know which programs apply.

Who serves Marana, Sahuarita and Green Valley: Trico or TEP?

It depends on the address. Pima County lists Tucson Electric Power (TEP) as serving the Tucson metro, and Trico Electric Cooperative, a non-profit co-op, as serving northwest Tucson and Marana south to Green Valley and Sahuarita. Both utilities serve parts of this area, so the name on your bill is the answer. The area guides for Oro Valley and Marana and Sahuarita and Green Valley cover the homes themselves.

Does TEP’s Efficient Home rebate apply to Trico customers?

Don’t assume it does. TEP’s Efficient Home Program is an instant rebate taken off the price through a participating TEP contractor, and as listed by TEP in October 2026 it covers heat pump and AC quality installation, duct sealing, mini splits and AC tune-ups. If a contractor quotes a TEP rebate on a Trico address, ask them to show it in writing, or confirm with TEP at tep.com/efficient-home-program before you sign.

Can a Trico loan pay for a new AC or heat pump?

It can, if you qualify. Trico’s Energy Efficiency Loan Program is on-bill financing, and as listed by Trico in October 2026 it carries a 1.99% interest rate. The upgrades it names include electric heat pumps, electric HVAC replacements, duct sealing and switching from gas to electric.

Here’s how it works:

  • Trico pays the loan straight to the licensed contractor once the job is done and the program’s requirements are met.
  • You repay it on your monthly Trico bill.
  • You need an active Trico account, the right to make improvements on the property and a good Trico payment history.
  • Loans under $5,000 run 3 years, loans under $10,000 run 3 to 5 years, and loans over $10,000 run 7 years and need a credit score of 701 or higher plus a lien.
  • More than one project on one loan has to go through the same contractor.

So pick the contractor with the loan in mind, and ask Trico about it before work starts.

Does Trico pay you to use a smart thermostat?

Yes, through a pilot called the Thermostat Energy Management Program (TEMP). You bring an eligible smart thermostat, since Trico doesn’t supply one. From June 1 to September 30, Trico can raise it up to 4 degrees during high-demand events. An event lasts up to 4 hours, there’s at most one a day, and it can fall on any day, weekends and holidays included. Trico may precool the house by up to 3 degrees for up to an hour beforehand, and the thermostat goes back to your setting afterward.

As listed by Trico in October 2026, TEMP pays a one-time $50 per thermostat, up to two per household if they run two separate AC units, plus a $15 bill credit each month from June to September. You can skip an event, but skipping two or more in a summer can get you unenrolled. Leaving between June 1 and September 30 in your first year, after the $50 has been paid, can mean a $50 charge on your bill. TEMP isn’t open to customers on Trico’s residential time-of-use tariffs. Details are on Trico’s energy solutions page.

Does Trico have time-of-use peak hours?

Only for customers who already have them. Trico’s standard residential rate, Residential Service (RS1), has one energy charge with no peak hours. Its residential time-of-use plan, RS2TOU, is frozen. Under its January 1, 2026 tariff it takes no new customers, and anyone who leaves it can’t come back.

If you’re already on RS2TOU, on-peak runs:

  • April 1 to October 31: 1 to 9 p.m., Monday to Friday.
  • November 1 to March 31: 6 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 10 p.m., Monday to Friday.
  • Weekends and holidays are off-peak.

TEP’s summer on-peak is weekdays 3 to 7 p.m., May to September, but those hours belong to TEP’s plans. Set your thermostat schedule from your own Trico rate, not from TEP’s. The TEP time-of-use schedule and TEP rate plan guide apply only if your bill says TEP.

What should you ask Trico?

Call Trico Member Services at (520) 744-2944, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and note the date of the answer:

  • Which rate am I on, RS1 or RS2TOU?
  • Has a heat pump or AC rebate been added since October 2026?
  • Do I qualify for the Energy Efficiency Loan, and what does the contractor need to send?
  • Is my thermostat on the TEMP eligible list?

Ask before work starts, since the loan runs through the contractor you choose.

Which incentives don’t depend on your utility?

These are the same for a Trico customer as anyone else in Arizona:

  • Arizona HEAR rebates (Efficiency Arizona) are live but narrowed. They’re run by the Governor’s Office of Resiliency for low- to moderate-income households. Since September 1, 2026, they no longer pay to replace gas equipment with electric, and heat pump rebates apply to replacing existing electric equipment or heat pumps. Check efficiencyarizona.com.
  • Federal 25C and 25D credits ended for equipment placed in service after 2025, so a 2026 install doesn’t qualify.
  • Arizona has no HVAC or heat pump tax credit. The state credit in A.R.S. 43-1083 covers solar energy devices only.

The 2026 rebate update has more on each.

What should you do before the quote?

  1. Find your utility on the bill.
  2. If it’s Trico, ask about the loan and your rate before work starts.
  3. If your income may qualify, check Efficiency Arizona.
  4. Ask the contractor whether they’ve worked through Trico’s loan before, and confirm their license at roc.az.gov.

Getting quotes in Trico territory

For a heat pump or AC replacement in Marana, Sahuarita or Green Valley, see AC installation and heat pump service, or the Tucson area hub. Call (520) 353-2520 and we’ll match you with a licensed local pro.