December 15 is the DLC date that can kill a rebate

Brite Switch reported on October 14 that the DesignLights Consortium will remove products from its qualified list on December 15, 2026 if they have not completed the move to SSL V6.0. It is the first large delisting since 2022, when products that had not met V5.1 came off the list.

The new technical requirements were finalized on November 3, 2025. Manufacturers have been able to submit products under them since January 2026. Brite Switch counted the list at 9 a.m. Eastern on October 12: 161,621 products already qualified under V6.0, and 248,859 still listed under V5.1. Those are Brite Switch’s figures from that morning, not a live count.

The October 9 deadline was for transition applications on existing products. Applications after that date are reviewed as new products. On December 15, anything that has not finished the V6.0 transition is scheduled to come off. Brite Switch was careful on the arithmetic. Not all 248,859 V5.1 listings will vanish that day. Some are already in process. Some will lose the listing.

That is the part a contractor feels. Brite Switch said about 65 percent of commercial lighting rebate offerings require a DLC-qualified product. A catalog number that qualifies on the day you quote can fail the form if the listing is gone when the paperwork is filed.

Programs are not moving in lockstep. Brite Switch listed a few examples. Focus on Energy in Wisconsin wants V6.0 starting January 1, 2027, with a path for 2026 installs if the application is in by January 31, 2027. ComEd wants V6.0 from January 1, 2027. Avista allows up to 120 days after a delisting. FirstEnergy in Maryland and Pennsylvania accepts the current DLC version or the one just before it. The program, not the DLC calendar, decides the rebate.

A logo on a cut sheet is not a listing. Search the exact model on the qualified products list. If the job will still be open after December 15, ask the rebate program in writing whether a V5.1 listing, a preapproval, or a V6.0 listing is what they will accept.

This brief paraphrases the October 14, 2026 Brite Switch article. It does not say which Integrity LED fixtures are on the list.