Skip to content Skip to left sidebar Skip to footer

Program Announcement

Funding through NYSERDA’s On-the-Job Training Program

Program/s: All NYSERDA Residential Programs
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: Funding through NYSERDA’s On-the-Job Training Program
Contact with Questions:  PONOJT@nyserda.ny.gov

NYSERDA’s On-the-Job Training Program (PON 3982) was updated earlier this year and is accepting new applications. Businesses can receive wage subsidies to reduce the financial risk of hiring and training new workers and earn incentives for industry certifications their new hire earns. Funding of up to $11,000 per new hire is available when hiring residents of disadvantaged communities or members of priority populations. Funding of up to $8,500 per new hire is available for hiring other eligible individuals. Please review the summary of revisions outlining changes from the prior version of the On-the-Job Training Program.

More info on the program can be found here: https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/On-the-Job-Training-Program

Do you have questions about the On-the-Job Program requirements or steps to participate? NYSERDA holds monthly virtual office hours for program participants and those interested in learning more about the program.

Office Hours: Third Thursday of each month, 2:00-3:00 PM ET. Register on the program website: https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/On-the-Job-Training-Program

Air Infiltration Target

Programs: Comfort Home
To: All Comfort Home Contractors
Summary: Air Infiltration Target
Contact with Questions: Keith Bohling

NYSERDA has made a change to its Comfort Home program to better align with other residential retrofit programs. Beginning March 18, 2026,  Comfort Home will adopt an air infiltration target of 10 Air Changes per Hour at 50 Pascals (ACH50) or lower for 1-4 family homes. 

The target of 10ACH was designed in coordination with the EmPower+ program to help make a home heat pump ready. This target may become a requirement for future heat pump incentives through the Clean Heat program, which is why Comfort Home is now adopting it as an air sealing goal.

At the conclusion of a Comfort Home project, the Participating Contractor must verify the home’s infiltration performance.  If the contractor cannot perform a blower door test, the reason must be documented with uploaded geo-tagged photos and notes entered into NYHEP in the new ACH Target Note field. 

The Comfort Home program operates in alignment with the BPI Technical Standards for Envelope Professional, as indicated in the Comfort Home Program Manual which states  “All measures must be installed per manufacturer instructions, program guidelines, and BPI standards.” BPI standards for air sealing  include:

  • Air sealing measures must be prioritized to reduce the stack effect and inhibit moisture migration into attics or other interstitial spaces.
  • Air seal communication between the attic and living space first. Areas to seal include: by-passes around chimneys, ducts, drop soffits, shower inserts or other large penetrations; interior and exterior wall top-plates; and plumbing and wiring penetrations.
  • Leakage paths identified between attached or tuck-under garages and the living space must always be sealed.
  • Rim joist air sealing follows establishment of a pressure boundary between the attic and living space.

Additionally, air sealing installed through the Comfort Home program should conform with the New York State Technical Reference Manual which describes the minimum compliance efficiency requirements for air sealing as follows:

  • Sealing of interior wall/partitions between conditioned/unconditioned space including: doors, windows, plumbing/electrical/mechanical penetrations, larger gaps around windows/baseboards/etc.

As a reminder, all Comfort Home measure packages are “seal and insulate” packages and as a result must conform to the standards listed above. Package A is primarily intended to be used for homes where attic and rim joist areas present the only opportunity for improvement.  While the program allows for larger projects to be completed incrementally over multiple years, this option should not be used if deferring Package B measures would result in leaving unsealed areas that could be prone to moisture migration and/or pose a health and safety risk (e.g. the tuck-under garage ceilings noted in the BPI standards.)

These standards apply to Comfort Home projects in the following manner:

  1. Using diagnostic tools including blower door measurements, infrared scans, and visual inspection, verify that the areas listed in the standards above are already substantially air tight and do not require further sealing, OR
  2. Install air sealing measures as indicated below:
    1. Package A minimum requirements:
      1. Seal all accessible air leakage paths between the attic and/or roof and the living space to create a continuous pressure boundary aligned with the thermal boundary
      2. Seal air leakage paths between the rim joist and outside aligned with the thermal boundary
    2. Package B minimum requirements include all Package A requirements, and:
      1. When treating floor and wall areas use air sealing techniques and/or insulation installed in a manner to reduce air infiltration/exfiltration between conditioned and unconditioned spaces.

Blower door guided air sealing is preferable to air sealing without a blower door on site. The blower door is a tool that can be used by air sealing crews to identify air leakage locations to be sealed and to track progress toward the 10 ACH50 target. Trainings on how to use the blower door effectively as a real-time air sealing diagnostic tool can be found through the blower door manufacturers and the Building Performance Institute.

If the 10 ACH50 target can’t be reached with completion of these steps, notes about steps completed and source(s) of additional leakage should be entered in the new ACH Target Note field.   Projects that aren’t able to reach 10 ACH50 with reasonable explanation will still receive full package incentives.

This change will take effect for installations submitted in NYHEP on or after March 18, 2026.

IRA Data Entering Reminder

Program/s: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Contractors
Summary: IRA Data Entering Reminder
Questions: If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support

When entering measures in NYHEP, all contractors should be providing a total cost and a material cost per the below. The NYHEP field “Cost” and “Material Cost” within a measure should reflect the associated costs for each.

  • “Cost” = Full cost of installing the measure, including labor and materials
  • “Material Cost” = Cost of the product/unit being installed, and/or the materials required to properly install the measure.

The material cost and the total cost should not be the same value.

Below is a screenshot of NYHEP with the proper cost and material cost breakouts.

Splitting out the measures costs is required, especially for IRA HEAR funded projects. NYSERDA is required to complete monthly IRA reporting which includes providing equipment and labor cost for each IRA HEAR funded measure. In the event a contractor fails to capture the installation costs, the project will need to be reopened in NYHEP to allow for the contractor to update the measure costs appropriately.

If there are any questions, please reach out to contractor support to support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or (800)- 284-9069.

EmPower+ Eligible Measures

Program/s: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Contractors
Summary: EmPower+ Eligible Measures
Questions: If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support

The Low- to Moderate-Income (LMI) Energy Efficiency and Beneficial Electrification (EE/BE) Order was issued by the Public Service Commission in May 2025. This order covers funding for NYSERDA’s LMI single and multifamily programs for 2026-2030.  As part of the order, there were changes included to the New York State Technical Resource Manual (TRM) impacting certain EmPower+ measures. Savings for loan only measures will continue to count towards Project Level Cost Effectiveness (PLCE).  These changes require system updates and are planned for release in April 2026. EmPower+ will provide an updated Program Announcement once a date has been finalized.

Below are the changes impacting EmPower+ Measures

MeasureChange
Air PurifiersNow available only as a Health and Safety measure
DehumidifierNow available only as a Health and Safety measure
Advanced Power StripsNo Longer an Eligible Measure
Indirect Water HeaterNo Longer an Eligible Measure
Air Conditioner – CentralAvailable as Loan-Only
Air Conditioner – RoomAvailable as Loan-Only
Programmable ThermostatAvailable as Loan-Only

If there are any questions, please reach out to contractor support to support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or (800)- 284-9069.

The Energy Affordability Guarantee Pilot

Program/s: EmPower+
To: Participating Contractors, Clean Energy Hubs and Stakeholders
Summary: The Energy Affordability Guarantee Pilot
Contact with Questions: Please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069 with any questions

The Energy Affordability Guarantee (EAG) is a Pilot being run by the New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) that will provide homes that have been, or will be, electrified through the EmPower+ Program with a utility bill subsidy to ensure the homes energy burden is not greater than 6%.​

The goal for the Pilot is to serve at least 100 EmPower+ Tier 1 (Low-Income) households in each of the utility areas. Based on current program production, additional projects are needed in the following areas:

  • Central Hudson
  • Consolidated Edison
  • Orange and Rockland
  • Rochester Gas and Electric

Homes that have had projects completed on or after May 1, 2023, will be eligible. ​

Pilot Guidelines

  • Only homes in the following electric territories will be eligible: Central Hudson, Consolidated Edison, Orange and Rockland, and Rochester Gas and Electric.
  • Households with Municipal Electric are not eligible.
  • This pilot is only available to Tier 1 / low-income customers.​
  • Homes that are served by all fuel sources (including natural gas) will be eligible. ​
  • The maximum allowable ACH50 for homes will be increased to 10.​
  • The home’s existing heating systems must be removed, and the heat pump should be sized to cover the full heating load. 
  • The water heating system must be a HPWH.
  • Projects participating in the pilot will have priority at provisional approval.​
  • Contractor may return to a home that has a heat pump installed to install a HPWH, to qualify for the pilot.​
  • Homes will have energy monitors installed on the electrical panel boxes.​

Pilot Process for New EmPower+ Projects

  1. A Pilot application will be available on the contractor support site. This application must be filled out and submitted to Matt Houle matthew.houle@nyserda.ny.gov . Matt will review the application to ensure it meets program requirements and notify the contractor that they can proceed to submit the work scope. ​
  2. CLEAResult will identify the project in NYHEP as eligible for the pilot.​
  3. The work scope will be submitted per the normal EmPower+ Program processes and given priority at provisional approval.​
  4. After the project is complete, NYSERDA will provide the data for the project to the Implementation Contractor at DPS so they can contact and enroll the customer.​
  5. NYSERDA will be hiring a contractor to supervise the installation of energy monitors. ​
  6. NYSERDA will provide a tracker on the contractor support site indicating how many projects will be eligible in each utility territory.​
  7. The information from this pilot will be used to determine future utility bill subsidies and the viability of a gas to heat pump conversions in certain markets. ​
  8. The goal of the pilot is to have the remaining projects completed by December 31, 2025. 

The EAG Pilot was covered on the July 11, 2025, Home Modernization Monthly Contractor Call. If there are any questions, please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.