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NYSERDA Participating Contractor Heat Pump Training Series II

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Program/s: EmPower+, Residential Energy Assessments, Comfort Home
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: NYSERDA Participating Contractor Heat Pump Training Series II
Contact with Questions: [email protected]

NYSERDA Heat Pump Training Series 
Fridays 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. ET 
To register for the series, please click here.

DateTopicPresenter
04/11/25 Over-sizing, Over-zoning, under-sizing with back up heat (5kw up to 20% of heating load) SWA – Robb Aldrich 
04/25/25   Equipment Selection 1.5 hrsTRC – JJ Sawicki 
05/09/25 Design and placement of the system, Value engineering principles and practices  TRC – Matt/JJ/Brett
05/23/25 Ancillary/Miscellaneous –  
Exterior Equipment Placement 
Snow shields 
Condensate lines 
Dehumidification 
Avoiding mold growth in heads 
Manufacturer commissioning checklist 		TRC – Chrissy Thisse 
06/13/25 Using Manual J in Design- Putting it all together TRC – Matt Christie

Required Spray Foam Trainings – Due October 2025

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Program: EmPower+  and Comfort Home
To: EmPower+ and Comfort Home Participating Contractors 
Summary: Required Spray Foam Training-Due October 2025  
Contact with Questions: Contract support at (800) 284 – 9069 or email at [email protected] 

For Participating Contractors installing spray foam through EmPower+ or Comfort Home, NYSERDA is requiring training for individuals to be completed no later than October 1, 2025. A list of the required training for Field Employees, Applicators, Crew Leaders, and Auditors can be found on the contractor support site at https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/program-resources/sprayfoamresources/.

Contractors are required to keep documentation of all staff that attended the trainings. Documentation must include the training title, staff names, and dates the training was completed. At NYSERDA’s request, contractors must submit the training documentation within 48 hours of request.

Contractors will be required to submit a signed document that their company meets the new training requirements. This attestation form can be found at https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/program-resources/sprayfoamresources/. Once completed, contractors can submit to  [email protected].

For EmPower+ Participating Contractors, Section 5.2 of the Program Manual has been updated with the Spray Foam Training Requirements.

Information on the Spray Foam Training Requirements was provided as part of the November 1, 2024 Contractor Check-in Webinar, which was recorded and can be found at https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/webinars/.

If you have any questions, please contact Contractor Support at 800- 284–9069 or email at [email protected]. 

EmPower+ Pricing and EmPower+ / Comfort Home Fuel Rates

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To: Contractors and Stakeholders
Regarding Programs: EmPower+
Summary: Updated EmPower+ Pricing and EmPower+/Comfort Home Fuel Rates
Contact: Please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069 with any questions

EmPower+ measure pricing and fuel rates for EmPower+ and Comfort Home have been updated and are effective as of March 7, 2025.

EmPower+ pricing was reviewed and updated to reflect changes to several variables including national inflation and consumer price index (CPI) data, and market price research.  The updated list can be found in Section 5.5 of the Program Manual on the Contractor Support site.

Fuel rates for 2025 for EmPower+ and Comfort Home have been updated and posted on the Contractor Support website in Section 5.12 of the EmPower+  Program Manual.

The fuel rates and EmPower pricing have been updated in the NY Home Energy Portal (NYHEP) currently and will be effective for any new project entered in NYHEP beginning March 7, 2025. NYSERDA finance has also updated their Proforma tool to reflect the updated fuel pricing.

For Program fuel rates, natural gas and electricity rates are based on the Joint Utilities 2022-2024 SC1 3-year average. Delivered fuels are based upon the NYSERDA New York Home Pricing Monitoring Program 2022-2024 averages. For cost-effectiveness calculations, NYSERDA uses volumetric charges including supply (commodity), transmission and distribution, and other charges applied based on the supply volume.

If there are any questions, please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.

Important Program Updates

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Program: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors
Summary: Important Program Updates
Contact with Questions: Contract support at (800) 284 – 9069 or email at [email protected]

Please see the following program updates. These were covered in more detail on the March 7, 2025, Contractor Check-in webinar, which can be reviewed in its entirely here: Webinars – Contractor Support.

Provisional Approvals

To maintain overall program continuity and equitable access to incentives, NYSERDA is implementing a new EmPower+ project management and approval process. The new approach will give NYSERDA the capability to manage the flow of projects in alignment with customer need and regional production goals. 

A contractor will submit the proposed work scope for the customer’s project. After it is approved by CLEAResult, it will proceed to the Provisional Approval workflow step.  When the work scope has been approved for installation, the project will move to final project submission and NYSERDA will send an auto generated email to the customer, contractor, and Hub letting them know the work scope has been approved and is ready for installation.

This change is expected to be implemented on April 2, 2025.

Refrigerators and Freezers

NYSERDA will be reallocating funding to higher impact measures and no longer provide incentives for refrigerator and freezer upgrades through the EmPower+ program, effective 5:00 p.m. EST March 14, 2025. Projects with submitted and approved refrigerators and freezers will be allowed to proceed.

Onboarding New Contractors

Effective April 2, 2025, EmPower+ will focus the onboarding of new contractors to the following regions:

  • North Country
  • Capital Region
  • Mid-Hudson
  • New York City

If there are any questions, please contact Contract support at (800) 284 – 9069 or email at [email protected]

NYHEP Updates

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Program: EmPower+ and REA
To: EmPower+ and REA Contractors
Summary: NYHEP Updates
Contact with Questions: If you experience any issues reaching the contractor support team by phone, please send an email to [email protected]

NYHEP Version 10.1 was released on February 19, 2025. Below is a summary of the updates:

  1. Expand/Collapse Measure Grid with 0 for measure quantity​
    • all properties will be collapsed by default​
    • the measure will appear ‘greyed out’ but the user can still access it​
  2. Update Drop down list for ‘Project Deferral’ reasons​
    • The drop-down list will contain the following options: Roof Leaks, Mold-Like Substance, Asbestos-Like Substance, Extreme Clutter, Extreme Moisture, Structural Issue, Unsafe to Inspect, Pest Infestation​
  3. EmPower+ Appliance Enrollment Email Notification​
    • Email notification sent to contractors/trade allies when an appliance enrollment is sent back to them for revisions