Program/s: Comfort Home To: All Comfort Home contractors Summary: Attic insulation photos for Package B Contact with Questions: Keith Bohling, keith.bohling@nyserda.ny.gov
Comfort Home installations submitted for package B where attic gable walls are included must include photos. The photos must show the attic walls being insulated. If attic wall insulation is added to insulate an adjacent conditioned space, the photos must show both the attic and the conditioned spaces. For more details, please review the December 2024 contractor webinar slides here.
Program/s: Residential Energy Assessment Program To: REA Contractors Summary: REA Enrollments in Assessment Submission Step for 60 Days – New NYHEP Feature Contact with Questions:homeaudits@nyserda.ny.gov
NYHEP will be configured to automatically cancel a Residential Energy Assessment (REA) enrollment that has been Open in the Assessment Submission step for 60 days on January 31. Upon canceling the enrollment, an email will be sent to the primary Trade Ally contact listed in the Trade Ally Information section of the Applicant Information tab within the Assessment Submission step. All new enrollments created after January 31 will be subject to canceling if the enrollment is open for 60 days in the Assessment Submission step. An announcement will be posted on the NYHEP home page regarding this feature.
If an enrollment needs to be reopened after it gets canceled, please reach out to Contractor Support at support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or 800-284-9069.
In addition to this feature, a clean-up effort of canceling REA enrollments in the Assessment Submission step for more than 60 days will be completed throughout the month of January. If your company has open enrollment(s) older than 60 days in the Assessment Submission step, you will receive an email with a list of the enrollment numbers that will be canceled. Contractors can cancel enrollments on their own using the ‘Cancel’ outcome selection, then clicking ‘Process’ within the Assessment Submission step.
Programs: EmPower+ To: Participating Contractors Summary: Income Verification Updates Questions: 1-866-NYSMART
Updates to the EmPower+ Income Guidelines have been made and will be effective with the launch of My Energy for EmPower+.
Please review Section 3.6 in the Program Manual in its entirety.
Updates and clarifications include the following:
Address and Income Documentation
The address on all proof of income must match the application address
If a customer has recently moved, they need to provide either a lease with their name on it, deed, or a driver’s license/non-driver ID listing the application address as their address.
If an applicant provides multiple income documents to the Program, NYSERDA will use the most recent for purposes of determining income eligibility.
Full time Students
Full time students who are members of the household but who are not dependents of the applicant must list all sources of income. Loans (including student loans) will not be counted as income.
For students residing in rental housing, income documentation must be provided (income from student loans is excluded.)
Students who can be claimed as a dependent on another’s tax return are not considered part of the household for the rental unit, and any countable income would be counted at their parent/guardian’s home.
Households that consist solely of a single full time student occupant with no proof of income may be required to show proof of full-time student status.
If there are any questions, please contact application support at 1-866-NYSERDA.
Programs: EmPower+ To: Participating Contractors Summary: Energy Education and Project Look Back Updates Questions: Reach out to Contractor Support
Energy Education
Starting February 1, 2025, NYSERDA will cease to provide an incentive for energy education during the home energy assessment. Instead, NYSERDA will attach a link to the email notice for approved applications on different ways customers can save on their utility bills through actions they can take in their homes. The information is also mailed to potential applicants in the mailing to utility and OTDA referrals. The ability to claim the measure will be removed from NYHEP on February 1, 2025. This will impact enrollments submitted in NYHEP for Workscope Review for the first time on or after February 1, 2025.
Project Look back
Starting February 1, 2025, NYSERDA will reinstitute a project lookback for EmPower+ customers. Customers who have an approved EmPower+ application dated June 1, 2024, or later and completed a project up to Program incentive caps, will be required to wait one year from the NYHEP Funding Allocation date of their project before they can apply again to receive additional funding.
Contractors with projects that require over the current $5,000/10,000 from standard EmPower+ for moderate and low income incentives and the additional $14,000 from IRA funding (especially those requiring whole home insulation) are encouraged to submit their whole-home work scopes to NYSERDA for secondary reviews. Projects with an approved EmPower+ Application date prior to February 1, 2025, will be allowed to be completed.
These updates will be covered as part of the January 10, 2025, Contractor check in call. To register, please click here.
As of Monday, November 25, 2024, the application to join the Multifamily Residential Energy Pathways Participating Contractor Network is live. Please visit the Multifamily Contractor Network page to access the application. The webpage also includes the slides and recording from the webinar held on October 28 that provided an overview of the contractor network and a walkthrough of the application.
