Program Announcements for October 2026

Program/s: EmPower+, Virtual Energy Assessments, Comfort Home
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: Monthly Contractor Update
Contact with Questions: residential.programs@nyserda.ny.gov

October

NYSERDA Home Modernization Monthly Contractor Webinar
Friday, October 2, 2026  
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. ET  

Webinar number: 2541 163 1872
Webinar password: Energy1

November

NYSERDA Home Modernization Monthly Contractor Webinar
Friday, November 6, 2026  
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. ET  

Webinar number: 2539 779 4095
Webinar password: Energy1

All attendees must register prior to joining the event. This process will allow you to add the meeting to your calendar and provides each individual with a custom link to join the meeting. Please do not share your link with anyone. To register for the series, please click here.

All webinars are recorded and links to the recordings are available on the Contractor Support site. 

Program/s: RMAG
To: Residential Contractors
Summary: Invitation/reminder for upcoming RMAG meeting
Contact with Questions: Tamar Nagel, or resmarket@nyserda.ny.gov

Join us in-person this October for our next NYSERDA Residential Market Advisory Group quarterly meeting.

In our third meeting in 2026, we will provide updates on NYSERDA residential projects and discuss emerging priorities for the residential clean energy market in New York State.

Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET
Location: Hilton Albany, Albany, NY 12207 

Register Here

Program/s: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors
Summary: No-Heat Season Installation Guidelines
Contact with Questions: If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support

The 2026-2027 No-Heat season begins October 1, 2026, and ends April 15, 2027, or until funding is no longer available. As a reminder, EmPower+ may only be used as a last resort option for no-heat emergencies where the homeowner has already exhausted all other public assistance options to obtain a functioning heating system.

Contractors are expected to complete No-Heat emergency installations within seven calendar days of workscope approval. Installation delays should be noted on the New York Home Energy Portal (NYHEP) enrollment and include an explanation for the delay and the anticipated installation date.

If prompt submission does not occur, outreach will be conducted to the contractor requesting the information. Enrollments not moving through NYHEP in a timely manner or not responding to outreach requests may cause the enrollment to lose no heat status or the project may be reassigned to another contractor for completion.

If you have any questions, please contact support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or 1-800-284-9069. 

Program: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors
Summary: No-Heat Updates
Contact with Questions: support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov.
 
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has updated the No-Heat Guidelines, found in Section 5.7 of the Program Manual, to provide guidance on the submission of No-Heat projects through EmPower+. These guidelines are effective beginning October 1, 2026, and continue through the heating season until April 15, 2026, or until funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. As a reminder, EmPower+ may only be used as a last resort option for no-heat emergencies where the homeowner has already exhausted all other public assistance options to obtain a functioning heating system.
 
These updates were covered in the September 11, 2026, Home Modernization Monthly meeting which can be accessed at Webinars – Contractor Support. Below is a summary of the changes for 2026-2027.

• The total available No-Heat EmPower+ funding for the 2026-27 heating season is $1,000,000. A budget tracking and no-heat resource page has been provided on the contractor support site that will post updated statuses of the available funding
• The maximum No-Heat incentive is $6,000, regardless of heating system type.
  • If the project cost exceeds the available funding, households are encouraged to access low-interest financing through Green Jobs – Green New York or work with their Clean Energy HUB to see if other funding opportunities are available in their area.
• No-heat incentives are reserved and made available to low-income households.
• Incentives are not available for rental units unless the building is owner-occupied and the building owner is income eligible.
• Contractors and customers must complete the No-Heat Attestation Form and submit as part of the project submission paperwork.

Sections 5.7 through 5.7.7 of the Program Manual have been updated to reflect these changes.
If you have any questions, please contact support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or 1-800-284-9069.

Program: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors
Summary: Rental Property Services Agreement
Contact with Questions: Support at support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov.

Effective immediately, for rental properties with comprehensive work scopes and a signed Rental Property Services Agreement, Participating Contractors are required to provide a copy of the agreement to each tenant where work was completed. This can be part of the project closeout paperwork left with the customer at project completion.

An updated version of the Rental Property Service Agreement is available on the contractor support site. The updated language has been incorporated into the Agreement and is included below:

“8. It is understood that the present and future tenant(s) are meant as the persons to benefit from the Program. Upon project completion, a copy of this agreement will be provided by the participating contractor to each tenant where work was completed. In addition, the owner shall provide this Agreement to any tenant upon request. Tenants may contact the program implementer at 1-866-NYSERDA with any questions or concerns in association with the terms of this Agreement”

If you have any questions, please contact support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or 1-800-284-9069. 

Program: EmPower+, Comfort Home
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: Vendor Responsibility Checklist
Contact with Questions: Support at support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov.

EmPower+ and Comfort Home Contractors are required to complete and return a NYSERDA Vendor Responsibility Checklist. This document must be submitted by existing contractors and will be a requirement moving forward for new and on-boarding contractors as part of the application process.

The document is available to download from the contractor support site and must be submitted by email to support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov no later than Nov. 13, 2026

If you have any questions, please contact support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov or 1-800-284-9069. 

Program/s: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors, Energy Hubs
Summary: Audit Only Contractors
Contact with Questions: matthew.houle@nyserda.ny.gov

Beginning on January 1, 2027, EmPower+ will start monitoring the number of assessment only projects submitted by contractors.  After this date,  standalone home energy assessments should only be completed for a small percentage of a contractor’s completed projects. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) expects contractors to complete comprehensive work scopes whenever possible.

Additional guidance for Participating EmPower+ Contractors:

• Assessment -only projects are still allowed in limited circumstances. For example, if there is a health and safety issue beyond the scope of EmPower+, the contractor can submit the assessment through the program for reimbursement.  
• If a contractor is submitting an assessment-only project, notes must be provided on why a comprehensive work scope cannot be completed.
• A comprehensive work scope can be accomplished by the participating contractor completing the home energy assessment and installing energy efficiency measurements themselves or by working with a sub-contractor to install the energy efficiency measurements.
• There should only be one work scope submitted for enrollments. Enrollments should include the home energy assessment and the energy efficiency measurements.
• A comprehensive work scope should include one of the following, air sealing, attic wall, rim joist insulation or an upgraded HVAC system.
• Assessment only projects will not count towards a contractor’s annual minimum production requirements of 20 projects per year.

NYSERDA understands that there are a few situations where a contractor will only complete a home energy assessment; however, this should not be large percentage of a contractor’s overall projects.

Please reach out to Matt Houle matthew.houle@nyserda.ny.gov with questions or concerns.

Program/s: All Programs
To: NYHEP and NYSERDA System Users
Summary: User Access and Restrictions
Contact with Questions:  support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov

New York Home Energy Portal (NYHEP) and NYSERDA system users that have never logged in or have not logged in within the past 12 months will be deactivated on a rolling basis. 

Further, as a reminder and previously announced, Participating Contractors are provided with individual credentials permitting access to NYHEP for approved program purposes and must not share passwords or allow unauthorized access to NYHEP. 

Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system is not permitted and may constitute a crime. Such use may subject you to appropriate disciplinary and/or criminal prosecution. NYHEP is intended to be used by individual users to manually enter data in accordance with the documentation and training materials provided for the purpose of supporting direct human users working on individual projects. Any other use that is not explicitly covered in training materials is not allowed, including but not limited to the use of automated software tools designed to access data (automated bots, scraping tools, API polling tools, etc.).

Participating Contractors shall not use, modify, or apply the NYHEP system for any purpose other than its expressly intended purpose; reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code of the software; use the software in a manner that violates any applicable local, state, or federal laws or regulations; use the software in a manner that circumvents the permissions restricting access to data.