Program Announcements for June 2026

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

June

NYSERDA Home Modernization Monthly Contractor Webinar
Friday, June 5, 2026
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. ET

Webinar number: 2535 937 5901
Password: Energy1

July

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

Webinar number: 2537 348 0309
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: EmPower+  
To: Participating Contractors  
Summary: Participation Agreement Changes  
Questions: If there are any questions or you would like to change your participation status send an email to empower.residential@nyserda.ny.gov  

Beginning June 1, 2026, the following changes have been made to the Residential Contractor Participation Agreement and are applicable to all current participating contractors. For existing contractors, no action is required on your part to continue your participation.  

Below is a summary of the Participation Agreement updates:  

• Definitions Section: Removed the Residential Energy Assessment definition 
• Section 2.3: Added an EmPower+ Participating Contractors subsection outlining contractor requirements needed to participate in the Program. 
• Section 3: Added “(Effective Date) through the close out of the NYSERDA Program(s) the Participating Contractor participates in, unless otherwise terminated in accordance with Section 4 of this Agreement.” 
• Section 4.3 Added: Disciplinary Action: “NYSERDA may take disciplinary action against a Participating Contractor at any time.  This includes putting a Participating Contractor on probation, suspension or terminating this Agreement and the Participating Contractor’s ability to participate in the Program per the terms in the applicable Program Manual.  Disciplinary Action up to and including termination can be taken for reasons including but not limited: failure to maintain standards; poor performance in any NYSERDA or utility program(s) (including but not limited to New York State Clean Heat); unresponsiveness; inappropriate behavior; or failure to meet the terms of probation or suspension. If the Participating Contractor participates in multiple NYSERDA programs NYSERDA’s disciplinary status may be applied to each NYSERDA program.” 
• Section 6.1: Removed the contract compliance exception for Residential Energy Assessment projects. 
• Section 6.1: Added required language: “For all EmPower+ funded projects, the following customer language must be included: I understand that funding for this project will be approved by NYSERDA through the EmPower+ Program.  The EmPower+ Program requires the completion of required paperwork as well as required testing upon project completion.  I understand that EmPower+ Program funding will be withheld for this project if I fail to sign all required paperwork or if I do not allow the required testing to be completed at project completion.  If EmPower+ Program funding is withheld for this project, I understand that I will be responsible for payment of the total project cost to the EmPower+ contractor.” 
• Section 6.7: Added an Artificial Intelligence (AI) subsection outlining the requirements surrounding AI use by participating contractors. 
• Section 7.1: Added “The Participating Contractor shall promptly submit required project documentation for payment incentives per the applicable Program Manual.” 
• Section 7.4: Added “The Contractor cannot bill the Customer for incentives on eligible measures that were installed but were not submitted to the Program in accordance with program guidelines.” 
• Section 7.7: Added “During the Stop Work Order, Contractor payments for completed projects may be withheld until a thorough investigation is completed regarding NYSERDA’s concerns with the Contractor’s participation in the Program.” 
• The Participation Agreement is no longer in the EmPower+ Program Manual and can now be found on the Contractor Support Site 

Should you no longer wish to participate in the Program, or if you have any objection to continuing participation in the Program under these terms and conditions, please provide notice to NYSERDA by emailing empower.residential@nyserda.ny.gov no later than June 30th, 2026.  

Program/s: EmPower+
To: EmPower+ Contractors, Clean Energy Hubs
Summary: EmPower+ No-Heat Projects
Questions: If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support 

As a reminder, the heating season is coming to a close at the end of May. The last day to submit a No-Heat project for consideration through EmPower+ is May 31, 2026. Participating Contractors with an active No-Heat project should have these completed no later than June 15, 2026.  

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

Program/s: Comfort Home
To: Comfort Home Contractors
Summary: Utility Release Form Changes
Questions: If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support

Starting June 1, 2026, the most recent version of the Utility Release Form (URF) (released 3/16) will be required for all Comfort Home submissions. Please note that previous URF versions will no longer be accepted after this date.

The current version of the URF is available on the Contractor Support Site under Comfort Home Resources. https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/program-resources/comfort-home-resources/

Program: GJGNY Residential Financing
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: Updated GJGNY Residential Financing Program Manual and Eligible Measures
Questions: Contact Customer Support residential.financing@nyserda.ny.gov.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will be launching an updated Residential Financing Program Manual and Eligible Measures List to support the Green Jobs – Green New York (GJGNY) Residential Financing Program on April 30, 2026. The manual provides participating contractors with information about the program and the process for offering GJGNY Loans to customers. The list is a general guide to measures eligible for GJGNY financing.

The updated manual and list can be found on the Resources for Participating Contractors webpage.

If you have any questions about the program or these changes, please reach out to residential.financing@nyserda.ny.gov.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation in making the GJGNY Residential Financing Program a success.

Sincerely, 

The Residential Financing Team

Program/s: All NYSERDA Residential Programs
To: All Participating Contractors
Summary: Home Modernization AI Reminder
Contact with Questions: Osama.Sehgol@nyserda.ny.gov or Rebecca.Gagnon@nyserda.ny.gov

To all contractors participating in the Comfort Home and EmPower+ programs,

This email serves as a reminder on NYSERDA’s policies for all contractors doing business with NYSERDA.  In May 2024, NYSERDA updated the Program Manual to explicitly incorporate the following language in Section 3.11 of the Participation Agreement:

“(T)he Participating Contractor must follow the policies and procedures found on the Doing Business with NYSERDA webpage at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Doing-Business-with-NYSERDA, as amended and superseded.”

The Doing Business with NYSERDA webpage contains numerous policies contractors are required to comply with including a policy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems Acceptable Use. 

The AI section of the “Doing Business with NYSERDA page states:

AI Systems may be in the form of software, an application, a website, or a feature.

NYSERDA Vendors¹ are responsible for using approved AI Systems in a productive, ethical, and lawful manner consistent with the ITS Acceptable Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies Policy and NYSERDA’s Guidelines to mitigate the risk of misuse, unethical outcomes, intentional or inadvertent use of previously copyrighted works, potential biases, inaccuracy, and information security compromises.

Approval must be expressly granted to use any AI Systems by any NYSERDA Vendor for any purpose whatsoever related to their work at NYSERDA or for any reason where employee, contractor or customer information is entered into AI Systems, unless the specific AI use case is pre-approved on NYSERDA’s internal AI Inventory. Please work with your assigned NYSERDA Project Manager to seek approval to use an AI System for conducting NYSERDA business.

Any NYSERDA Proposer² who submit materials to NYSERDA that are created with the assistance of AI, must disclose such use to NYSERDA.

Vendors are expected to understand, abide by, and enforce the following provisions:

1. Include a disclosure identifying the use of AI on all materials created with the assistance of AI.
2. Operate only within the approved scope of activities and purposes authorized by ITS and NYSERDA.
3. Adhere to all NYSERDA policies on the use of information, and not enter any NYSERDA, employee, customer, third-party confidential, trade secret, or other personal or proprietary information into a prompt for an AI System unless authorized to do so as detailed above.
   1. If the AI System will interact with personal information, NYSERDA may be required to notify the person and, in some jurisdictions, obtain permission from the person to use their personal information. This will be determined as part of the Risk and Privacy Assessment process
   2. If the AI System will interact with or produce confidential or trade secret information, the use of this information must be reviewed and approved as part of the Information Asset Identification Worksheet and the Risk and Privacy Assessment process.
4. AI may not be used to develop, generate, or disseminate offensive, discriminatory, inappropriate, or any other content that runs contrary to NYSERDA’s policies, procedures, mission, and goals, including hallucinations³ and deepfakes⁴ as determined by NYSERDA.
5. Thoroughly review all AI System outputs (human oversight) before using them or forwarding them to others inside or outside NYSERDA to:
   1. ensure the content is factual and accurate
   2. ensure that they do not contain biased, offensive, or discriminatory content; and
   3. ensure they do not improperly use or disclose personal or confidential information.
6. Ensure that the use of the AI System is fair and equitable to all. Systemic computational, and human biases should be identified and remedied.
7. Ensure that the AI System and any output using AI is explainable and understandable to any user or recipient of information.
8. Verify accuracy of reported facts with other trusted, non-AI sources of information.
9. Ensure that decisions that impact the public are not made without oversight by appropriate staff, who make the final decisions. This includes, but is not limited to publishing or sharing content generated with AI assistance without internal approval to do so from Business Unit Lead (BUL) Management, and Corporate Communications, Marketing, Events Management, Social Media, and Legal as appropriate.
10. An AI System cannot be used to automate final decisions.
11. Not violate the acceptable use restrictions provided in the ITS AI Policy.

¹ “NYSERDA Vendor” refers to any contractor, consultant, Vendor.

² “NYSERDA Proposer” refers to any person who submits materials to NYSERDA

³ Hallucinations – a feature of large language models used to describe an output which may initially appear to be believable, but which is factually incorrect.

⁴ an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said

For questions on NYSERDA’’s AI policy please contact Osama Sehgol Osama.Sehgol@nyserda.ny.gov or Becky Gagnon  Rebecca.Gagnon@nyserda.ny.gov .