Program Announcements from 12/11/2025 to 12/24/2025

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

NYSERDA Home Modernization Monthly Contractor Webinar
Friday, January 9, 2026
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. ET

Webinar number: 2538 916 5659
Event 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, please click here.

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

Regarding Programs: EmPower+ and Comfort Home
Summary: Holiday Impacts on EmPower+ and Comfort Home Program
Contact: See Below

NYSERDA wishes you and your family a happy and safe holiday season. Please see below read on for EmPower+ and Comfort Home program staff and implementation staff hours for the end of December and beginning of January.

CLOSURES:

• Wednesday, December 24: CLEAResult 
• Thursday, December 25: NYSERDA, TRC & CLEAResult 
• Thursday, January 1: NYSERDA, TRC & CLEAResult 

Customer Support

 The 1-866-NYSERDA/877-NYSMART number will not be staffed on Thursday, December 25th or Thursday, January 1st.

Contractor Support

Participating contractors working in the field in need of emergency approval may contact the following people on the designated day:

• Wednesday, December 24: Rebecca Lloyd (518-598-6991)
• Thursday, December 25: Adam Badger (838-291-0965)
• Thursday, January 1:  Sarah Knoell (518-207-4527)

 For non-urgent matters, contact Contractor Support (support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov) or (800) 284-9069; requests will be returned following the holiday in the order they were left.

Invoices

EmPower+:

With the holidays, there will only be one invoice processed for the weeks of December 22 and December 29 per the schedule below.

• Tuesday, December 23, 2025 
• Tuesday, December 30, 2025 

Incentive invoicing processing will return to twice per week beginning the week of January 5th.

Comfort Home:

Weekly invoices are expected to be processed during the weeks of December 22 and December 29.

Program/s: EmPower+ and Comfort Home
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: NYHEP Enrollment Summary Updates
Contact with Questions: Please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069 with any questions

Enhancements were recently made to the Enrollment Summary in NYHEP, increasing visibility into the specific circumstances of an enrollment. The updates are:

1. Enrollment Summary “Flags”
   1. Contractors may see one or more new “flags” in red text in the Enrollment Summary. These flags are intended to better guide the Program Implementer when prioritizing Workscope Reviews. The current set of flags includes:
      1. Resubmission (EmPower+ and Comfort Home)
      2. No Heat (EmPower+)
      3. Heat Pump (EmPower+)
      4. Tertiary Review (EmPower+)
      5. Express Eligible (EmPower+)

Example Enrollment Summary Flag:

2. Enrollment Cancelation Reasons
   1. If an enrollment is canceled, the reason for cancelation is now viewable in the Enrollment Summary and Enrollment Notes sections.

Example Canceled Enrollment Reason:

Example Enrollment Note:

NYSERDA recently completed a series of Comfort Home training courses for Participating Contractors as the Program migrated to the NYHEP Portal. The webinar recording and slides are now available on the Contractor Support website and the Comfort Home SharePoint.

To: Participating Contractors, Hubs, Program Stakeholders
Summary: 2025-2026 HEAP Opening Date
Questions: NYSHEAP@otda.ny.gov

NYSERDA is forwarding along this communication received from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance regarding HEAP assistance:

Dear HEAP Stakeholder,

We are pleased to announce that applications for the Regular benefit component for the 2025-2026 Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) will be accepted beginning December 1, 2025. This information supersedes any prior communication.

We appreciate your patience during this difficult time. We value our continued partnership and thank you for your ongoing dedication to serving New York State’s most vulnerable populations. If you have any questions, you can reach us at NYSHEAP@otda.ny.gov.

To: Participating Contractors, Hubs, Program Stakeholders
Summary: HERR Assistance
Questions: NYSHEAP@otda.ny.gov

NYSERDA is forwarding along this communication received from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance regarding HEAP/HERR assistance:

We are writing to inform you of recent changes to the New York State (NYS) Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)’s Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) for the 2025-2026 program year.

In October, we informed you of a pause in the Heating Equipment Repair and Replacement (HERR) program for the 2025-2026 program year. We are pleased to announce that funding is now available for HERR beginning December 11, 2025. Due to limited funding, HERR benefits will be available only to applicants aged 60 or older that own their home. If there is more than one documented homeowner, at least one must be aged 60 or above at the time of application and live in the home as their primary residence. All other eligibility requirements remain the same.

Beginning December 11, 2025, households may apply for HERR by contacting their local social services district. Homeowners that do not meet the additional eligibility requirement may still be referred to Public Assistance.

We value our continued partnership and welcome your feedback or questions. You can reach us at NYSHEAP@otda.ny.gov. Thank you for your dedication to serving NY’s most vulnerable populations.

NYSERDA is working to update our No-Heat guidance as quickly as possible. Please check the Contractor Support site for updated documents.

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

The following updates were covered during the November Home Modernization Monthly Contractor Call and can be accessed here. These have also been updated in Section 5.15 of the Program Manual.

The asbestos remediation and lead and radon abatement have been discontinued as an EmPower+ eligible measure. Discontinued measures include:

• Asbestos Abatement – ASAB
• Lead Abatement – ABLD
• Radon Abatement – RAAB

Effective December 1, 2025, the Mold/Mildew measure will be capped at $2,000 for enrollments submitted to the Workscope Review step in NYHEP for the first time. This update applies to both Tier 1 and Tier 3 enrollments.

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

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.

Program/s: Residential Energy Assessment Program
To: REA Contractors
Summary: REA Program Sunset and Final Submission Dates
Contact with Questions:  homeaudits@nyserda.ny.gov

As mentioned during the April 2025 Residential Program Update Meeting, NYSERDA will be launching a Virtual Energy Assessment Program early next year and will be replacing the Residential Energy Assessment (REA) program. The final day to submit an REA enrollment in NYHEP will be Thurs. Dec. 18, 2025.    

We encourage all REA contractors to familiarize themselves with the Comfort Home Program as it will serve as the primary market rate program for assessments and incentives.​ By Q4 of 2025 all or most market rate audits should be completed through Comfort Home.  Please refer to this link for information on becoming a participating Comfort Home Contractor.  

Contractors should review their websites and other marketing material over the next few months to either remove the REA program or replace it with information related to Comfort Home, if applicable.  

All Comfort Home and EmPower+ audits completed through NYHEP will comply with GJGNY requirements and provide the necessary data needed for GJGNY loan applications.​  

The REA NYHEP portal will remain open for participating contractors to access their existing customer information.  In addition, the portal will also remain open if contractors need access to the Loan Proforma report for loan only projects.  A user guide for market rate loan use cases will be available in a future Program Announcement. 

For additional information about the Virtual Energy Assessment Program or the sunset of the REA program, please email homeaudits@nyserda.ny.gov.  

For additional information about the Comfort Home Program, please email support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov.​  

No Announcements

Program/s: REA, Comfort Home, and EmPower+
To: REA, Comfort Home, and EmPower+ contractors who participate within GJGNY Residential Financing
Summary: Slipstream Energy Finance Solutions (EFS) to host (with NYSERDA) a ProForma and document submission contractor training on December 18.
Contact with Questions:  Contact EFS support at efs@energyfinancesolutions.com or NYSERDA at residential.financing@nyserda.ny.gov

Slipstream EFS will be offering a contractor training, ‘Avoiding ProForma Pitfalls and Finding Success,’ on Thursday, December 18 at 10:00 a.m. EST. Join staff from both NYSERDA’s Green Jobs-Green New York

Green Jobs – Green New York Residential Financing Program and Slipstream EFS to find out how you can streamline your customers’ loan approval process and, as a result, your relating payments as their contractor. Learn about common mistakes seen in ProFormas and through the project approval process, and how you can avoid them to ensure fewer document kickbacks and shorter processing times. Reserve your spot for the training today!

Have questions in the meantime? Feel free to contact EFS support at efs@energyfinancesolutions.com or NYSERDA at residential.financing@nyserda.ny.gov.

No Announcements