To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors, Regional Clean Energy Hubs Regarding Programs: EmPower+ Summary: Updated Income Limits for EmPower+ Contact:Contact your Account Manager
The income limits for EmPower+ have been updated and are effective as of November 1, 2023. These income limits are based on 2023-2024 State Median Income numbers provided by the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) and 2023 Area Median Income numbers provided by The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The updated guidelines can be found in Section 3.4 of the Program Manual and on the EmPower+ webpage.
All websites and program materials have been updated to reflect these changes. If you have any questions about these changes, please contact your Account Manager.
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors, Clean Energy Hubs Regarding Programs: EmPower+ (Low-Income Eligible Households) Summary: OTDA HERR benefit increased to $4,000 for repair and $8,000 for heating system replacement Contact:Contact your Account Manager
Effective October 2, 2023, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has increased the benefit available through the Heating Equipment Repair or Replacement (HERR) Benefit to $4,000 for a repair and $8,000 for a replacement. The HERR Benefit provides incentives for eligible low-income homeowners to repair or replace failed direct heating equipment. In addition, the maximum resource limit for HERR was increased to $10,000.
Low-Income households looking to participate in HERR, can call a Local District Contact. If it is determined the low-income household is not eligible for the HERR Benefit or if the HERR Benefit will not cover the entire cost of the system, the household may be eligible for incentives through EmPower+. Please refer to the No Heat Guidelines Section 5.9 of the Program Manual for additional information.
If there are any questions, please contact your Account Manager.
To: Participating EmPower+, REA and Comfort Home contractors Regarding Programs: Workforce Development & Training Summary: Contractor Recruitment Contact:Wfinfo@nyserda.ny.gov
Workforce Development & Training
Identifying Available Employment
Opportunities for Asylum Seekers
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Governor Hochul recently announced a program that will greatly expand the State’s ability to help asylum seekers quickly gain lawful employment with buisnesses looking to hire. New York State Department of Labor (DOL) career experts are working with individuals to asses skills, work history, education, career interests and more so they can begin working immediately after obtaining federal work authorization. Meanwhile, businesses can access a new portal to inform the State they would welcome newly-authorized individuals into their workforce.
For additional information or if you have any questions, please contact Wfinfo@nyserda.ny.gov.
Sincerely, NYSERDA’s Workforce Development and Training Team
To: Participating Comfort Home Contractors Regarding Programs: Comfort Home Pilot Program Summary: Automated Emails Contact:comforthome@nyserda.ny.gov
Comfort Home Team has implemented automated approval emails for all Assessments, Load Reduction and HVAC Installations.! This process will help streamline review times, getting approvals back to you in a timely and efficient manner. The automated email will only be sent to one person at your company. If you wish to change the point of contact, please email resmarket@nyserda.ny.govand let us know the name and email address of the contact you wish to receive all project approval emails for your company. If you normally have multiple people that receive notifications on approval in Compass we encourage you to set up an email distribution rule in your email account.
Key things to note about this change to automated emails are:
This is only for approvals – if projects are rejected or unsubmitted you will receive the normally formatted email from the Comfort Home Mailbox.
You will receive one email per project approval.
The emails will no longer have the eligibility in the body of the email but instead have a link that will take you back to the project page in Compass where you can view the eligibility statement in the Notes section.
The Sender name will be Comfort Home and the email address is systemmessages@psdconsulting.net. NOTE: If you have questions do NOT respond to the approval email, it will not be received by anyone. If you have questions regarding the approval, please reach out to the comforthome@nyserda.ny.gov mailbox directly.
The NYSERDA Standards and Quality Assurance, SQA, team regularly reviews statewide trends of nonconformances identified during Quality Assurance inspections. To assist contractors by enhancing their internal Quality Control, the SQA team will be sending out emails to contractors who have received the trending statewide nonconformance identified at least once during a Quality Assurance inspection. The emails sent to contractors will contain the nonconformance identified during one or more inspections performed over the past year from the installed energy efficient projects.
The goal is to ensure the installation of the safest and most reliable energy efficient projects for all households throughout New York. The SQA team will assist contractors to successfully pass all inspections and answer questions.
Below is an example of a trending statewide nonconformance identified:
REQUIREMENT: Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ) safety issues have been corrected.
NONCONFORMANCE DESCRIPTION: CAZ and appliance related safety issues have been corrected per ANSI/BPI-1200 Sections 7.8.1.1, 7.8.1.3, 7.8.1.5, 7.8.2.2 and 7.8.4.
The most common reasons why this nonconformance is identified are because:
Vent/flue/connector piping does not have the minimum clearance from combustible materials per BPI-1200 and NYS Residential Code
Vent/flue connector is not pitched up from the appliance connection point to the chimney/vent connection.
To avoid this nonconformance we highly encourage the leadership and crew members to:
Maintain minimum required clearances between insulation, chimneys, vents and connectors. Repairs made to single wall vents and appliance connectors, such as holes made for combustion analysis should be covered with materials approved by NYS code, use of snap in metal plugs are recommended, foil tapes do not meet minimum code material requirements.
Replace/repair vents, flues, connectors to address leakage and improper pitch, this work scope item should be included as a health and safety measure.
Where the existing appliance flue outlet is too tall to install the flue/connector with the proper pitch per the appliance manufacturer specifications and/or code include replacement of the appliance with a heat pump or combustion appliance with a flue outlet that is low enough, for example a short gas fired hot water heater. This work scope item should be discussed with your account manager and should be included in the work scope as a health and safety measure for program review.
If you have any questions or need any assistance, please submit to:
