Tag: Announcement

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/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: EmPower+ 
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors & Hubs
Summary: EmPower+ IRA Changes
Questions: support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov

Effective for projects with new work scopes submitted after midnight on August 31, 2026, the EmPower+ program changes, outlined below, will be implemented to accommodate new guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Energy for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) funding. Work scopes submitted on or before August 31, 2026, will follow current program rules. ​

Incentive Strategy:

• Electrification: If a project has a heat pump or heat pump water heater, the program will use Sustainable Futures Program (SFP) funds to cover the heat pump water heater, heat pump, panel box, wiring up grade. SFP incentives can be stacked on top of the current EmPower+ project incentive caps.​
• Insulation Projects: If a project does not have a heat pump, heat pump water heater, panel box, or wiring upgrade, EmPower+ will continue to offer up to $1,600 HEAR incentives for insulation, air sealing, and ventilation measures. HEAR funding will be applied first and no longer needs to reach an incentive threshold to be applied.  
• DAC Incentives will no longer be available.
• Tier 1 and Tier 3 projects will have the same incentive caps for SFP funded measures, which may be stacked with the standard EmPower+ incentive caps of $12,000/$14,000  for low-income and $6,000/$7,000 for moderate- income households.  
• HEAR and SFP funding are not available on the same project.

Measure Changes:

The following measures will remain HEAR.

The following measures will be moved to SFP funding after August 31.

The change in funding from HEAR to SFP, has provided EmPower+ with an opportunity to revisit certain measure incentive caps. The table below provides a breakdown of the IRA incentive caps and the new caps for SFP incentives for work scope submissions received after August 31.

The webinar outlining the changes referenced above may be found at the following link Home Modernization Program Update July 10, 2026.

 If there are any questions, please contact support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov.