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Tag: EmPower+

Vendor Responsibility Checklist

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. 

Rental Property Services Agreement

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. 

No-Heat Updates

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.

User Access and Restrictions

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.

No-Heat Season Installation Guidelines

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.