To: Participating Contractors Regarding Programs: EmPower+ Summary: Holiday Impacts on EmPower+ Program Contact: Reach out to your Account Manager
NYSERDA wishes you and your family a happy and safe holiday season. Please see below for EmPower+ program staff and implementation staff hours for the end of December and beginning of January.
CLOSURES:
Monday, December 25: NYSERDA & CLEAResult
Tuesday, December 26: CLEAResult
Monday, January 1: NYSERDA & CLEAResult
EmPower+
INVOICES:
CLEAResult will submit two invoices to NYSERDA the week of the 24th with payments expected to be dispersed within 2-3 days.
Wednesday, December 27 with an estimated payment by Jan 2
Thursday, December 28 an estimated payment by Jan 3
Participating contractors working in the field in need of an emergency approval may contact Michael Downing – 774-314-2220 on Monday, 12/25, Brendon Fox – 518-207-4512 on Tuesday, 12/26 and Pete Hoke – 518-207-4534 on Monday, 1/1. The Tech Services team also includes information in their autoreply and voicemail messages directing contractors on who to go to if they have an emergency or to reach out to contractor support for non-emergency matters and someone will get back to them after the holidays. If there is an emergency that requires assistance from Shared Services, please contact Lindsay Huba-Zhang at 518-598-3573, otherwise non-emergency matters will be responded to after the holiday.
To: EmPower+ Contractors Regarding Programs: EmPower+ Summary: EmPower+ Customer Acceptance Contact:Please reach out to Contractor Support at 800-284-9069
In September, the EmPower+ program announced an extension to the time contractors have to accept customers in the New York Home Energy Portal (NYHEP) to 15 calendar days with one 5 business day extension. Effective January 1, 2024, this process reverted back to the original timeline.
Initial Contractor Assignment- Contractor has 5 business days to accept the Enrollment and can request a one-time, 5 business day extension.
In early 2024, NYHEP will be enhanced to semi-automate assignments to reduce project acceptance wait times and improve the customer experience. . When this automation is rolled-out, the assignment timeline will be updated as follows:
Initial Contractor Assignment- Contractor has 5 business days to accept the Enrollment and can request a one-time, 5-business day extension.
Second Contractor Assignment-If the initial Contractor does not accept the Enrollment within the initial 5 day w/5 day extension period or rejects it, the Enrollment will be auto-assigned to a second Contractor who will have 5 business days to accept the Enrollment. No extensions will be granted to the second contractor.
Third Contractor Assignment- If the second Contractor does not accept the Enrollment within 5 business days, the Enrollment will get auto-assigned to a third Contractor who will have 5 business days to accept the Enrollment. No extensions will be granted to the third contractor.
Final Contractor Assignment- If the third Contractor fails to accept the Enrollment, it will get sent to a manual assignment queue where the implementor will work with a Contractor to get the customer accepted.
It is imperative for Contractors to routinely check their customer assignment queues. If you know you cannot serve a particular household, then decline the assignment in a timely manner so the customer can get assigned to another Contractor. This will help maintain a positive customer experience.
If there are any questions, please contact Customer Support at 800-284-9069.
To: Contractors Regarding Programs: EmPower+ Summary: February Monthly Contractor Check-in Contact:[email protected]
NYSERDA Single Family Programs Update
Friday, February 2, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. ET
Webinar number 2533 150 7874
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.
To: NYSERDA Single Family Residential Program Partners Regarding Programs: NYSERDA Single Family Residential Programs Summary: Implementation Contractor Updates Contact:[email protected]
At the end of 2023, the current Shared Services and Technical Services contracts supporting EmPower+ and Residential Energy Assessments will expire. Effective January 1, 2024, these program implementation services will be transitioned to TRC and CLEAResult to provide programmatic and customer support as outlined below. Moving forward, NYSERDA’s expectation is to streamline and align implementation support across all Single-Family Residential programs.
Over the next several weeks, staff will be working to make the necessary system and internal process updates. While we expect minimal interruptions and impacts to the services provided, we appreciate your support and understanding as the Implementation teams work through the changes.
TRC will assume the responsibility of customer support prior to, and through, the application enrollment process. Specifically, TRC will:
Provide call-center support for customers to answer questions about program offerings and assist with customer enrollment
Process customer applications for EmPower+
Provide income verification services for program incentives
Process low-income referral files and mailings or other outreach to referred customers
The customer application will continue to be in Salesforce and no changes to the application process is expected.
For questions on customer applications to EmPower+, TRC will be handling calls received through the 1- 866-NYSERDA number. For EmPower+ paper applications that will be mailed in, the updated address is:
TRC Companies
3 Corporate Drive, Suite 202
Clifton Park, NY 12065
The application address is being updated on the NYSERDA website and on the online and paper versions of the application and will be available prior to January 1, 2024.
Program Operations and Technical Support Contractor
CLEAResult has been named as the Program Operations and Technical Support Contractor responsible for customer support once an application has been approved as well as programmatic and technical support for contractors in the EmPower+ and Residential Energy Assessment programs. Specifically, their role will include the following:
Contractor Assignment on Approved EmPower+ Applications
Provide technical and programmatic support to contractors through trainings, in-field and remote assistance, responding to support tickets and managing a call center
Provide customer support for in-progress work and post-completion inquiries or other issues
Process manual workscope and final project reviews for EmPower+, including incentive invoice processing
Process Residential Energy Assessment submissions, including incentive invoice processing
Provide assistance maintaining program participation agreements, updating program processes and other resources
For project related questions following the approval of the audit application, please reach out to 1-800-284-9069, the current contractor support phone number. Workflow approval procedures and invoice submission processes will continue to be processed in the New York Home Energy Portal.
For Comfort Home, technical and operational support services will continue by the current TRC contract through 2024.
NYSERDA will be providing a more comprehensive overview of implementation roles as part of the January 5th Contractor Check-in.
To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors Regarding Programs: EmPower+ Summary: Referring to the Program as EmPower+ Contact:Please reach out to your Account Manager
Following the launch of EmPower+ in July, NYSERDA requested Participating Contractors review their literature and websites and change all references of EmPower NY and Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® to EmPower+ by September 1, 2023. In addition, marketing and promotional materials as well as forms with the EmPower or Assisted Home Performance program names should have ceased to be used by September 1, 2023, at the latest.
When discussing program offerings with customers, please refer to the Program as EmPower+, this helps create program awareness and helps eliminate confusion. Also, moving forward, any marketing or media review requests with references to “EmPower” and not EmPower+ will be denied. In addition, please ensure any references to EmPower or Assisted Home Performance in your own literature or on company websites have been updated to EmPower+.
Please reach out to your Account Manager with any questions.