Program/s: EmPower+, Residential Energy Assessments, Comfort Home To: Participating Contractors Summary: NYSERDA Participating Contractor Heat Pump Training Series II Contact with Questions: max.ciovacco@nyserda.ny.gov
NYSERDA Heat Pump Training Series Fridays 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. ET To register for the series, please click here.
Program: EmPower+ To: EmPower+ Participating Contractors Summary: Important Program Updates Contact with Questions: Contract support at (800) 284 – 9069 or email at support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov
Please see the following program updates. These were covered in more detail on the March 7, 2025, Contractor Check-in webinar, which can be reviewed in its entirely here: Webinars – Contractor Support.
Provisional Approvals
To maintain overall program continuity and equitable access to incentives, NYSERDA is implementing a new EmPower+ project management and approval process. The new approach will give NYSERDA the capability to manage the flow of projects in alignment with customer need and regional production goals.
A contractor will submit the proposed work scope for the customer’s project. After it is approved by CLEAResult, it will proceed to the Provisional Approval workflow step. When the work scope has been approved for installation, the project will move to final project submission and NYSERDA will send an auto generated email to the customer, contractor, and Hub letting them know the work scope has been approved and is ready for installation.
This change is expected to be implemented on April 2, 2025.
Refrigerators and Freezers
To ensure program funds are focused on measures that maximize benefits, including energy and cost savings to the consumer, the EmPower+ program has periodically assessed the performance of different measures and upgrades offered through the program. It has been determined that refrigerator and freezer replacements produce less significant cost savings as compared to other measures offered through EmPower+, so we have therefore reallocated that funding to higher impact measures, effective as of March 14, 2025. Projects with previously submitted and approved refrigerators and freezers will be allowed to proceed.
Onboarding New Contractors
Effective April 2, 2025, EmPower+ will focus the onboarding of new contractors to the following regions:
Program/s: EmPower+, Residential Energy Assessments, Comfort Home To: Participating Contractors Summary: NYSERDA Participating Contractor Heat Pump Training Series II Contact with Questions: max.ciovacco@nyserda.ny.gov
NYSERDA Heat Pump Training Series Fridays 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. ET To register for the series, please click here.
Date
Topic
Presenter
04/11/25
Over-sizing, Over-zoning, under-sizing with back up heat (5kw up to 20% of heating load)
SWA – Robb Aldrich
04/25/25
Equipment Selection 1.5 hrs
TRC – JJ Sawicki
05/09/25
Design and placement of the system, Value engineering principles and practices
Program: EmPower+ and Comfort Home To:EmPower+ and Comfort Home Participating Contractors Summary: Required Spray Foam Training-Due October 2025 Contact with Questions: Contract support at (800) 284 – 9069 or email at support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov
For Participating Contractors installing spray foam through EmPower+ or Comfort Home, NYSERDA is requiring training for individuals to be completed no later than October 1, 2025. A list of the required training for Field Employees, Applicators, Crew Leaders, and Auditors can be found on the contractor support site at https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/program-resources/sprayfoamresources/.
Contractors are required to keep documentation of all staff that attended the trainings. Documentation must include the training title, staff names, and dates the training was completed. At NYSERDA’s request, contractors must submit the training documentation within 48 hours of request.
For EmPower+ Participating Contractors, Section 5.2 of the Program Manual has been updated with the Spray Foam Training Requirements.
Information on the Spray Foam Training Requirements was provided as part of the November 1, 2024 Contractor Check-in Webinar, which was recorded and can be found at https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/webinars/.
To: Contractors and Stakeholders Regarding Programs: EmPower+ Summary: Updated EmPower+ Pricing and EmPower+/Comfort Home Fuel Rates Contact: Please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069 with any questions
EmPower+ measure pricing and fuel rates for EmPower+ and Comfort Home have been updated and are effective as of March 7, 2025.
EmPower+ pricing was reviewed and updated to reflect changes to several variables including national inflation and consumer price index (CPI) data, and market price research. The updated list can be found in Section 5.5 of the Program Manual on the Contractor Support site.
Fuel rates for 2025 for EmPower+ and Comfort Home have been updated and posted on the Contractor Support website in Section 5.12 of the EmPower+ Program Manual.
The fuel rates and EmPower pricing have been updated in the NY Home Energy Portal (NYHEP) currently and will be effective for any new project entered in NYHEP beginning March 7, 2025. NYSERDA finance has also updated their Proforma tool to reflect the updated fuel pricing.
For Program fuel rates, natural gas and electricity rates are based on the Joint Utilities 2022-2024 SC1 3-year average. Delivered fuels are based upon the NYSERDA New York Home Pricing Monitoring Program 2022-2024 averages. For cost-effectiveness calculations, NYSERDA uses volumetric charges including supply (commodity), transmission and distribution, and other charges applied based on the supply volume.
If there are any questions, please reach out to Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.