Tag: Guidelines

Programs: EmPower+
To: Participating Appliance Vendors
Summary: Vendor Agreement Changes
Questions: If there are any questions or you would like to change your participation status send an email to empower.residential@nyserda.ny.gov

The following changes have been made to the Appliance Vendor Agreement and are applicable to all current Vendors. These changes became effective June 3, 2024. The Vendor Agreement can be reviewed in full in Section 2 of the Program Manual. For existing Vendors, no action is required on your part to continue your participation.

Should you no longer wish to participate in the Program, or if you have any objection to continuing participation in the Program under these terms and conditions, please provide notice to NYSERDA by emailing empower.residential@nyserda.ny.gov no later than June 21, 2024.

Section 1. Program Requirements

Language updates were made to the following sections:

• The Vendor shall adhere to the incentive cap schedule of as provided in Section 5.5 of the Program Manual .  This schedule is subject to change based upon 30-days written notice from the Program. 

• The new model must be the same size (cubic feet) as the existing model and must be ENERGY STAR®.

• All Participating Contractors, Vendors and Subcontractors performing work in association with NYSERDA’s programs are required to comply with the policies and procedures outlined in the  New York State Information Classification Policy (NYS-S14-002) . In addition, the New York State Information Security Policy (NYS-P03-002)  sets forth the minimum requirements, responsibilities, and accepted behaviors to establish and maintain a secure environment to achieve the State’s information security objectives. In general, when corresponding with Program participants, Implementation Contractors, and NYSERDA, use the NYSERDA External Contractor Data Security and Controls Policy to determine the type of Customer information that can be shared based on the platform being used. To minimize the occurrence of incoming emails containing confidential information, please instruct Program participants to redact utility account numbers, social security numbers and bank account numbers if you are requesting documents containing this information. Vendors who fail to comply with the NYSERDA External Contractor Data Security and Controls Policy will be subject to disciplinary action.
• The Vendor is familiar with and will comply with NYSERDA’s Code of Conduct for Contractors, Consultants, and Vendors¹ with respect to the performance of this Agreement, including, but not limited to, the provisions that ensure the appropriate use of public funds by requiring Contractors, Consultants and Vendors to refrain from policy advocacy on behalf of NYSERDA unless explicitly authorized, and in the manner described, under the terms of their Agreement; and to refrain from providing advocacy positions or opinions of their own that could be construed as those of NYSERDA;

¹ Code of Conduct for Contractors, Consultants, and Vendors can be found at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Board-Governance

In addition, the Vendor must follow the policies and procedures found on the Doing Business with NYSERDA webpage at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Doing-Business-with-NYSERDA, as amended and superseded.

Section 2. Project Requirements

Language updates were made to the following sections:

3. To the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased with funds made available for the Program should be American-made.

22. Vendor shall maintain a policy for QA, for resolution of Program participant complaints or disputes, and for response to Program participant emergencies. The policy shall include protocols for a timely response, identification of responsible parties, documentation of corrective actions, results, and a means of identifying and addressing systemic issues. Vendor agrees to make this policy available to NYSERDA or its Program Implementer for review and approval upon request. 

Programs: EmPower+
To: Participating Contractors
Summary: Participation Agreement Changes
Questions: If there are any questions or you would like to change your participation status send an email to empower.residential@nyserda.ny.gov

The following changes have been made to the Residential Contractor Participation Agreement and are applicable to all current participating contractors. These changes became effective June 3, 2024.   The Participation Agreement can be reviewed in full in Section 2 of the Program Manual. For existing contractors, no action is required on your part to continue your participation.

Should you no longer wish to participate in the Program, or if you have any objection to continuing participation in the Program under these terms and conditions, please provide notice to NYSERDA by emailing empower.residential@nyserda.ny.gov no later than June 21, 2024.

3.9 Customer Issues and Dispute Resolution

NYSERDA requires the Participating Contractor to maintain a dispute resolution policy on file. The policy shall include protocols for a timely response, identification of responsible parties, documentation of corrective actions, results, and a means of identifying and addressing systemic issues. If a Participating Contractor, or its Subcontractor, becomes involved in a dispute with a Customer over business practices, the Participating Contractor shall work to settle the dispute amicably utilizing the Participating Contractor’s customer dispute resolution policy.

3.11 Code of Conduct

Participating Contractor is familiar with and will comply with NYSERDA’s Code of Conduct for Contractors, Consultants, and Vendors¹ with respect to the performance of this Agreement, including, but not limited to, the provisions that ensure the appropriate use of public funds by requiring Contractors, Consultants and Vendors to refrain from policy advocacy on behalf of NYSERDA unless explicitly authorized, and in the manner described, under the terms of their Agreement; and to refrain from providing advocacy positions or opinions of their own that could be construed as those of NYSERDA.

¹ The Contractor Code of Conduct can be found at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Board-Governance

In addition, the Participating Contractor must follow the policies and procedures found on the Doing Business with NYSERDA webpage at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Doing-Business-with-NYSERDA, as amended and superseded.  

4 Agreement Terms

The Contractor acknowledges this Agreement is completely voluntary. NYSERDA may suspend or terminate a Participating Contractor from participation in the Program for any reason, including failure to maintain Program standards, poor performance, unresponsiveness, or inappropriate behavior. In all cases involving a Participating Contractor’s participation status, NYSERDA’s written decision is final.

6.1 Contract Compliance

It is the sole responsibility of the Participating Contractor to ensure that all contracts and subcontracts submitted to the Program by the Participating Contractor are written in full compliance with requirements detailed in the applicable Program Manual(s).

It is the sole responsibility of the Participating Contractor to ensure that all contracts and subcontracts submitted to the Program by the Participating Contractor are written in full compliance with the General Business Law, Article 36-A “HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTS” and any other applicable statutory or regulatory provisions. Contracts and other documents submitted by the Participating Contractor must be clear and legible and include line-item detail for each installed measure, including nameplate and efficiency information and cannot contain mandatory arbitration clauses.

The contract must include the following holder-in-due course term: “Any holder of a consumer credit contract is subject to all claims and defenses which the debtor could assert against the seller of goods and services obtained pursuant hereto or with the proceeds hereof, recovery hereunder by the debtor shall not exceed amounts paid by the debtor hereunder.”

Upon request by NYSERDA or Implementation Contractor staff, the Participating Contractor shall provide additional details regarding contractual terms and costs for the purposes of project review.

7.2 Eligible Measures

Eligible Measures are home upgrade options that are eligible for Incentives or financing through NYSERDA’s programs that are covered by this Participation Agreement, and meet the requirements stated in the relevant Program Manuals, and affiliated Program documents.  To the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased with funds made available for the Program should be American-made.

7.6 Repayment or Recapture of Program Incentives

The Participating Contractor acknowledges if NYSERDA determines a Participating Contractor has not strictly adhered to the terms and conditions of the Program for a project, any Program Incentives paid to the Customer and/or Participating Contractor on the project, or any Program incentives due and owing to the Contractor under the Program, shall be repaid to, or recaptured by, the Program from the Participating Contractor. Upon notice from NYSERDA, the Participating Contractor shall provide NYSERDA direct payment within 30 days for the identified outstanding value of any Program Incentives paid on Projects that do not comply with Program terms, conditions, policies, or procedures identified in this Agreement, the applicable Program Manual(s), or Program Announcements. Failure to repay funds owed to NYSERDA may result in referral of the matter to the Attorney General’s Office.

To: EmPower+ Contractors
Regarding Programs: EmPower+
Summary: Contractors must provide a copy of the Home Energy Assessment to customers
Contact: Please reach out to contractor support at 1-800-284-9069

The EmPower+ program has been receiving many customer complaints about customers not receiving copies of their home energy assessment. Starting on February 13, 2024, CLEAResult will verify that the home energy assessment report was generated in NYHEP as part of final project review. If the report is not present, the project will be pushed back to the contractor to generate the report and provide it to the customer. After the report has been provided to the customer, the contractor can resubmit the project.

Section 5.17 of the Program Manual specifies “The participating contractor shall provide Program participants with a finalized home energy assessment report within 14 calendar days of site visit. The report shall be generated from Program-approved software and include a detailed workscope proposal that identifies measures and pricing for improving the energy efficiency, comfort and safety of the home. The report shall include all energy efficiency, comfort, health and safety opportunities that exist in the home regardless of type of service(s) the participating contractor offers (i.e., a participating contractor with heating certification needs to identify applicable envelope issues in the report) while adhering to the policies and procedures.”

Moving forward, quality assurance inspections will also include an inquiry with customers to see if home energy assessment reports were provided. Initially, scores will not be diminished if a home energy assessment report was not provided to the customer; however, the contractor will be notified to send a copy of the home energy assessment report to the customer. If it is determined that a contractor is not providing their customers with a home energy assessment on a regular basis, CLEAResult Quality Control will work with the contractor to help them remediate this.

In addition to being a Program requirement, upcoming funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will make home energy assessment reports a requirement, where NYSERDA may need to show proof the home energy assessment report was delivered to the customer.

If there are any questions on this, please reach out to contractor support at 1-800-284-9069.

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.