Incentives For Upstate New York Multi-Family Housing Buildings

Overview

This document attempts to identify and explain the various funding and financing opportunities for multifamily buildings in Upstate New York for energy efficiency upgrades and electrification projects. These programs are as follows:

New York State Clean Heat Program

The NYS Clean Heat Program is a collaborative effort between the New York Electric Utilities and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (“NYSERDA”). This program provides rebate monies for "electrification" projects comprised of “Cold Climate Heat Pumps”. A network of Cold Climate Heat Pump contractors has been certified to design and install a variety of heat pump types. The contractor must follow a process to define heating and cooling loads, size the equipment, and install the system appropriately. Heat pumps must be approved NEEP listed cold climate heat pumps.

Incentives are approximately $0.10 per Btu output of the heat pump at an outdoor temperature of 5 degrees F. This equates to approximately $4,000 to $5,000 for the average home. A rebate for a typical apartment or condominium in a multifamily building would be approximately $2,000 to $3,000.

New York State Affordable Multifamily Energy Efficiency Program

The New York State Affordable Multifamily Energy Efficiency Program offers incentives for installing energyefficient equipment and technologies. The Program is a joint effort between a coalition of New York State utilities and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The utilities administering this Program are: Central Hudson Gas & Electric, Con Edison, National Grid, National Fuel Gas, New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E), and Orange & Rockland (O&R). This program provides grants for energy efficient improvements to buildings and HVAC equipment.

To qualify for this program at least 25% of households in the building must have an annual income of less than $64,000.

There are two pathways for funding, a comprehensive pathway and a non-comprehensive pathway for individual measures. The comprehensive approach provides $900/per apartment while the noncomprehensive approach is based upon calculated energy savings.

NYSERDA PON $4701

This NYSERDA "Program Offering Notice" (PON) provides grant monies for energy efficient improvements to buildings and supporting HVAC equipment. This offering is a competitive one where projects compete for available grant monies. The program seems to best suit measures at the building level as opposed to individual units. It would typically be for larger projects including boiler replacements, window and door replacements and insulation measures.

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Program

This program funded by the “Inflation Reduction Act” and implemented through NYSERDA’s “Empower” program provides tax credits and rebates for energy efficiency and electrification projects. Final details have not yet been released but we know it will be divided into two programs; the “Home Energy Affordability Rebates” (HEAR) program and the “Home Energy Rebates” (HER) program. One program for low income and the other for moderate to higher income families. These incentives can be “stacked” on top of the other incentives.

Federal Tax Credits

This program provides Federal tax credits for energy efficiency and electrification and renewables projects. Tax credits are typically calculated as 30% of the net cost of a project capped at $2,000/year.

Verdant Commercial Capital

National Grid and Verdant Capital have partnered to provide low interest financing to commercial entities for larger conservation and electrification projects. National Grid “buys down” the interest rate to 0% in some cases. This funding source would be for infrastructure improvements including electrification projects.

GJGNY Low Interest Loans

NYSERDA has partnered with a firm known as “Slip Stream” to provide low interest financing for residential programs. The GJGNY Residential Financing Program offers GJGNY Loans (Smart Energy, On-Bill Recovery, and Renewable Energy Tax Credit Bridge Loan) which are unsecured loans up to twenty-five thousand ($25,000) dollars for one- to four-family residential energy efficiency improvements or renewable energy system projects.