Since 2015, New York has received $179.4 million from the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and $21.4 million from the State Energy Program (SEP), resulting in the following benefits:

* Findings from a National Evaluation of the State Energy Program and a National Evaluation of the Weatherization Assistance Program.

States report outcomes of State Energy Program and Weatherization Assistance Program formula (annual) fund activities to DOE on a quarterly basis. The metrics above are outcomes of formula-funded activities since 2015.

The SCEP Project Map highlights the annual formula and competitive funding for WAP and SEP.

New York State Decarbonization Pathways Analysis

New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) sets goals for the state to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and no less than 85% by 2050, from 1990 levels. The law creates a Climate Action Council charged with developing a scoping plan of recommendations to meet these targets and place New York on a path toward carbon neutrality. 

The Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in New York State report was published in June 2020 and provides a strategic analysis of the state's decarbonization opportunities across economic sectors, with a focus on electricity, buildings, transportation, and industry. This ongoing analytic work models existing policies and explores the additional actions needed to reach New York's 2030 and 2050 targets. The study provides a starting point that will inform the Climate Action Council's work in developing a scoping plan to achieve net-zero statewide carbon emissions by midcentury.

Further technical work leveraging New York's pathways modeling framework, known as the Integration Analysis, is designed to support the scoping plan and examine scenarios that achieve the 2030 and 2050 statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) limits established by New York's Department of Environmental Conservation pursuant to the Climate Act. These limits include additional reporting required by the Climate Act, including emissions associated with "extraction and transmission of fossil fuels imported into the state" and the adoption of a 20-year global warming potential, a metric that emphasizes the near-term climate impacts of short-lived climate pollutants such as methane. The Integration Analysis assesses GHG reductions, benefits, and costs of portfolios of measures so that various policy recommendations can be evaluated by the Climate Action Council.

Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium

On June 15, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) a $18.5-million grant to lead the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, which is a nationally focused, independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to managing industry-focused research and development of offshore wind to maximize economic benefits for the United States.

Specific technical objectives of the Consortium include:

• Advancing offshore wind plant technology and supporting innovations in wind plant design
• Developing innovative methods for wind power resource and site characterization to reduce siting and installation costs
• Exploring advanced technological solutions for operations, maintenance, and supply chain development.

Industry, academia, and national laboratories will support Consortium initiatives to reduce cost and risk of offshore wind development projects throughout the United States while supporting U.S.-based manufacturing and the offshore wind supply chain. The Consortium strengthens New York's leadership role in advancing the cost effective and responsible development of offshore wind.

As of 2021, three solicitations were released by the Consortium. The first request for proposal (RFP), issued in 2019, is funding 20 projects across all three research and development pillars of 

1. Offshore wind plant technology advancement. 
2. Offshore wind power resource and physical site characterization.
3. Installation, operations, and maintenance. 

The second RFP resulted in 20 more projects announced in 2021, including those that enable large-scale turbines; develop innovative support structures (e.g., foundations and moorings); innovate the supply chain, support grid interconnection, and mitigate use conflicts (e.g., wildlife monitoring and radar interference). 

The third RFP will support the integration of innovation throughout the offshore wind sector in the United States with the ultimate goal to reduce levelized cost of energy.

Energy Emergency Response and Resilience

New York State maintains the capability and flexibility required to address a broad range of energy emergencies. NYSERDA is part of a network of state agencies that act in a coordinated effort to monitor and respond to potential emergencies across the energy supply chain (i.e., Emergency Support Function "ESF" #12: Energy). As part of that effort, NYSERDA maintains the Energy Emergency Plan, which is updated each year to support emergency planning and management for New York's energy systems. NYSERDA also continually monitors the price, supply, and demand of multiple fuels to inform individual response measures comprising specific emergency response programs among multiple stakeholders.

Additionally, NYSERDA has administered initiatives focused on developing resilience infrastructure at retail gasoline stations in the downstate region of New York. Since 2016, 195 permanent generator installations have been completed at retail gas stations. A complementary backup power program has installed transfer switch generator hookups at an additional 705 gas stations. This equipment provides on-going resiliency benefits for New Yorkers and has proven useful to keep gas stations operational during storm events and emergency declarations. 

oTherm: Renewable Thermal Data Clearinghouse

The overall goal of the project was to develop a fully functional data clearinghouse for renewable heating and cooling technologies that built upon existing efforts to standardize energy data and best practices. Partnerships with academia, national labs, and the private sector ensured that robust methods were applied in a manner that can be readily adopted by renewable thermal technology (RTT) industries and utilized by stakeholders.

The outcome of the project is a set of data specifications and best practices for renewable heating and cooling performance attribution and methodology for integrating with an open database. Overall, the oTherm data clearinghouse:

• Increased the regularity with which RTT performance data is collected and analyzed
• Facilitated the comparison of technologies relative to a given objective (e.g., demand response to weather conditions)
• Enabled development of dashboards displaying key metrics for stakeholders to evaluate efficiency, thermal output, resiliency, reliability, and durability
• Enabled quantitative validation of anticipated system performance by capturing both pre- and post-installation project parameters, as well as monitored performance over time.

The Utility Energy Registry

New York partnered with Minnesota, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, along with Climate Action Associates, to develop the Utility Energy Registry, an online platform that provided public access to community-scale utility energy demographics to drive state and local government clean energy planning. The project leveraged New York's existing work with investor-owned utilities to collect aggregated community-level energy data, resulting in a web-based platform that enabled the use of community-level data nationally by municipalities and other interested entities. The goal of the project was to create a replicable and nationally scalable model, which enhanced the ability of local communities around the country to design policy and track progress toward goals with measurable, independent data.

According to the Status Report from the end of 2019, there are approximately 300 municipalities designated under NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities program and 277 municipalities registered in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (NYSDEC) Climate Smart Communities program. Of those, more than 100 have developed or are developing greenhouse gas inventories and climate action plans with targets and policies that complement New York's ambitious climate action goals. The Utility Energy Registry allows these communities to easily access the necessary community-wide aggregated data required for the development of these climate actions plans.

Energy Storage Roadmap

In June 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the state's plan to jump-start the development of energy storage in New York, calling for the deployment of 1.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2025. The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) subsequently enhanced that goal by establishing a target of 3.0 GW by 2030. To help reach these targets, NYSERDA and the Department of Public Service (DPS), in conjunction with stakeholders, developed the New York State Energy Storage Roadmap. The Roadmap identifies the most promising near-term policies, regulations, and initiatives needed to realize these goals.

Clean Energy Standard White Paper

On June 18, 2020, the New York State DPS and NYSERDA advanced a white paper that introduces an expanded Clean Energy Standard, re-focusing New York's existing and relevant regulatory and procurement structures on meeting the critical goal of meeting 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and setting the state on a rapid and irreversible path to achieve a carbon-free power sector by 2040 in order to align with the goals laid out in New York's nation-leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

On April 21, 2021, the New York State DPS and NYSERDA held a Technical Conference to review Community Distributed Generation Policy Options for the solar market in New York State. The scope of the public event covered: a review of the solar market progress regarding Commercial/Industrial and Community Distributed Generation; Project Economics and Use Cases; Benefits of Distributed Solar; Establishing a Value of Carbon, and options for going beyond the target of 6 Gigawatts of distributed solar in the state.

Energy Code Development & Stretch Codes

New York state made several amendments to the national model codes. NYSERDA funded cost effectiveness and equivalency analyses comparing the 2020 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State (ECCCNYS-2020) to a) the residential chapter of the IECC 2018; and, b) ASHRAE 90.1-2016.

The results of that analysis show a less than 1% reduction in modeled efficiency relative to requirements for residential construction in Climate Zone 6A of IECC 2018. Analysis shows equivalency between ASHRAE 90.1-2016 and the ECCCNYS-2020.

Also, New York state published its first stretch code, NYStretch Energy Code-2020, in July 2019. As of Sept. 27, 2021, 22 municipalities across New York, including New York City, have adopted NYStretch-2020, with many more currently considering adoption.

In 2021, NYSERDA began the process of developing the next cycle of NYStretch, aiming for higher levels of building performance and encouragement of electrification, to support the state's Climate Leadership and Climate Protection Act policy direction, which include code-driven emissions reduction and building electrification strategies.

Learn more about SEP competitively awarded projects.

The New York State Homes and Community Renewal is the managing agency of New York's Weatherization Assistance Program. The New York WAP subcontracts with a network of community-based nonprofits, community action agencies, counties, and units of local government to provide weatherization services to each of the state’s 62 counties. Every county, village, town, and neighborhood in New York is served by a local WAP provider.

Between 2010 and 2021, New York weatherized an average of 8,669 homes per year with formula funds.

New York City Housing Authority Pilot Project

Through its weatherization subgrantee Sunset Park Redevelopment Corp, New York State's WAP completed a leveraged weatherization project on a group of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings in Brooklyn known as the Howard Avenue buildings. These five buildings represent the first completed weatherization work in a program that brings WAP and NYCHA together to use WAP funds for small to midsized NYCHA public housing developments. From its initial planning stages to completion of the Howard Avenue buildings, the pilot focused on 150 units and took approximately two years. Total funds for the pilot project were more than $985,000.

Since the launch of the pilot, several additional NYCHA projects have been identified and weatherized throughout the five boroughs. Because of the success of the Howard Avenue work, weatherization and infrastructure improvement needs in NYC public housing will continue to be addressed with the combined resources of WAP and NYCHA.

Weatherization Preservation Plus (P+)

Launched in 2020 with construction having begun in 2021, WAP has partnered with the NYS Housing Trust Fund (HTFC) to reinvest approximately $7 million of State resources to preserve affordability, reduce energy costs, and enhance the physical condition of multi-family housing in New York State, specifically targeting properties receiving Project Based Rental Assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

P+ goes beyond the limits of the typical WAP work scope to provide for a deeper, more comprehensive retrofit, combining HTFC funds with WAP. Selected properties in the portfolio are eligible to receive up to $10,000 per unit, not to exceed $1.5 million per property in a forgivable loan. Selections have been based on building needs.

Work is underway and near completion by weatherization subgrantees in Buffalo (St. John Tower, 150 units being weatherized by Cattaraugus Community Action), Syracuse (Syracuse Rehab V, 136 units being weatherized by People’s Equal Action and Community Effort), and the Bronx (Miramar Court, 90 units being weatherized by the Association for Energy Affordability) with over $3.5 million of P+ funds dedicated to the 3 projects. Additional projects will follow.   

American Rescue Plan Act Weatherization

HCR has received $34 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for a special program targeting the goals of the NYS Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). These funds are Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Funds and are being used to support CLCPA-related goals, including building electrification, partial electrification, electrification readiness, heat pump technology, and solar and geothermal technology.

Subgrantees are encouraged to leverage WAP funds to promote the overall CLCPA climate goals to reduce emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels by 2050, with no less than 35% of the program’s benefits going to historically disadvantaged communities.

Subgrantees participating submitted project proposals based on these goals and funding was approved based on the appropriateness of the proposals to the program’s goals. Work has begun in 2022 with the expected completion of over 1000 units by Sept. 30, 2023. 

•  SCEP News and Success Stories.

More than 900 organizations are involved in the Better Buildings Initiative working to reduce energy and water waste and modernize the nation's buildings and industrial facilities. Download the 2022 Better Buildings Progress Report for more information on the Initiative as a whole.

The cities of Glens Falls, Huntington, Rochester, and the Village of Montour Falls have taken on the Better Buildings Challenge, a commitment to reduce the energy use of their entire building portfolios by 20% within 10 years, and are making progress toward their energy reduction goals. As of 2021, public-sector Challenge partners have cumulatively saved 133 trillion Btus of energy, $1.27 billion, and 1.5 billion gallons of water since the Challenge was launched in 2011.

Albany County, Glens Falls, Southampton, and the Village of Montour Falls have joined the Better Climate Challenge, a commitment to reduce their portfolio-wide scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by at least 50% within 10 years. They will pursue an energy efficiency target as part of this commitment, recognizing efficiency as a key driver of decarbonization.

In the past five years, SCEP has engaged nearly 100 partners in Better Buildings Accelerators. These Accelerators are designed to demonstrate specific innovative policies and approaches, which will accelerate investment in energy efficiency upon successful demonstration. Each Accelerator is a targeted, short-term, partner-focused activity designed to address persistent barriers that stand in the way of greater efficiency.

To learn more about other Better Buildings partners and solutions in New York and other states involved in the Better Buildings Initiative, check out the Better Buildings Partner map.

Outdoor Lighting Accelerator Partners

The city of Albany, a partner in the Outdoor Lighting Accelerator from 2014 to 2016, pledged to upgrade its street lights as a part of a nationwide commitment to retrofit 1.3 million light poles with high performance lighting. These commitments are expected to result in annual savings of $48 million. See the Outdoor Lighting Toolkit for more information and demonstrated best practices.

New York City and NYCEEC, partners in DOE's Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Working Group, actively worked to develop or refine their C-PACE program with technical assistance from DOE, National Laboratories, and other subject matter experts. The C-PACE Working Group, which concluded in 2020, included more than 30 state and local participants working to learn about, launch, and refine C-PACE financing programs. Partners in the C-PACE Working Group achieved $70 million in C-PACE-financed investments in building upgrades. For more information, see the C-PACE Working Group.

• State and Local Solution Center, a one-stop shop of impactful public-sector resources
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• Contact State Weatherization Agency
• EIA New York State Profile and Energy Estimates