Misinformation and coordinated disinformation about renewable energy is widespread and threatens to undermine public support for the transition to clean energy. In a new report, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School identifies and examines 33 of the most pervasive false claims about solar energy, wind energy, and electric vehicles, with the aim of promoting a more informed discussion. Read the full report by visiting Sabin Center’s website.
Debunking heat pump myths: What you need to know
The exterior unit of a ground source heat pump, installed at a home in the Southern Tier in 2021. Photo by Erica Herman.
By Harrison Hensley
Have you heard of but are skeptical of heat pumps? In the latest edition of Tompkins Weekly, local expert Ian Shapiro helps explain how heat pumps work and debunks common misconceptions. Shapiro is the founder of Taitem Engineering and has worked on heat pump design and research for over 30 years.
Read the full article on Tompkins Weekly’s website.
Up to $24,000 in energy assistance per household available for residents in need
By Jes Wickham
Thanks to federal funding, qualifying New York State residents can now access up to $24,000 to make energy-related improvements in their home. Eligible improvements include insulation installation, electrical upgrades, heating upgrades, and more.
Getting these sorts of services done in your home can save you money on your energy bills and make your home more comfortable. The application is available online. Smart Energy Choices, the Regional Clean Energy Hub for the Southern Tier, can help you or a neighbor apply for this program. Community Energy Advisors (CEAs) are standing by to advise on solving energy challenges, with information on assistance programs, and walk residents through applications.
The $24,000 per household in energy assistance is available through the EmPower+ Program, which raised its previous cap per household. The assistance is applied to the cost of your project before you receive your out-of-pocket bill.
This year, funds were added to the existing EmPower+ Program as part of the first phase of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program (HEAR). Below is a breakdown of what that all means.
EmPower+ is a state energy efficiency program administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It provides grants to cover a wide range of energy-efficiency improvements, including air sealing, insulation, replacement of inefficient appliances, and installation of new heating and cooling systems.
Prior to the addition of the Inflation Reduction Act’s HEAR funding, EmPower+ provided residents with a household income at or below 60% the state median income with up to $10,000 per project, and those with a household income between 60% and 80% state or area median income up to $5,000 per project. As an example, a two-person household in Tompkins County would need to make $47,640 or less a year in income to qualify for up to $10,000 per project, or between $47,641 and $79,550 to qualify for up to $5,000 per project. You can look up your income eligibility on NYSERDA’s website.
Additional funding has been made available through the EmPower+ program through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). For projects and measures that meet program guidelines, a home can receive up to $8,000 for heat pumps, $1,750 for heat pump water heaters, $4,000 for electric load centers, $2,500 for electric wiring, and $1,400 for insulation, air sealing, and ventilation, with a maximum possible IRA incentive of $14,000.
$5,000 is also available for well-engineered heat pump systems for homes that heat with oil, propane or other delivered fuels and do not have an existing heat pump.
Once your EmPower+ application is approved, you receive a free full-home energy assessment, where participating contractors come into your home to assess its various potential energy challenges. Contractors then draw up a work scope, or a plan of all the work they can do to improve your home’s energy efficiency. That work scope has a cost estimate, and if you receive EmPower+ assistance, the grant(s) are applied to this cost before you pay anything. If the work scope is less than the maximum award amount, then you generally won’t have to pay anything out of pocket. If your work scope is larger than the maximum award amount, you’ll pay the remaining cost out of pocket.
Here’s an example of how this all works: let’s say you live in a two-person household making below the “low-income” threshold. You apply, get an energy assessment done, and receive a work scope for various improvements that collectively total $15,000. With the new EmPower+ expanded services, you could receive up to $24,000 through EmPower+, this would mean you’d have no out-of-pocket costs for the project.
Please note that you may be asked to provide a customer contribution toward the project. The customer contribution can be paid out of pocket or through low-interest loan options provided through the state. Loan amounts are based on your energy cost savings from the work done.
New York owners of one- to four-family homes of all income levels are eligible for a free energy assessment. Right now, EmPower+ funding is targeted to residents 80% of the State/Area Median Income or below. You can conveniently apply for any of the above funding through the same application.
This represents significant savings for many families in need of major energy improvements. This is a rare opportunity for households, so Smart Energy Choices highly encourages those who are interested to apply soon.
Home comfort on the horizon thanks to community resources
Community Energy Advisor Devin Bialey talks about a resident he’s been advising. The resident is facing significant energy challenges in their old home, particularly it being constantly cold in the winter. Devin connected her with community resources and assistance programs, and she is now optimistic that the energy improvements she’s making will increase her home comfort in the long run.
Single mom improves home comfort with insulation
Cassandra Landes recently moved to her home in Tompkins County with her four children. When they moved in, the house was extremely drafty, but thanks to some new insulation, their house is now much more comfortable. And Cassandra is looking to continue her energy savings efforts by switching to renewable energy to better meet her heating and cooling needs.
Cassandra’s family relies on propane to heat their home, but they still felt cold in the winter because their home was poorly insulated.
“It was an old drafty house and the windows and things were all old, and so I was trying to insulate it and then also figure out ways to not [have] to use propane to heat,” she said. “And I didn't have cooling systems. I was just trying to find out more ways to upgrade it so I didn't have to utilize propane the whole time.”
A community member told her about Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), which leads the Southern Tier Regional Clean Energy Hub, better known as Smart Energy Choices.
“I was looking at stuff on how to fix up the house and get it more updated,” she said. “I asked someone [for] information and they told me about Cornell Cooperative Extension, and so I reached out to them.”
Cassandra’s house was partially insulated through the Energy Warriors’ Cozy Basements program, where a trained cohort of students go to qualifying households to insulate rim joists at no cost to the homeowner. The rim joists were insulated, helping make some small improvements.
Once Cozy Basements finished Cassandra’s house, her contact information was passed along to Community Energy Advisor Jack Wright, who reached out to Cassandra to let her know about other opportunities she could benefit from. He told her about EmPower+, a state-run program that provides financial assistance for qualified homeowners to make energy improvements.
Cassandra said that she was a bit nervous going into the process, but her interactions with Jack helped simplify things.
“It was just a normal conversation trying to figure out what I needed and what ways to help,” Cassandra said.
Cassandra successfully applied to EmPower+ and was connected with a local contractor, who went on to provide attic insulation and air sealed her home. So, Cassandra was ultimately able to get her whole home insulated, a project valued at over $6,000, all at no cost to her.
The insulation work happened in the spring, so while it was no longer frigid, it still got cold enough that Cassandra could see a noticeable improvement.
Whereas before, her heater would struggle to heat her upstairs, after, “I was able to heat the majority of my upstairs with just my electric heater,” she explained.
Now that Cassandra’s house is insulated, she’s looking to expand her energy savings by switching from her existing propane heater to a far more efficient mini split, a type of air-source heat pump. She’s reaccessing EmPower+ to do so since new funding was recently made available through the Inflation Reduction Act. With this new funding, residents can access up to $24,000 in grants to make heating or other related upgrades. She said in addition to the heating benefit, the mini split should make it possible for her to not use separate air conditioners, like she’s using now.
To learn more about how insulation can help your home’s heating and cooling work more efficiently, contact your local Community Energy Advisor at smartenergychoices.org/get-help.
You can also read this story on our Success Stories page.
1840s house gets new insulation thanks to EmPower+
John Graves and his wife used to struggle with a cold home in the winter and an overworked AC in the summer due to the house’s poor insulation. But help from Smart Energy Choices, as well as state assistance, was able to get him the insulation he needed, helping them stay comfortable all year round.
Big strides from Smart Energy Choices’ first year
New funding available for energy improvements
There are now additional funds available for residents to better afford energy efficiency improvements in their home.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced earlier this month that $9.5 million has been allocated from the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) for energy efficiency improvements. The funding will “serve Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) recipients with envelope and heat pump measures.”
Up to $20,000 is available for each household based on the needs of the home and what measures may be eligible. We encourage residents to apply soon. You’ll need to provide a HEAP award letter dated between October 1, 2023, or later OR a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) award letter dated between October 1, 2023, or later. Applications must be approved no later than July 1, 2024. Work must be completed by Sept. 30, 2025.
Anyone with a current HEAP award letter is eligible for this funding, including residents on Long Island and municipal utility customers.
For information on HEAP, visit its website at https://otda.ny.gov/programs/heap/. If you need help navigating these programs, reach out to your local Community Energy Advisor — they’d be happy to answer any of your questions or guide you through applications.
Meet our Staff: Rebecca Spalone of Chemung County
Meet our Staff: Jack Wright of Tompkins County
Jack Wright (he/him) has long had a passion for youth education, particularly environmental education. Before joining Smart Energy Choices, he spent four years doing farm-based and nature-based education, which eventually led him to seek out educational opportunities at Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County. Once he applied, he learned more about the PowerHouse, a Tiny Home structure with educational elements inside to help educate residents on ways to reduce their energy use and transition to renewable forms of energy.
Jack joined the Hub as PowerHouse Educator in January of 2023, and throughout the following summer, he led a wide variety of educational programs and workshops in and around the PowerHouse. PowerHouse programming usually happens around the warmer months, so in December of 2023, as PowerHouse programming wrapped up for the winter, Jack has taken on some Community Energy Advisor (CEA) work.
““If folks have energy questions, they can give us a call and we can point them in the right direction and make sure they’re getting all the incentives that are available to them.””
Jack said his favorite part of his role at the Hub is helping to explore complex subjects like energy with people of all ages. He also appreciates the Hub’s focus on equity, making energy assistance programs and education available to those who could most benefit from lower utility bills and a more comfortable home. In his free time, Jack loves gardening, particularly vegetables and flowers, as well as spending time with his wife and their dog.
Contact Jack for more information on the PowerHouse or if you are interested in energy advising.
Meet our Staff: Erica Herman of Schuyler County
Erica Herman (she/her) has had a passion for sustainability for most of her life, beginning with family RV camping trips all over the USA and Canada with her grandparents starting at age 7.
She earned her Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and History at SUNY Potsdam, and prior to joining Smart Energy Choices, she worked for Get Your GreenBack Tompkins as the Associate Program Coordinator and then HeatSmart FLX South as the Campaign Director. When the HeatSmart grant program ended, Erica joined Smart Energy Choices as the Community Energy Advisor to continue work with Schuyler and Steuben Counties.
““The biggest thing for me is finding a way to relate to people so that people are comfortable, so that if there’s something that’s in the way from them getting work done, maybe it’s something else going on with their family or another barrier, that I’m available to assist them to move past that to work together.””
The most rewarding part of Erica’s role is supporting residents to navigate their energy needs and options, and the positive feedback she receives about how the Hub assisted them in that journey. She especially enjoys helping limited-income residents access clean energy resources that can help save them energy and money. With her experience at HeatSmart FLX South, Erica is best versed in heat pump technologies as well as weatherizing opportunities, but she can help residents with any questions they may have.
In her free time, Erica can often be found swing dancing or reading manga. She also enjoys meeting people and hearing their stories, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Contact Erica if you are interested in energy advising.
Meet our Staff: Leigh Miller of Tompkins County
Leigh Miller (she/her) studied Environment & Sustainability in college. After graduating, she knew she wanted a role that would advance sustainability solutions for her local community. Having previously interned for HeatSmart Tompkins and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tioga County, it was natural for her to seek out the Community Energy Advisor position at Smart Energy Choices.
“I’m very interested in the bigger issue of climate change and want to help reduce emissions and have a better, more environmentally friendly world for future generations.”
Leigh has been in Tompkins County most of her life, and she thoroughly enjoys working on a small scale to help her community. She said this small scope allows her to see the significant impact she has on the residents she serves every day, encouraging her to continue pursuing the Hub’s mission of educating residents on energy-related issues.
Leigh has become well-versed in the various grant programs and financial incentives that people can access to reduce their energy bills, so she welcomes the opportunity to help residents navigate them. In her spare time, Leigh likes to dive into a good book or spend time outside going on walks and runs.
Contact Leigh for more information on clean energy technologies or energy advising.
NYSEG Rate Hikes on Gas & Electricity
By Jes Wickham
Starting in November 2023, customers of New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) saw and will continue to see an increase in their utility bills. This was a result of the recent rate case agreement between the utility and the state regulating agency, the New York Public Service Commission.
Under the three-year agreement, NYSEG residential electric customers with average usage rates saw their monthly electric bill increase by just under $10 in November 2023. Their bill will increase by another $9 starting May 2024 and by another $11 starting May 2025. This adds up to an extra $30 a month for the average electric bill. Residential gas heating customers with average usage rates saw their monthly bill increase by nearly $5 in November 2023, and that will increase by another $2 in May 2024 and by another $4 in May 2025, a total of $11 during this period.
Most of this increase comes from an increased delivery charge (see image below). This charge is what NYSEG charges for delivering the energy through their network of transmission lines. Over the next year and a half, this charge will increase by 62% for electricity and by 17.6% for gas compared to October 2023 rates. The rest comes from an increase in the “basic service charge” on a bill, a fixed monthly charge to cover utility costs, which increased by $2 in November of 2023 for most electric and gas customers.
If you are concerned with being able to pay these increased costs, there are steps you can take. Smart Energy Choices recommends that residents get an energy audit; they’re free, and they can provide you with possible solutions to make your home more energy efficient. Income-eligible households can qualify for programs that cover measures that can help seal cracks in your home, meaning you’ll use less heat and spend less on utility bills.
There are also assistance programs available to make your utility costs more affordable; reach out to Smart Energy Choices to explore your options, including assistance from NYSEG themselves for income-qualified households. CCE Tompkins staff can also connect interested residents to programs that can help income-qualified households reduce their energy use and upgrade to energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, which can bring down your bills even further.
