As EmPower+ Hangs In The Balance, A Reckoning Of New York’s Uneven Efforts To Lower Household Energy Use — And Power Bills
- Zhenjia Zhang
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
EmPower+, a first-in-the-nation program to reduce power consumption of New Yorkers, especially the underserved, faces implementation and funding challenges — the latter due to policy changes by the Trump administration. We unpack how the program performs — the promises, the pitfalls, and the path forward.
As autumn gives way to winter in New York, heaters hum and power meters spin faster — a testament that the city’s energy strain isn’t just a summer story.
Just months ago, the city sweltered under record-high temperatures. The city’s power grid was under such heavy strain that Governor Kathy Hochul urged residents to “limit use of appliances during peak hours,” while thousands faced full or partial blackouts every day. Many residential buildings urged tenants to limit air conditioning to help prevent such blackouts.
With climate change likely to make summers even hotter and winters harsher, energy-efficient homes — which also cut air pollution — are no longer a luxury but a necessity.
The city’s answer to energy conservation is EmPower+, a rebate program that promises home upgrades at little to no cost to New Yorkers. But with policy shifts and many implementation challenges, does it truly reach those who need it the most?
What Is EmPower+?
EmPower+ is an energy efficiency assistance program run by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Launched in 2023, its expansion was made possible by former president Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, specifically through its Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) initiative.
One of two programs established through $8.8 billion in federal funding, HEAR is meant to help low- and middle-income households across the country electrify their homes, improve energy efficiency, and lower utility costs: of the $2,000 that an average American family spends on energy bills every year, about $200 to $400 is wasted due to air leaks and the like. The program also has the additional benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Here are some simple ways to lower your energy use — and power bills
Can you believe that simply reducing drafts can save 5%–30% of a household’s energy use in a year? In summer, warm air seeps into your home, and in winter, it escapes — both of which drive up electricity bills and make the home less comfortable.
Insulation is a protective layer that serves the dual purpose of retaining heat in winter and keeping the chill in during summer. Thermal resistance (R-value), installation quality, moisture control, and air sealing are determinants of insulation in a household. The U.S. Department of Energy has published an R-value map, which indicates how much insulation is needed based on the climatic zone and the part of the house being insulated (whether it’s the attic, walls, or basement).
Did you know that installing low-emission (Low-E) windows — with a thin metallic layer that reflects heat — can cut heating and cooling costs by 12%–33%? As for doors, insulated steel or fiberglass ones are more energy-efficient than wood, and skylights with heat-absorbing tints or Low-E coatings help save energy.
Typically, 43% of a home utility bill goes to heating and cooling. Small steps like changing the thermostat setting in a conventional heating system can be a game-changer. There is a big list of heating and cooling products available for rebates on the state energy department’s website.
Installing an energy-efficient heater can be a game-changer as water heating is the third largest energy expense in your home, typically accounting for about 12% of your utility bills. Using less hot water, turning down the thermostat on water heaters, and insulating it are the other important tips.
An average household dedicates 11% of its energy budget to lighting. Using new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use by 50%– 75%.
The incentives are based on household income and the type of energy efficiency improvements included in a proposed project. Through EmPower+, residents can get an assessment to pinpoint where energy is being wasted — such as through air leaks — and receive a customized plan to lower energy usage. Participating program contractors would install energy efficiency improvements, such as air sealing, insulation, and electrical upgrades. Depending on the upgrades, the incentives vary — from $1,600 for insulation and ventilation to $8,000 for installing heat pumps.
Since 2023, EmPower+ has enabled nearly 42,000 projects, helping families save about $25.8 million in energy costs every year — roughly $600 per household, wrote Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO of NYSERDA.
When the Underserved Don’t Benefit
With winter chills likely to intensify and spike energy bills, equitable access to clean energy upgrades is more urgent than ever, especially for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, who are deprioritized under the Trump administration and remain underserved.
About 10% of Asian Americans live below the U.S. federal poverty line, and research shows a higher prevalence of poverty among Pacific Islanders. In short, AAPI communities with a good number of low- and moderate-income households could hugely benefit from EmPower+. But they do not.
Though EmPower+ is a great choice to ease the burden of energy bills, AAPI communities face many challenges in benefiting from it.
A report by the Pratt Center for Community Development — a nonprofit that advocates for fair resource distribution among low-income Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in New York City — found that the program’s narrow eligibility rules and complicated application process have made it less accessible to Black, Brown, and low-income households — the very groups that need these rebates to upgrade their homes.
Although available in 16 languages, comprehending technical terms in the form could be a challenge for non-native speakers. Research by the Urban Institute, a think-tank that conducts policy research, found that limited English content and a lack of cultural nuance make information harder for AAPI communities to understand.
"The slowest part of the application process is customers getting their documentation together," says Ian Minerve, CEO of Green Power Associates, a contractor approved by the state energy department to carry out the upgradation.
"Some customers assume they won’t qualify, while others are unsure [about] which documents to submit or how to navigate state websites," says Destenie Nock, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
The next step is approval from the NYSERDA. “The approval time is the real bottleneck because there are a lot of changes going on with the programs, so it could be particularly long,” Minerve says. Once approved, contractors work on the upgrades at their next available schedule.
One of the real barriers on the ground is reluctant landlords. Several of these energy upgrades require permission from landlords, but many are either unresponsive or unaware of the program’s benefits.
A combination of these factors has affected energy use, as Nock notes that low-income households used 20–30% less energy than high-income ones over the summer — a disparity that puts them at greater risk of heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses.
Ensuring Equitable Access to Clean Energy
New York State and the city are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% by 2050. Leaving behind low-income and underserved communities largely undermines those goals.
The Pratt Center suggests that the state energy department widen EmPower+ eligibility by using the Area Median Income — the midpoint of household incomes in a specific region — instead of the State Median Income, which reflects the entire state. It also recommends aligning the program with the Federal Inflation Reduction Act income definitions to include more underserved Black and Brown communities.
Such a change would help hundreds of thousands of low-income and disadvantaged families transition to clean energy and also alleviate the environmental justice challenges these communities face.
That said, EmPower+ has become a victim of policy changes under the Trump administration, which has prioritized rolling back federal support for clean energy and energy efficiency improvements in favor of more expensive and polluting fossil fuels.
Due to state and federal budget cuts, EmPower+ needs to decrease annual commitments by around $140 million by 2027, according to state energy department records of July 2025. Although Gov. Hochul has yet to indicate whether or how New York might plug a funding hole, Harris, the president and CEO of the state Energy Research and Development Authority, states that funding for EmPower+ has not been cut.
However, contractors and policymakers urge people to make use of EmPower+ while it lasts, as “the future of administrative decisions remains uncertain.”
The Xylom reached out to New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, who has made affordability a central plank to his successful campaign, for comment.
