Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
“New York City is on the frontline of the climate crisis, and our response must empower New Yorkers to take action today while setting a clear path for an equitable and sustainable future,” Mayor de Blasio said.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday announced the launch of ElectrifyNYC, a program run by the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, in partnership with Kinetic Communities, and Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens and Staten Island, to help New Yorkers adopt solar panels and air source heat pump technologies in order to accelerate the City’s path toward carbon neutrality and curb the impacts of climate change.
The program is designed to create equitable access to green technologies through no-cost technical assistance for property owners and promote just workforce development for contractors with a focus on Minority & Women-Owned Businesses and priority population organizations.
ElectrifyNYC is the first program from the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability that exclusively supports one-to-four unit family homes and contractors as part of the City’s decarbonization strategy. This building stock is particularly well suited for electrification using air source heat pumps – rather than continuing to rely on fossil fuel gas or oil for heating, and they also have high potential to lower energy costs through solar panel installations. The emissions generated from heating, cooling, and powering one-to-four family homes account for 20% of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
This year, the program will partner with Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens and Staten Island and Kinetic Communities to target low- to moderate-income homeowners and tenants in Queens and on Staten Island to improve indoor and local air quality, increase tenants’ comfort, reduce maintenance costs, and increase homeownership and housing affordability, though free services and assistance are available to any owner or resident of a one-to-four unit family home across all five boroughs.
To bolster the creation of green jobs, ElectrifyNYC is employing a three-pronged workforce development strategy of providing training, leads, and business development resources—especially for Minority and Women-owned Businesses, priority population businesses, and contractors who are not yet skilled or qualified for utility and state incentives. This approach to capacity building is aimed to build wealth within the community and address disparities in green technology adoption due to structural inequities among people of color and people with low-income.
This program is part of the City’s efforts to install 1,000 MW of solar in the five boroughs by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Since 2013, the de Blasio administration has overseen a 10-fold increase in solar, from 25 MW in 2013 to more than 285 MW installed citywide today.
Nearly $700,000 in support is also provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as ElectrifyNYC is one of 20 HeatSmart Community Campaigns throughout the state, which conduct community outreach and education efforts to inform residents about the benefits of heat pumps, home energy efficiency improvements, and other clean energy technologies.
“New York City is on the frontline of the climate crisis, and our response must empower New Yorkers to take action today while setting a clear path for an equitable and sustainable future,” de Blasio said. “ElectrifyNYC is ready to support Queens and Staten Island homeworkers in joining the fight against climate change and prioritize minority and women-owned businesses—the backbone of our economy—in the City’s just recovery.”
New York City homeowners with one-to-four units can get free assistance with finding tailored energy solutions for their buildings, financial incentives, and professional contractors by contacting ElectrifyNYC at ElectrifyNYC@KC3.nyc and (718) 500-0172.
