Existing Facilities Rebate Program

Summary

NOTE: Beginning September 21, 2015, NYSERDA is modifying the incentives available through the Existing Facilities Program for the rest of the program year 2015. The changes include i) eliminating the prescriptive incentives and ii) transition of performance based incentive from fixed incentive per kWh saved by geographic region by tiered incentive based on level of kWh saved. For more information, please see the notification filed by NYSERDA to the Department of Public Service.  

The NYSERDA Existing Facilities program merges the former Peak Load Reduction and Enhanced Commercial and Industrial Performance programs. The new program offers a broad array of different incentives to electricity and natural gas customers within the state that pay the System Benefits Charge (SBC). Energy service companies (ESCOs) that implement efficiency measures for eligible customers are likewise eligible. Both pre-qualified equipment rebates and performance based rebates are offered under this program, as described below. Projects with a simple payback greater than 18 years, or less than 1 year (or 6 months for manufacturing and data center projects) are not eligible for incentives.This summary is provided for rebate component of the program, please visit Existing Building performance based  program site for summary on performance based component of the program. 

Pre-qualified Measures
The pre-qualified equipment category is designed to support comparatively small electric and natural gas efficiency projects through fixed $/unit equipment rebates. The general technologies covered by the pre-qualified designation are as follows: lighting, HVAC, chillers, motors, variable frequency drives, interval meters, natural gas equipment, commercial washing equipment, commercial refrigeration, and commercial kitchen equipment. Pre-qualified applications should be sent within 90 days of the invoice for purchase and installation of the equipment. Incentives are limited to $30,000 per facility per year for electric efficiency incentives and $30,000 per facility per year for natural gas efficiency incentives.

Performance-based Incentives 
This category of incentives is generally oriented towards large improvement projects. Performance incentives are available for electric efficiency, natural gas efficiency, energy storage, demand response, monitoring-based commissioning, and industrial and process efficiency (Industrial and Process Efficiency Program details). Performance incentives are awarded as one-time payments based on the expected first-year savings offered by a given improvement. Customers of downstate utilities (defined as Consolidated Edison and National Grid) are generally eligible for higher incentives than customers of other utilities. Each category of performance incentive is governed by a distinct set of eligibility limits, incentive limitations, equipment requirements, and other rules. Some of the basic program rules are described in the fields above this summary.

The general deadline for applications under this program is December 31, 2015, or until program funding is exhausted. Please consult the program website for additional rules and application information for additional program contacts.