Low-income households often face the biggest barriers to energy efficiency, weatherization, and electrification due to living in older housing stock with deferred maintenance that prevents basic energy upgrades that make homes more affordable, comfortable, and healthy. For example, homes that have environmental health hazards like lead, mold, and asbestos, or other code violations, will have to resolve these issues before they can qualify for energy efficiency or electrification interventions. This pre-electrification work is usually too costly for homeowners and building owners to take on themselves and is not currently funded by existing state programs.
New York State’s Green Affordable Pre-Electrification (GAP) Fund is a proposed $200-million program administered by the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in consultation with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), to fund and provide technical assistance for homes and buildings in need of a wide-range of currently unfunded retrofits that are necessary for healthy buildings and the achievement of New York’s climate mandates. The GAP Fund (S.3315/A.2101) will help households address deferred maintenance issues and eliminate legacy environmental hazards like lead, mold, old roofs, and poor ventilation. By eliminating the overlapping physical and economic structural barriers to electrification, the GAP Fund is an essential first step to ensuring vulnerable New Yorkers have access to healthy and affordable electrified homes.