New York State Homes and Community Renewal Announces 58,000 Affor...

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas announced today, in celebration of Climate Week, that HCR’s wide variety of sustainability programs have resulted in more than 58,000 affordable housing units electrified or made electric-ready as part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s five-year Housing Plan. This includes 44,000 existing homes, and14,000 new multi-family apartments. In addition, 10,000 more units are set to be electrified as part of the Governor’s recently expanded Sustainable Futures Initiative.

“Across the state, HCR is putting a variety of energy-conservation measures to work to help lower costs for New Yorkers while we strategically transition away from fossil fuels,” said Commissioner Visnauskas. “Our programs have already made a difference for 58,000 homes and buildings, and thanks to the leadership of Governor Hochul, HCR is creating and preserving high-quality, environmentally-friendly housing while also delivering immediate energy savings to tenants, homeowners, and building owners.”

Governor Hochul’s $25 billion, five-year Housing Plan is in its final year and is set to create and preserve 100,000 affordable and supportive homes and electrify an additional 50,000 units across the state. The electrification goal is part of the Governor’s plan to electrify 1 million homes and make another 1 million electrification-ready.

HCR’s electrification and sustainability efforts during Governor Hochul’s tenure combine several programs and funding sources to help reduce energy usage and lower energy costs, making buildings eco-friendlier and more comfortable. This includes:

• HCR’s Climate Friendly Homes Fund, a $250 million five-year initiative to electrify 10,000 homes
• HCR’s Weatherization initiatives, which have provided significant energy efficiency upgrades to nearly 29,000 homes, apartments, and multi-family buildings, through Federal funding from the Department of Energy. These investments allow for a variety of renovations and retrofits that help low-income residents reduce heating and cooling costs.
• HCR’s multi-family development efforts, such as the Clean Energy Initiative, have created more than 14,020 newly constructed fully-electric apartments and an additional 7,600 units in existing buildings that have been renovated and are now fully electric across the State.
• HCR’s Climate Friendly Homes Fund and Sustainable Futures Program, which help install energy-efficient heat pumps in nearly 8,000 homes and apartments across the State with more to come.

Earlier this week, Governor Hochul announced plans for the second $1 billion installment of the Sustainable Future Program, matching the largest investment in climate action in state history that was set by the Governor just a year ago and will allocate funding to key areas of the state's climate plan to help make the energy transition more affordable for all New Yorkers. HCR is using its portion of the Program to assist eligible homes with affordable energy-efficient upgrades, including heat pumps.