NYSERDA is committed to ensuring that communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis can be at the forefront of shaping clean energy solutions. Through this Request for Qualifications (RFQL), NYSERDA intends to expand the existing pool of community-based organizations (CBO) and other entities, including Indigenous Nations and Indigenous-led Organizations, that represent New York State’s disadvantaged communities, herein referred to as DAC Consultants. DAC Consultants participating in this pool will execute contracts with NYSERDA to provide services across multiple programmatic areas, supporting teams with distinct, high-impact projects on an as needed basis. These services could include advisement on barriers and needs in communities, reasoned recommendations for potential program or policy changes, feedback on program design or participation in co-design workshops, meeting/workshop facilitation, or assistance with community outreach, among other services. 

DAC Consultants are compensated at pre-established rates for their time and experience delivering requested services to NYSERDA. This helps ensure New York State’s historically marginalized communities remain centered in the development of NYSERDA initiative planning, resulting in more equitable program design, energy policies, and demonstrable impact informed by disadvantaged community experience and priorities. 

Paying for community time and contributions to NYSERDA’s policies, programs, and planning is one of several initiatives designed to support NYSERDA’s Climate Equity Strategy, which advances best practices for equitable community engagement  intended to support deeper, more coordinated consultation and collaboration with historically marginalized communities and Indigenous Peoples. Consulting with and compensating DAC Consultants in this pool helps deliver on the clean energy and climate goals outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act), with the goal of 40% of clean energy benefits directed to disadvantaged communities. 

Access to the pool of DAC Consultants selected under this RFQL will improve NYSERDA’s understanding of the barriers various DACs across the state face and will enable solutions informed by and developed in consultation with representatives of New York State’s historically marginalized and frontline communities. DAC Consultants would be expected to work on distinct projects with clear timelines, some of which may be requests for services on short notice and some of which may be longer-term incremental engagements. 

NYSERDA conducted an Informational Webinar on September 3, 2025 from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. ET.  Please review the RFQL 4922 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Associated Documents listed below for helpful information prior to applying.  

Applications must be completely submitted within the respective application round due date, including uploading all required attachments.  Applications started within one round due date and submitted in another will yield an error message and result in an incomplete submission.  A successful submission will yield an autogenerated confirmation to the email address entered on the application.  You must save this.  If you do not receive an email, confirm the email address provided and check your spam folder.

Application Due Dates:  9/12/2022 (Round 1); 9/17/2025 (Round 2); 1/16/2026 (Round 3); 4/24/2026 (Round 4); 7/24/2026 (Round 5); 10/23/2026 (Round 6); 1/22/2027 (Round 7); 4/23/2027 (Round 8); 7/23/2027 (Round 9); 10/22/2027 (Round 10)