NYSEG and RG&E will provide funding assistance up to $200,000 per project to fund natural gas related infrastructure improvements on equipment either owned by the company or the customer. These improvements can involve existing or prospective customers, are either stand alone or in a business/industrial park. Actual grant awards would be commensurate with the magnitude of each project including capital investment and infrastructure improvements.

• Project must involve capital investment in facility/equipment purchases of at least $100,000.
• The average monthly throughput after capital investment must be at least 20 therms per hour (2 million BTU/HR).
• Project must hold the company harmless in regard to any contaminant liability.
• Applicant must demonstrate that financial assistance from this program will be a benefit to attracting new investment activity.
• Facility must be located within the company's service area.
• Recipient must be the owner or leaseholder of facility and must be current in payments to the company or have a deferred payment agreement in place and current (existing customers).
• Project must demonstrate ability to retain and/or attract new employment.
• Recipient must demonstrate efforts to obtain state and local economic development incentives.
• Business use must be classified under the following general categories: agriculture*, forestry, fishing, mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade durable goods, wholesale trade non-durable goods, finance, insurance, real estate, business services, clean technologies, regional warehouses and distribution centers, colleges/universities and hospitals/health care facilities**, and projects that are endorsed by one of Empire State Development’s (ESD) Regional Economic Development Councils and/or the Governor’s office.
  
  *Agriculture includes the craft beverage industry for wineries, distilleries, micro-breweries, farm cideries, etc. 
  
  **Colleges/universities and health care facilities must demonstrate that project for economic development assistance goes beyond typical educational facilities/dormitories/traditional health care occupancy and promotes research and development and/or state-of-the-art technologies/best practices, centers of excellence, that foster regional economic development benefits.