Energy Exchange

Connecticut’s Green Bank Gives Commercial PACE a $24 Million Boost

By Brad Copithorne / Published: May 28, 2014

Last week, Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (“CEFIA”), the state’s Green Bank, announced the sale of $24 million in loans for clean energy retrofits of commercial properties. The loans were originated through the state’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, which allows property owners to access 100 percent up-front financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on their buildings. Repayment is attached to a lien on the property tax bill, making PACE loans very attractive assets for investors.

According to Jessica Bailey, Director of PACE for CEFIA, “Connecticut’s PACE program is able to provide financing for commercial property owners to implement money saving clean energy projects. Without PACE, most of these property owners might not have access to attractive financing and these projects would not be completed.” Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Investor Confidence Project, Renewable Energy / Tagged PACE | Read 1 Response

An In-Depth Look at the Future of American Energy and How We Get There

By Cheryl Roberto / Published: April 18, 2014

istockphoto.com

Imagine a world where homes not only run on clean electricity but also generate, store, and sell it. A world where power companies get paid for conserving energy, not just producing it. Where, when supplies are tight, the power grid gives customers the option of being paid to reduce and even shift their energy use to a different time of day, allowing us to use more renewable energy.

The U.S. is poised to spend around $2 trillion over the next two decades replacing our outdated electric infrastructure. We must make sure those investments are not spent on replacing old, dirty power plants with more of the same. If we’re truly going to unleash the clean energy future, we must invest in renewable energy and a smarter grid that can smooth out the demand for power and reduce harmful air pollution. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Grid Modernization, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Read 2 Responses

Conference on Clean Energy Financing Signals a Shift in Funding the Low-Carbon Economy

By Brad Copithorne / Published: March 28, 2014

Source: eProGuide

In 2010, I began working on financial policy at EDF. Our objective was to implement policies that would allow private sector companies to profitably deliver financing solutions to residential and commercial property owners footing the upfront cost of money-saving energy efficiency and clean distributed generation (such as rooftop solar) projects. While the residential solar market was already gaining steam at the time, most of the other markets had very limited momentum. But after attending the clean energy finance conference that EDF co-hosted yesterday with Citi, energy efficiency solutions provider Elevate Energy, and law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, it appears that the market for financing clean energy projects is beginning to accelerate rapidly.

The agenda featured 12 private companies from the clean energy sector (Kilowatt Financial, Clean Power Finance, Renovate America, AFC First Financial Corp., Renewable Funding, Clean Fund, Joule Assets, Noesis Energy, SCIEnergy, Metrus Energy, Hannon Armstrong, and Honest Buildings), plus a few more in the audience, that are executing a wide range of transactions using Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), On-Bill Repayment, Energy Services Agreements (ESAs), and many other innovative techniques to fund the transition to a low-carbon economy. Read More »

Also posted in Energy Financing, Grid Modernization, Investor Confidence Project, New York, Renewable Energy / Read 1 Response

Transitioning to a Clean Energy Future Will Require Lots of Private Capital, but How Do We Get There?

By Victor A. Rojas / Published: March 25, 2014

Source: 401(K) FlicThe past two decades have seen a tremendous growth in our understanding of the climate change imperative and in the enormity of the challenge that confronts us. It has become clear that meeting climate change mitigation objectives will require the aggressive deployment of clean energy technologies, substantial amounts of capital, and creative methods of engaging that capital around these activities.

Transitioning to a low-carbon economy costs money (and lots of it). In fact, the International Energy Agency has estimated that $10.5 trillion will be required between 2010 and 2030 to fund this transition worldwide. Given the continuing challenges confronting global economies, the bulk of the capital needed to transition to this clean energy future will, by necessity, be private capital. As a result, creative financing solutions are essential to engaging and unleashing private, institutional capital, and accelerating the flow of those funds toward clean energy projects.

But the question of how to most effectively unlock the enormous amounts of capital necessary to pay for our transition to a low-carbon economy still remains. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Climate, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Investor Confidence Project, Renewable Energy / Tagged green bonds | Read 1 Response

PACE Financing for California’s Clean Energy Future, Part 1: Expanding the Residential Market

By Scott Hofmeister / Published: March 19, 2014

When it comes to protecting the environment and fighting climate change, California has always been a first mover.

Now the state is boldly acting to unleash a new market that saves energy, cuts pollution, and drastically increases clean energy investment for California’s residents.

Last week, California approved a $10 million reserve that will revive the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program for residential customers.

PACE allows customers to take advantage of energy saving upgrades to their home with no money down. Customers simply use a portion of their savings to pay off the investment over time through their property tax bill. Financing can be entirely provided by private lenders at no cost to taxpayers. Read More »

Also posted in California, Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Renewable Energy / Tagged PACE | Read 2 Responses

Hawaii Taps On-Bill Repayment Program for Clean Energy Financing and Job Creation

By Brad Copithorne / Published: March 5, 2014

Source: The Green Leaf

EDF has been advocating for states to establish On-Bill Repayment (OBR) programs that allow property owners and tenants to finance clean energy retrofits directly through their utility bills with no upfront cost. California and Connecticut are working to establish OBR programs, but Hawaii is expected to beat them to the punch. Hawaii’s program is critical as electric rates are about double the average of mainland states and most electricity has historically been generated with dirty, expensive oil.

Given the potential of OBR to lower electricity bills, reduce that state’s carbon footprint, and expand job growth in the clean energy sector, EDF has been working closely with Hawaii and multiple private sector investors for the past year to develop their OBR program. Once formally launched later this spring, Hawaii’s program will be one of only two in the nation, preceded by New York who enacted their program in 2011.

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Jobs, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Tagged Hawaii | Read 1 Response