17 US States & Territories to Receive $66 Million to Establish Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Funds

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The Investing in America Agenda Will Fund Loans for Vitality Effectivity Initiatives in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 15 States to Decrease Prices and Enhance Resilience for Householders, Small Companies and Public Buildings

WASHINGTON, DC — As a part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agendathe U.S. Division of Vitality (DOE) right now introduced 17 states and territories to obtain awards totaling $66 million from the Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Capitalization Grant Program. This system, supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation, offers funding to states and territories to ascertain or improve revolving funds enabling them to challenge loans and grants for vitality effectivity audits, upgrades, and retrofits to extend vitality effectivity and enhance the consolation of buildings. The RLF program will assist these states and territories to make capital accessible to fund vitality effectivity tasks in public buildings and can encourage monetary establishments to allow American households and small companies to save cash and scale back their vitality prices. The Revolving Mortgage Fund program will assist communities profit from the clear vitality financial system, enhance the consolation of properties and buildings, and help President Biden’s local weather targets of decreasing emission by 50 to 52 % by 2030 and attaining a net-zero financial system by 2050.

“Increased opportunities for low-cost financing will help states and territories expand access to the money- saving clean energy tools that will benefit the residential, commercial and public sectors,” mentioned U.S. Secretary of Vitality Jennifer M. Granholm. “We are excited to see states and territories take advantage of targeted and impactful financing options to transform their communities.”

Vitality effectivity financing is a confirmed method to speed up the adoption of unpolluted vitality, in keeping with a study produced by Lawrence Berkeley Nationwide Laboratory, the State and Native Vitality Effectivity Motion Community, and DOE. Based mostly on efficiency information from previous profitable vitality financing applications, every greenback that the federal authorities invests in a state or native revolving mortgage fund can appeal to upwards of $20 in non-public capital. Which means that every federal greenback used to ascertain a revolving mortgage fund on the state or native stage has the potential to jump-start native economies whereas serving to fight local weather change.

That is the third spherical of awards from the Revolving Mortgage Fund Capitalization Grant Program. DOE expects to announce extra awards later this 12 months. In whole, the RLF Program will present $242 million to awardees to capitalize vitality effectivity revolving mortgage funds, with 40% of the funds allotted to all states, territories, and the District of Columbia, and 60% of the funds reserved for precedence states as outlined within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation. Discover extra details about RLF award recipients is accessible on the RLF awards webpage.

Profitable applications will leverage non-public capital throughout industrial and residential sectors, speed up and maximize vitality financial savings, and create good-paying jobs. These investments additionally advance the President’s Justice40 Initiativewhich units a purpose that 40% of the general advantages of sure federal local weather, clear vitality, reasonably priced and sustainable housing, and different investments move to deprived communities which are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by air pollution.

Grantees embody:

• Arizona will use the funds to supply grants and loans to fund vitality effectivity tasks, together with audits and retrofits within the industrial sector, with a dedication to maximizing advantages to low-income and deprived communities (Award quantity: $1,690,280).
• Georgia will set up a brand new revolving mortgage fund for the residential sector, with a major deal with offering advantages to low-income residents (Award quantity: $2,453,810).
• Iowa will create a brand new revolving mortgage fund for industrial and residential entities. This system will goal multi-family housing all through Iowa and help in upgrading from inefficient baseboard heating to extra energy-efficient ductless mini-split techniques (Award quantity: $7,068,920).
• Puerto Rico will use the funds to implement a mortgage loss reserve fund to stimulate lending for vitality effectivity, photo voltaic, and battery storage for the residential sector. The reserve fund will develop entry to inexperienced financing alternatives for low and moderate-income communities and be sure that price financial savings and reliability advantages are realized by a broader section of the Puerto Rican inhabitants (Award quantity: $1,070,490).
• Texas will set up a brand new revolving mortgage fund that operationally matches their current Texas LoanSTAR revolving mortgage program. Texas will even present a grant alternative to supply free ASHRAE Stage II vitality audit companies to Group Facilities (Award quantity: $22,365,890).
• U.S. Virgin Islands will implement a mortgage loss reserve fund and rate of interest buydowns to allow lenders to supply decrease rate of interest loans for residential and industrial renewable vitality and vitality effectivity tasks within the territory. They will even create a grant program to help residential and industrial vitality audits to assist deal with key vitality challenges within the territory corresponding to excessive vitality prices and vulnerability to pure disasters by figuring out vitality effectivity alternatives and implementing measures to scale back vitality consumption and prices (Award quantity: $576,170).

Different awards embody:

• Colorado ($1,631,220)
• Delaware ($746,400)
• Kansas ($6,706,230)
• Maine ($863,110)
• Massachusetts ($1,894,760)
• Minnesota ($1,884,300).
• Nevada ($1,043,290)
• New Jersey ($2,383,510)
• New Mexico ($5,692,530)
• Oklahoma ($7,592,300)
• Rhode Island ($762,790)

The RLF Program presents technical help to help recipients in navigating federal necessities, optimally leveraging non-public capital, and attaining state priorities. RLF technical help choices embody the RLF Resource Library which is frequently up to date to supply foundational data to find out about, design, and handle an RLF program, in addition to case studies and pattern documentation with real-world examples and instruments.

To be taught extra concerning the Vitality Effectivity Revolving Mortgage Fund Capitalization Grant Program, go to: Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Capitalization Grant Program | Department of Energy.

Courtesy of U.S. Division of Vitality