Energy Efficiency Paying the Way: New Financing Strategies Remove First-Cost Hurdles

This report, produced by CalCEF Innovations, the market strategy and public policy arm of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), highlighta EE financing options and explores six new models for EE financing.

The following programs and case studies are included in the report:

• Clean Energy Works Program: An initiative in Portland, OR provides comprehensive financing through long-term loans and technical assistance to local homeowners.
• Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE):  Government programs offer property owners 20-year loans for EE that are repaid through property tax assessments.
• On-Bill Financing: San Diego Gas & Electric’s program is an example of the 100% financing terms for EE that small and medium-sized customers receive with loan repayments included on the regular utility bill.
• Utility Aggregated EE Deployment: Ice Energy partners with utilities to deploy large numbers of Thermal Energy Storage units under a single financing structure at no cost to customers.
• Efficiency Services Agreement: Metrus Energy offers industrial and commercial customers a PPA-like solution to finance and implement EE projects with repayment based on a cost per avoided unit of realized energy savings.
• Managed Energy Services Agreement: Transcend Equity finances and implements EE upgrades at commercial buildings and takes responsibility for repaying a customer’s utility bill.