Financing
Financing programs help businesses and consumers afford the up-front cost of energy efficiency improvements.
Reducing the Up-Front Cost
Although energy efficiency can offer significant savings on energy bills, the up-front costs of buying new equipment or renovating buildings significantly reduce widespread adoption of most efficiency measures. Financing programs that assist businesses and consumers in meeting these initial costs can help overcome this barrier and allow greater implementation of energy efficiency projects.
Financing in All Its Forms
Financing mechanisms for energy efficiency take a variety of forms and come from a variety of sources; a number of different financing models exist at the state, local, utility, and financial institution levels. These can vary from simple loan programs to property assessment-based financing to altering mortgages so as to reflect energy costs – and more. Additionally, government entities and utilities can support financing programs with loan guarantees and other forms of credit support. Related to financing, tax incentives can also reduce the up-front costs of energy efficiency upgrades and efficient construction.
Featured Content
Energy efficiency policy faces challenges in 2012, but Congress is ripe for legislation that saves money and energy. In particular, a bipartisan package that includes a broad energy efficiency proposal and an appliance standards bill has the best chance for approval.
The following is a summary of the Energy Savings & Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011 (ESICA, S. 1000), which was introduced on May 12, 2011 by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), and reported out by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 14, 2011 by a vote of 18-3. This summary is based on the text as reported by the committee.
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