USDA offers financing for energy efficiency upgrades

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently established the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP) to level the playing field for investments in clean energy. The same type of financing that has been available to power plants for decades will be available to electric utilities and – by extension – their residential customers.

The USDA’s Rural Utility Service has more than $6 billion to provide low-cost financing to electric utilities that serve rural areas and operate at-cost, such as rural electric co-ops and public power authorities.

The program allows eligible utilities to borrow money at low interest to invest in energy efficiency upgrades to their own facilities, as well as properties owned by customers. Utilities can bill customers for these upgrades through on-bill financing, which means adding a monthly charge to the customer’s bill. Often, the savings obtained from energy efficiency offset some or most of the cost of the upgrades.

KFTC ally the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) has piloted a similar project called How$mart in four rural electric cooperatives in Kentucky, and KFTC members have helped build awareness of the program in their own co-op districts.

If you’d like more information about the EECLP and how to make your co-op aware of the benefits, contact KFTC organizer Sara Pennington at (606) 276-9933 or [email protected].