Puerto Rico awarded $1M from DOE’s Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund
The Capitalization Grant Program will establish a loan loss reserve fund, expanding financing for low- and moderate-income communities.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that Puerto Rico has been awarded $1 million from the Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Capitalization Grant Program.
The funds will be used to implement a loan loss reserve fund aimed at stimulating lending for energy efficiency, solar and battery storage projects in the residential sector.
This reserve fund will expand access to green financing opportunities for low- and moderate-income communities, ensuring that cost savings and reliability benefits reach a broader segment of the Puerto Rican population.
The DOE also awarded funds to 17 other states and U.S. territories, totaling $66 million.
Supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program provides funding to states and territories to establish or enhance revolving funds. These funds enable the issuance of loans and grants for energy efficiency audits, upgrades and retrofits to increase energy efficiency and improve building comfort.
The RLF program will help make capital available for energy efficiency projects in public buildings and encourage financial institutions to enable families and small businesses to save money and reduce energy costs, the department said.
This initiative “will help communities benefit from the clean energy economy, improve the comfort of homes and buildings, and support President Biden’s climate goals of reducing emission by 50 to 52 percent by 2030 and achieving a net-zero economy by 2050,” the DOE news release reads.
“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,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. “We are excited to see states and territories take advantage of targeted and impactful financing options to transform their communities.”
Energy efficiency financing is a proven approach to accelerate the adoption of clean energy, according to a study produced by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network, and the DOE.
Based on performance data from past successful energy financing programs, each dollar the federal government invests in a state or local revolving loan fund can attract upward of $20 in private capital, the department said.
“This means that each federal dollar used to establish a revolving loan fund at the state or local level has the potential to jump-start local economies while helping combat climate change,” the release reads.
This is the third round of awards from the RLF program. The DOE expects to announce additional awards later this year. In total, the program will provide $242 million to awardees to capitalize energy efficiency revolving loan funds, with 40% of the funds allocated to all states, territories and the District of Columbia, and 60% reserved for priority states as defined in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
