While energy efficiency projects could partly meet new energy demand more cheaply than new supplies, weak economic institutions in developing and transitional economies impede developing and financing energy efficiency retrofits. This book analyzes these difficulties, suggests a 3-part model for projectizing and financing energy efficiency retrofits, and presents thirteen case studies to illustrate the issues and principles involved.
There are over 200 energy efficiency loan programs--across 49 U.S. states--administered by utilities, state/local government agencies, or private lenders. 1 This distributed model has led to significant variation in program design and implementation practices including how data is collected and used. The challenge of consolidating and aggregating data across independently administered programs has been illustrated by a recent pilot of an open source database for energy efficiency financing program data. This project was led by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Investor Confidence Project, the Clean Energy Finance Center (CEFC), and the University of Chicago. This partnership discussed data collection practices with a number of existing energy efficiency loan programs and identified four programs that were suitable and willing to participate in the pilot database (Diamond 2014).2 The partnership collected information related to ~12,000 loans with an aggregate value of ~$100M across the four programs. Of the 95 data fields collected across the four programs, 30 fields were common between two or more programs and only seven data fields were common across all programs. The results of that pilot study illustrate the inconsistencies in current data definition and collection practices among energy efficiency finance programs and may contribute to certain barriers.
This evaluation assesses the performance of IFC s energy efficiency finance program in China aimed at stimulating energy efficiency investments through bank guarantees and technical assistance. The difference made by the program is traced along the chain of interventions: (i) at the level of banks, the program is narrowly based on one of the two partner banks, which, with the help of the program, expanded its energy efficiency lending as a new business line; (ii) at the level of energy management companies, the program s technical assistance improved the program participants access to finance; and (iii) at the end-user level, it promoted the use of energy efficiency investments that achieved reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The utilization of IFC s program has been rapid compared with other similar programs. The energy efficiency investments supported by the program have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 14 million CO2 tons per year, slightly in excess of the target set at the beginning of the program. However, there is only a weak differentiation in behavior surrounding energy efficiency investment between end users supported by the program and other similar companies that were not. It is important to note that the performance of the program was heavily influenced by the government s policy actions and the earlier efforts of other players: The Chinese government and other players such as the World Bank. The CHUEE program, relying mainly on commercial funding through IFC s guarantees, builds on these efforts
"This paper analyzes Bank of America’s $55 million initiative to provide low-cost funding and grant support to advance energy efficiency investment in low- to moderate-income communities. The funding supported community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in developing and enhancing efficiency programs for residential, commercial, and multifamily buildings. We report on loan performance, energy savings, and the degree to which the savings offset the cost of the energy efficiency investment"-- Publisher's description (viewed August 8, 2016).
This book is devoted to investigating the policy design and effectiveness of financial and market-based instruments to promote energy efficiency financing. The concept of this monograph is to present the latest results related to energy efficiency funding schemes, energy efficiency obligations, voluntary agreements, auction mechanisms, and Super Energy Services Companies (Super ESCOs) in major jurisdictions across the world. The book focuses on financial and market-based instruments as they deliver a price signal, which provides an incentive for firms to invest in innovation or implement more energy-efficient technologies and deliver energy savings while minimizing costs. Such instruments can have significant advantages for the government, supporting the fiscal sustainability of the government’s energy efficiency efforts, requiring less enforcement than regulation and according the market flexibility to select the most cost-efficient technologies. This book is highly recommended to researchers, policy experts, and business specialists who seek an in-depth and up-to-date integrated overview of energy efficiency financing.
Many state policymakers and utility regulators have established aggressive energy efficiency (EE) savings targets which will necessitate investing billions of dollars in existing buildings. Tax payer and utility bill payer funding is a small fraction of the total investment needed. Given this challenge, some EE program administrators are exploring ways to increase their reliance on financing with the aim of amplifying the impact of limited program monies. This book explores the rationales and design options for energy efficiency financing programs; discusses increasing Middle America's access to capital for energy improvements; and provides insight on the limits of financing for energy efficiency.
"This report is designed to summarize the results and lessons learned from energy efficiency finance programs that have moved beyond the initial start-up phase; it is written for energy efficiency program planners and implementers. Also in the series are Energy Efficiency Finance 101: Understanding the Marketplace, an introduction to the field of energy efficiency finance, designed for those who are new to the field or for those who want a quick "refresher;" and a forthcoming more in-depth look at on-bill financing and ways to address some of the unique opportunities and challenges of this financing approach. The goal of this series is to provide a set of tools that make it easier for states, municipalities, utilities, and private lenders to learn from past experience and offer effective energy efficiency programs going forward--programs that can provide capital to increase the pace of residential and commercial building energy efficiency implementation"--Publisher's description.
