Q: What is the Municipal Energy Reduction Fund?
A: The Municipal Energy Reduction Fund is a $1.5 million revolving loan fund. Its purpose is to reduce energy costs by helping municipalities improve the energy efficiency of their municipal buildings, street lighting, water and sewer treatment facilities, and where appropriate, electrical distribution systems.
Q: What is the source of funding for this program?
A: CDFA was awarded $1.5 million from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Fund, through the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, to capitalize the Municipal Energy Reduction Fund. The fund will help finance energy improvements to municipal facilities and activities.
Q: How might my town benefit from this program?
A: Participating in this program will result in reduced energy use and costs for your municipality, lower carbon emissions, and improve the comfort of buildings.
Q: What projects are eligible for funding through this program?
A: The program will be available to finance improvements to the overall energy efficiency performance of municipality’s buildings, street lighting, water and sewer treatment facilities, and where appropriate, electrical distribution systems. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy and reduce energy costs so that the savings can then be passed onto the residents of the municipality. These activities could include, but are not limited to:
- Improvements to the buildings envelope including air sealing and insulation in the walls, attics, roofs, and foundations;
- Improvements to HVAC equipment inside conditioned space;
- Installation of sealed combustion, high efficiency condensing boilers with AFUE>97% Hydronic Systems or other high efficiency systems; and
- Installation of alternative energy sources.
Again the goal is lowering the overall energy costs associated carbon emissions.
Q: What size loans will you make?
A: Loan sizes will range from $5,000 - $400,000.
Q: What rates and terms are offered for this program?
A: We are offering the following rates and terms to municipalities:
- 3 years – 2.50%
- 5 years – 3.0%
- 7 years- 3.50%
- 10 years - 4.00%
We will consider loans from $5,000 - $400,000 to assist in financing energy improvements to municipal facilities in New Hampshire. There are no fees to apply for this loan. There may be fees associated with closing the loan, such as UCC and mortgage filings etc.
CDFA will encourage applicants to leverage other funding sources into a project, including those offered through utility rebate and traditional bank loan programs.
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Q: How are terms and payments determined?
A: The term of the loan will depend on the energy savings and the useful life of the upgrade. If the expected life of a project is 20 years and the energy savings may recoup the cost in 6.5 years. We would structure the loan repayment for 7 years. Most terms will be between 3 and 10 years. We will make every effort to structure the payments so they are cash positive, meaning that the energy savings from the upgrade will cover the loan payment and produce savings for you.
Q: Is there any grant money available for an audit?
A: Unfortunately, CDFA does not have grant money available through this program for audits, but our team will be happy to work with you to find other resources if the audit is an issue for your community. For instance, most utility companies have programs for analyzing electrical consumption.
Q: What if our town/city has qualified staff (engineers, etc.) to establish energy baselines and what upgrades would produce energy savings for the municipality?
A: We will still need some sort of audit done to ensure we are targeting our dollars appropriately (i.e. Level 1 audit) The audit should identify energy usage/costs and projected usage/costs with the specific upgrades identified as well as identifying the current and reduction of Greenhouse Gases Emissions.
Q: How much energy reporting will need to be done on the part of the municipality?
A: The municipality will not have to do reporting per se, municipalities will need to authorize a 3rd party to have access to utility billing information, so they are able to establish an energy baseline and then collect energy usage following the upgrades.
Q: Will the loan need to be collateralized?
A: Depending on the loan size, CDFA will look to file either UCC’s on the upgrades or a real estate mortgage on the building(s) being energy retrofitted.
Q: How does a municipality apply for funding?
A: All applicants are required to submit an application through CDFA’s online grants management system. There are no fees to apply for this loan. Prior to accessing the online system, you will need a User ID and Password. If you have not registered already to receive a User ID and Password, please register here.
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