<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/green-banks-are-turning-climate-action-dreams-into-realities/>
"Five years ago, when Clauditta Curson became a first-time homebuyer, she was
shocked by the “astronomical” utility bills she received for her
1,200-square-foot house. The 60-year-old adult daycare aide in Hamden,
Connecticut, turned to the Connecticut Green Bank (CBG), the oldest such bank
in the country.
The bank was financing solar panel installations with no upfront costs and
fixed monthly lease payments. Once Curson’s panels were installed, her utility
bills fell from about $150 a month to $74. “When I got my first bill I said,
‘Oh my gosh!’” she remembered. “Economically, it’s been very beneficial.”
Expanding access to these kinds of upgrades will be necessary to meet US
climate goals, which include achieving a net-zero electric grid by 2035. One
major barrier to low-income households like Curson’s is the cost of a solar
installation, which, on average, runs between $13,000 and $17,000. The program
enabled by CGB allows homeowners to benefit from rooftop solar energy savings
without actually having to purchase the panels — instead leasing them at a
fixed rate.
Founded in 2011, the Connecticut Green Bank is a quasi-public fund (chartered
by the state but run by a board) created to invest in green energy projects
that traditional lenders might shy away from. It has financed more than $120
million in green updates — solar panel installation, weatherization, appliance
replacements and asbestos remediation — in 63,000 homes across the state and is
one of 22 such funds across the country.
These funds are about to get a major windfall. The Inflation Reduction Act set
aside $27 billion to create a national green bank, expanding access to funds
like CBG’s.
These funds have the potential to transform America’s electrical grid — and do
so in a way that makes green energy more accessible to lower-income households,
said Adam Kent, a senior advisor at the Natural Resources Defense Council."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
