December 5, 2013--The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP), the final rule of which was published in today's Federal Register. This new program, under the purview of USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), provides an initial $250 million per year in federal loans and financial assistance to support energy efficiency programs operated by rural electric cooperatives and other rural utilities. RUS anticipates higher funding levels in subsequent years to meet demand.

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Washington, DC, July 2013 - South Carolina's consumer-owned electric cooperatives (co-ops) have released the results of their "Help My House" Loan Pilot Program. The pilot provided loans to co-op member-owners to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The loans are being repaid to the co-ops through participants' utility bills, in a process known as "on-bill financing." Billing data on the 125 participating South Carolina homes indicates a 34 percent reduction in energy use (1.35 million kWh) in the year after the work was completed, an average savings of $288 per home after loan payments.

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The pilot was launched in 2011 by the Central Electric Power Cooperative, the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, and eight South Carolina co-ops, with technical and policy support from EESI. The comprehensive energy retrofit approach is projected to yield an average energy savings of more than 11,000 kWh/year per home. Though the average loan was for $7,200 over a 10-year term, the net financial benefits are expected to be immediate, particularly during energy-intensive summer and winter months. The 35 percent projected energy savings from this meter-based on-bill financing pilot is substantially higher than the savings achieved by many traditional utility rebate-based residential retrofit programs. Further, 96 percent of interviewed participants said that they were satisfied with the program and found their homes to be more comfortable. The pilot homes are undergoing a yearlong measurement phase to confirm projections. In conjunction with these preliminary results, EESI has released fact sheets about the pilot program and a general overview of on-bill financing.

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Washington, DC – A partnership announced today will implement an innovative program to finance energy efficiency improvements for rural homes with low-cost loans that are repaid through customers’ electric bills (aka “on-bill financing”). The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), a nonprofit policy education and outreach organization, will work with electric cooperatives in South Carolina to design and implement the pilot project for a “Rural Energy Savings Program” that will serve as a model for similar programs in other states, and a pending national program. The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC), the state association of electric cooperatives, and Central Electric Power Cooperative, the state’s generation and transmission co-op, will be EESI’s lead partners in this effort. The collaboration between the co-ops and EESI to design and implement this pilot project is being supported by a $225,000 grant to EESI from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

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Audits are required for energy efficiency projects funded by REAP costing over $50,000. Parties seeking audits must pay 25 percent of audit costs. State, tribal or local government, land-grant colleges and universities, or other institutions of higher education, rural electric cooperatives, and public power entities are eligible to receive funds.

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On May 15, 2008 the Senate adopted the conference report (Conf. Rpt. 110-627) for the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (H.R. 2419) by a vote of 81 to 15.

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On February 4, 2008 the Administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year FY09.

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On September 20, 2007, Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas Dorr announced that 345 proposals had been selected to receive a total of $18.2 million in loan guarantees and grants from the US Agriculture Department’s (USDA) Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency program (Sec. 9006 of the 2002 Farm Bill (P.L. 107-171). These awards are the last installment of the Sec. 9006 awards for FY07.

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On September 14, 2007, the USDA announced a public comment period for a proposed rule change. The rule change would combine four existing guaranteed loan programs; Community Facility, Water and Waste Disposal, Business and Industry, and Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Programs; into a unified loan platform for enhanced delivery of these programs.

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On March 21, 2007 Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced the solicitation for proposals for the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program (Section 9006) authorized under Title IX, of the 2002 Farm Bill.

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