EESI is proud to announce the expansion of its on-bill financing initiative into a national effort to significantly improve the energy efficiency of homes served by rural electric cooperatives (co-ops) and public utilities, thanks to a grant from The JPB Foundation. Over the past five years, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has helped to demonstrate and build support for on-bill financing, in which loans for energy efficiency retrofits are repaid through participants’ utility bills. Utilities that adopt this approach will cut energy consumption and emissions while improving home comfort and energy affordability for their customers and members.

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Wednesday, February 05, 2014—The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) applauds the passage Tuesday of the Energy Title and the Rural Energy Savings Program as part of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the Farm Bill). This represents a great victory for the production of clean energy on American farms and for the advancement of a clean energy economy. It is also a major milestone for EESI’s long-standing and ongoing efforts in these policy areas, including its extensive work with the "Help My House" on-bill financing pilot program in South Carolina.

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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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The President’s FY 10 budget request for the Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) includes programs to help the country's youth move into the growing fields of renewable energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, and home retrofitting. Youth Activities (Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998), which received $1.2 billion under ARRA, would receive level funding from FY 09 appropriations. A new Green Jobs Innovation Fund would support competitive grant opportunities to help workers receive job training in green industry sectors and occupations and access green career pathways. The Career Pathways Innovation Fund is slated for a $10 million increase over the amount awarded in FY 09 appropriations. Competitive grants provided by this Fund will continue support for community colleges provided by Community-Based Job Training Grants (CBJTG), but will focus on helping individuals of varying skill levels enter and pursue careers in high-demand and emerging industries such as clean energy.

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One of the first and most important jobs for the new Congress in January will be to pass an economic stimulus bill to jump start the economy, create jobs, and revitalize American industry – a tall order, which could cost between $500 billion and $1 trillion. Therefore, it is critical for this legislation to fund projects that not only will create jobs and economic activity in the near term but also will strengthen our long-term economic security, and that includes addressing the urgent threat of climate change.

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CONTACT: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Glee Murray, 202-429-8873 x712, www.aceee.org American Institute of Architects, Scott Frank, 202-626-7467, www.aia.org Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Jill Notini, 202-872-5955 x318, www.aham.org Environment America, Sean Garren, 202-683-1250 x332, www.environmentamerica.org Natural Resources Defense Council, Jessica Lass, 202-468-6718, www.nrdc.org The Real Estate Roundtable, Scott Sherwood, 202-639-8400, www.rer.org Retail Industry Leaders Association, Brian Dodge, 703-600-2017, www.retail-leaders.org Solar Energy Industries Association, Monique Hanis, 202.682.0556 x4, www.seia.org Union of Concerned Scientists, Emily Robinson, 202-331-5427, www.ucsusa.org COALITION MEMBERS: Retailers Best Buy Co., Inc. The Home Depot, Inc. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Macy’s Inc. Safeway, Inc. Target Corporation Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Whole Foods Market, Inc. Manufacturers Abengoa Solar Akeena Solar Ameresco Applied Materials, Inc. Apricus Inc. Ausra, Inc. Ballard Power Systems BrightSource Energy Conenergy The Dow Chemical Company DuPont Energy Conversion Devices Energy Innovations, Inc. EPV Solar Fuel Cell Energy GridPoint Hydrogenics Johnson Matthey Millennium Cell, Inc. Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc. MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC Oerlikon Owens Corning Plug Power, Inc. PPG Industries Q-Cells AG REgrid Power ReliOn SANYO Energy (U.S.A) Corporation SCHOTT Solar, Inc. Schuco USA LP Sharp Solar SkyFuel Inc. Solar Integrated Solar Millennium LLC Solar Power, Inc. Solar World SOLEC-Solar Energy Corporation Spire Solar, Inc. SunPower Corporation Suntech America, Inc. Trane Trinasolar United Solar Ovonic United Technologies Corporation Whirlpool Corporation USA Biomass Trade Associations American Institute of Architects American Wind Energy Association American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers Building Owners and Managers Association International Business Council for Sustainable Energy California Solar Energy Industries Association CCIM Institute Institute of Real Estate Management Insulating Concrete Form Association International Council of Shopping Centers North American Insulation Manufacturers Association National Association of Home Builders National Association of Industrial and Office Properties National Association of REALTORS National Electrical Manufacturers Association National Small Business Association Northeast Public Power Association Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association The Real Estate Roundtable Retail Industry Leaders Association Solar Energy Industries Association US Fuel Cell Council Advocacy Groups Alliance to Save Energy American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy American Council on Renewable Energy American Rivers Audubon Climate Solutions Earthjustice Environment America Environmental and Energy Study Institute Environmental Law & Policy Center Friends Committee on National Legislation Friends of the Earth Greenpeace National Tribal Environmental Council National Wildlife Federation Natural Resources Defense Council New Voice of Business Physicians for Social Responsibility Public Citizen Sierra Club Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Union of Concerned Scientists Western Organization of Resource Councils Western Renewables Group The Vote Solar Initiative Union The United Steelworkers Utility California Energy Commission Constellation Energy Exelon Corporation Florida Power & Light Company Great River Energy PG&E Corporation PPM Energy, Inc. Sacramento Municipal Utility District SunEdison Xcel Energy Company

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