Clean Energy Finance Forum

The question of whether energy efficiency finance has finally arrived in scale was a major point of discussion at the 2014 ACEEE Energy Efficiency Finance Forum on May 11-13 in Washington, DC. Both the opening plenary and a breakout session on securitization explored this issue.

A paper by the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation has investigated the barriers that are currently holding back widespread adoption of clean energy bonds. The paper has provided recommendations for development finance agencies seeking to tap their potential.

Small energy-efficiency lenders face major obstacles including a lack of customer demand and data, a shortage of standardization metrics, regulatory hurdles, and an absence of underwriting standards, according to a report from the Small Lender Energy Efficiency Convening (SLEEC). The SLEEC took place in October 2013 when the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and Energi convened a group of key stakeholders to explore the obstacles small lenders face and to identify opportunities for small and mid-size lender engagement in the energy efficiency lending market.

Crowdfunding solar power allows companies to diversify and expand their capital sources but requires careful risk management, according to a panel called "Crowdfunding for Renewable Energy Projects: How Big Could It Be?" at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Summit on April 8.

How can renewable energy financiers vastly expand worldwide investment to cut back climate change? On April 9, a panel called "The Future of Financing for Infrastructure" at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Summit explained the uphill battle financiers face.

Last Monday, the Clean Energy Finance Forum spoke with Richard Kauffman, chairman of energy and finance for New York and chairman of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). This conversation offers a close-up look at the process of creating the NY Green Bank (NYGB) and the broader initiative to transform energy policy and markets to achieve economic and environmental benefits.

With the cost of utility-scale solar power approaching grid parity in many parts of the United States, a key barrier to growth is cheap, easy access to capital. Yieldcos are poised to play a significant role in this growth over the coming years.

How can utilities account for the climate and financial benefits of solar power? For years, Minnesota has been considering this question. And on Mar. 12, the state authorized a value-of-solar tariff that utilities can use to credit solar power producers for the benefits they are providing to utilities and society.

Energi, a leading provider of specialized insurance and risk management solutions, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) partnered in October 2013 to analyze and begin to quantify the uninsurable risks of energy efficiency retrofits in small office buildings. Uninsurable risk is one of the largest barriers to financing energy efficiency in small buildings.