MCE & NEIF Make Clean Backup Power a Practical Option
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2021
Contacto de prensa de MCE:
Jenna Tenney, Gerente de Marketing y Comunicaciones
(925) 378-6747 | comunicaciones@mceCleanEnergy.org
SAN RAFAEL and CONCORD, Calif. — MCE and National Energy Improvement Fund (NEIF) have announced a new program to Bay Area residents to finance home energy storage systems. The extremely low- and zero-interest loans, coupled with generous payback periods, reduce financial barriers that could otherwise prevent widespread access to cutting-edge energy storage technology.
“As a certified Benefit Corporation, NEIF is excited to launch this offering with MCE,” said Matthew Brown, Co-Chair and Founder of NEIF. “The offerings coincide perfectly with our goals of serving the full range of customers with accessible finance products, while helping improve the resiliency of homes with battery storage.”
Since 2018, NEIF, the nation’s only Certified Benefit Corporation energy efficiency lender, has supported hundreds of contractors with access to customized lease and loan financing options for energy efficiency and solar projects. These clean energy improvements include lighting, HVAC, and renewable energy installations with project sizes ranging from less than $10,000 to $1 million.
MCE is providing the capital for the financing program via a $4 million loan fund. The fund is an extension of MCE’s Energy Storage Program, and in addition to MCE’s $7M Resiliency Fund. Participants may receive rebates and loans to help reduce and offset out-of-pocket costs to purchase and install their own storage systems. MCE maximizes the value of the energy storage systems by automating them to reduce daily energy costs and serve as backup power during outages.
“Releasing this loan fund into our community will help folks get access to the benefits of energy storage,” said Dawn Weisz, MCE CEO. “Providing our customers with additional financing options increases access to technology that helps keep the lights on during outages. We know access to power is a critical issue, and we’re excited to increase energy equity in our communities through this offering.”
This financing partnership offers MCE Energy Storage Program participants:
- 0%/10-year financing for income-qualified residential customers,
- 2.5%/10-year financing for other qualified residential customers located in disadvantaged or low-income communities, high fire threat/outage-prone areas, or who have a medical condition requiring a continuous supply of electricity,
- 5.5%/5-year financing for all other residential customers, and
- An easy-to-use portal through which customers can apply for financing.
MCE’s Energy Storage program launched in July 2020 and provides monthly bill credits of $10 per month for each 20 kWh of storage installed, up to a maximum of $20 per month, along with up-front funding from $1,500 to $4,500 based on customer qualification. As part of this program, MCE also submitted funding requests on behalf of over 100 customers to the state’s Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) to further offset customer costs.
Customers can learn more about MCE’s Energy Storage program at mceCleanEnergy.org/resiliencia and about NEIF at neifund.org.
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Acerca de MCE: Como el primer Programa de Agregación de Opciones Comunitarias de California, MCE es una agencia pública pionera sin fines de lucro que ha marcado la pauta en innovación energética en nuestras comunidades desde 2010. MCE ofrece energía más limpia a tarifas estables, lo que reduce significativamente las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero relacionadas con la energía y permite la reinversión de millones de dólares en programas energéticos locales. MCE es una entidad que gestiona la demanda y soporta una demanda máxima de 1200 MW. MCE proporciona servicio eléctrico y programas innovadores a más de 540 000 clientes y a más de un millón de residentes y empresas en 36 comunidades miembro de cuatro condados del Área de la Bahía: Contra Costa, Marin, Napa y Solano. Para obtener más información sobre MCE, visite mceCleanEnergy.org, o síguenos en Facebook, LinkedIn, Gorjeo y Instagram.
About NEIF: With a lending legacy from 1947, the National Energy Improvement Fund was organized in 2017 as a for-profit Benefit Corporation, operating as a full-service, multi-state licensed consumer and commercial lender. It has funded over 6,000 energy and resilience improvements like HVAC, roofing, lighting and battery storage for homes and businesses delivered through a network of over 700 qualified contractors. Led by energy financing pioneers Peter Krajsa and Matthew Brown and a team responsible for over $800 million in energy financing programs, it received its certification as a B Corporation® in 2018 and was named a U.S. Department of Energy Home Improvement Expert™ Partner in 2019.
