HartfordBusiness.com
September 1, 2015
Stamford clean energy financier Greenworks Lending has closed four projects totaling $1 million under the Connecticut Green Bank’s C-PACE program, marking the first time such projects have been directly financed by a private lender.
C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) allows commercial building owners to obtain low-interest, long-term loans with no money down to install renewable energy or make efficiency improvements and then make their finance payments through their property taxes at a cost that is less than the projected energy savings. The quasi-public Green Bank operates the program, and previously provided all the upfront financing for individual projects, which was later leveraged for private investment.
In January, the Green Bank sought to scale the market for C-PACE deals by offering a standard offer sheet that shows private capital providers how to directly finance projects. The four deals by Greenworks – for two commercial projects in Rocky Hill and one each in Trumbull and New London – represent the first time a private lender has taken advantage of this arrangement.
Greenworks Lending was founded earlier this year by Jessica Bailey, who set up the C-PACE program while she was working at the Green Bank and has since left to start her own company.