California’s clean renewable energy bonds program
Alexander Richter
19 Haz 2009
The Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) program by California, as a "tax credit bond program specially designed to fund renewable energy projects" might help geothermal projects owned by a public entity.
A recent article at Reuters caught my attention as it provides some interesting insight into a new Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) program started by California’s state treasurer.
The program, so the article, is a “tax credit bond program specially designed to fund renewable energy projects. This program applies as well to geothermal energy projects, but those must be owned by a “public entity”, which include public power providers, tribal governments, or cooperative electric utility companies.”
While this will exclude most if not all of the private developers, it might apply to some and be of general help to the industry in California.
The article talks about that the “California’s Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (yep that’s CAEATFA) sold the tax-credit bonds last week on behalf of Caltrans. They’ll have a 1.45 percent interest rate over the 15-year term of the bonds.
Total debt service costs over that span will total $22.5 million, and over that period Caltrans will save $24.7 million on its energy bills. Over the 25-year lifespan pf the photovoltaic solar panels, energy costs savings will come to $52.5 million, Lockyer estimated, with $27.8 million coming after the bonds are repaid.
The deal is the authority’s first use of the CREBs program, which was created by the Energy Tax Incentive Act of 2005. CAEATFA is also authorized to sell this type of bond under a similar program, called NCREB, established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The federal deadline for NCREB applications under ARRA is August 4.
Under the program, the federal government pays bondholders up to 100 percent of the interest directly in the form of a tax credit, and it allows borrowers to get financing with a minimal interest rate.
“This project is a great example of how to use innovative financing to green state government, make it more cost effective for taxpayers and bolster businesses and jobs in a vital sector of our economy,” he adds.
A big chunk of money is available for the program: It has a volume cap of $2.4 billion. Besides solar, eligible projects include wind energy, closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal energy, small irrigation power, landfill gas, trash combustion, marine and hydrokinetic energy, and some hydropower facilities.”
Source: “Clever Financing Gets California Back on Track”, Reuters (sourced by Triple Pundit)
