Funding and Resources for Energy Programs Webinar
The Local Government Commission (LGC) as part of the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC) hosted a webinar June 29th from 2 – 4 PM focused on funding and resources available for energy programs including On-Bill Financing and State and Federal Funding.
This is the first of 15 webinars we will be offering over the next three years focused on helping local governments increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
SEEC is a new collaboration between LGC, the Institute for Local Government, ICLEI and California’s four Investor Owned Utilities formed to help cities and counties reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy.
Agenda
Moderator: Pat Stoner, Statewide Energy Efficiency Best Practices Coordinator
| 2:00 | Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC) Kate Meis, Local Government Commission (Presentation, PDF) |
| 2:20 | Questions |
| 2:30 | On-Bill Financing (Presentation, PDF) Frank Spasaro, SDG&E, SCG Gary Levingston, SCE Lynne Galal, PG&E Guide to On-Bill Financing Option (PDF) |
| 2:50 | Questions |
| 3:00 | State and Federal Funding
Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission |
| 3:40 | Questions |
| 3:50 | Wrap Up
Kate Meis, Local Government Commission |
| 4:00 | Adjourn |
A recording of the webinar is available. (113 min.)
- Play Now On YouTube (opens in a new window)
Follow-Up Questions from the Webinar
Q. For the SDG&E program, which other IOU programs will likely mirror, it lists as an ineligible offering “Any project started prior to OBF launch.” We have several ARRA-funded projects that may be good candidates for O(n/ff)BF if the timing allows. For ARRA projects, when are they considered to be “started”?
A. PG&E’s Energy Efficiency Retrofit Loan Program (OBF) is designed to help customers implement projects that they would not otherwise be able to implement in the absence of the funding. Just like our other IOU incentive programs, OBF is designed to motivate a customer to take action that they would not likely take without the OBF incentive. Even though an ARRA project may not appear to have been “started”, if a customer is already moving forward, or planning to move forward, with the project using ARRA funds, and an IOU incentive is not required to motivate the action, then the use of OBF funds would not be appropriate. However, if ARRA funding only provides partial funding for a project which cannot be implemented without additional funding, then the OBF program might be appropriate to motivate the customer to implement the project.
Q. Perceptually, will off-bill financing be interpreted as a capital budget item? Municipalities often find themselves hovering around a debt cap in their capital budgets, and are reluctant or unable to approve projects that push them over the limit. On-bill financing is a potential work-around to this barrier since the financing occurs within the energy bill, and can therefore be interpreted as part of the operating budget rather than the capital budget.
A. The question has come up repeatedly, and our market research indicates that organizations have widely varying interpretations of how to classify on-bill loan charges. PG&E cannot offer advice on Tax or accounting issues, so this will need to be answered by the customer ‘ s accounting department and/or tax counsel.
More information on SEEC
The program is funded by California utility ratepayers and administered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, and Southern California Gas Company under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.