ImpactAssets, the impact investing trailblazer with a decade-plus track record of mobilizing capital for good, announced today that it is partnering with Connecticut Green Bank and Inclusive Prosperity Capital to provide a $12 million loan to PosiGen, a high-impact residential solar and energy efficiency provider focused on low- and moderate-income communities. The catalytic loan fills a crucial financing gap, enabling PosiGen to deploy thousands of solar energy systems and scale its transformative real-world outcomes across underserved regions of the United States.

The loan partnership comes as ImpactAssets, widely known for its deep impact investing expertise in the private market and its prestigious IA 50 list of impact investment fund managers, is mobilizing a growing volume of capital to address the climate emergency, leveraging philanthropy and impact investing to fill critical gaps. The PosiGen initiative aligns to multiple ImpactAssets climate finance imperatives by accelerating the adoption of renewable energy and ensuring that deployment is equitably distributed to all communities.

With this financing, PosiGen will deploy thousands of residential solar energy systems paired with energy efficiency upgrades in low- and moderate-income communities, reducing energy burdens for those customers while contributing critical progress toward decarbonization.

“This bridge loan is a prime example of ImpactAssets’ unwavering commitment to addressing the climate crisis with an urgent, holistic investment approach that centers climate justice,” said ImpactAssets’ Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer Margret Trilli. “Financing a just energy transition is one of our core impact objectives as we activate more and more capital for climate solutions. By supporting PosiGen’s mission to democratize solar access in low-income communities, we are taking another crucial step towards a more sustainable, equitable future for all.”

Based in New Orleans, PosiGen offers a unique solar leasing model that removes barriers for low- and moderate-income homeowners, allowing them access to solar energy and energy efficiency while helping them achieve energy independence. Increases in energy prices disproportionately impact such households, as energy costs consume a much larger percentage of overall household budgets and can force difficult choices between paying electricity bills and buying food, medicine, or other essentials. PosiGen’s solar and energy efficiency model operates without restrictive income requirements or credit score minimums, which often prevent lower income populations from accessing solar energy solutions as easily as the more affluent.

The $12 million loan will instantly boost PosiGen’s cash flow – enabling the immediate deployment of their solar energy systems and energy efficiency upgrades among underserved communities, while bridging the company toward additional funding in the future. The loan will assist in unlocking tax credits under the new federal Investment Tax Credit adders (“ITC adders”). The credits, expected to be awarded by the U.S. Department of Treasury within the coming year, will help attract additional private capital from tax equity investors.

“This bridge loan is essential in advancing our vision and scaling PosiGen’s impact during this interim period,” said PosiGen CEO Ben Healey. “By partnering with ImpactAssets, Connecticut Green Bank, and Inclusive Prosperity, we are better equipped to empower more families with clean energy solutions that reduce their energy burdens, build energy resilience, and address the urgent climate challenges we all face, together.”

PosiGen has already delivered significant positive impact for low-to-moderate-income communities: The company has completed more than 25,000 solar energy systems and 20,000 energy efficiency upgrades for nearly 22,000 families, as of March 2023, serving a diverse customer base with 48% identifying as people of color. PosiGen customers have produced nearly 570,000 MWh of electricity and saved an estimated $66 million on their utility bills to date.

“The climate emergency is far too dire for renewable energy solutions to be concentrated among higher-income populations,” said Dana Cotter, Managing Director of Impact at ImpactAssets. “This collaboration with PosiGen reflects our deep commitment to investing with a climate justice lens, centering the communities who have contributed the least to the climate crisis but are disproportionately impacted by its effects. We are pleased to see community-centered approaches to climate solutions gain traction not only among impact investors and philanthropists, but also in private companies like PosiGen and even in the federal government, where initiatives like the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund are embedding equity and justice considerations. The climate emergency demands a broad, unified approach that marries climate action to community empowerment.”

“In Connecticut, through the Solar for All partnership, nearly 5,000 low-income families have been able to lessen the crushing impact of inflation and save millions on their utility bills in the face of rising energy costs,” said Bert Hunter, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Connecticut Green Bank. “By working with partners like PosiGen, ImpactAssets, and Inclusive Prosperity Capital, the Green Bank continues to make a difference for our most vulnerable families.”

“IPC is thrilled to partner with ImpactAssets and Connecticut Green Bank to support PosiGen with tax credit bridge financing, unlocking capital right now to the benefit of families suffering high energy burdens,” said Kerry O’Neill, CEO of Inclusive Prosperity Capital. “This type of creative structuring for an innovative leader like PosiGen is exactly what is needed to ensure no one is left behind in the clean energy transition.”

by Lonnie Reed, Chair of Connecticut Green Bank Board of Directors and former Connecticut State Representative for District 102 and former Co-Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, & Brenda Watson, Member of Connecticut Green Bank Board of Directors and Executive Director of Operation Fuel

Energy is not cheap in Connecticut, a painful truth addressed in the recent article, “Study: Connecticut ranked fourth in the nation for most expensive energy costs overall.” Since Connecticut households spend more on electricity and natural gas than they would in nearly any other state, there is a significant burden on our families. Home heating oil and transportation fuel also consume a significant amount of what Connecticut families spend on energy. And fluctuating energy prices have made it even more challenging for families to budget and plan for these expenses.

While rising energy costs have been difficult for everyone to handle, these costs disproportionately impact low-income and moderate-income families in Connecticut, whose energy costs make up a significant portion of their monthly expenses. That’s why providing tools and resources to families feeling the strain of rising energy costs is so important.

One innovative step the State of Connecticut took to address this need was establishing the nation’s first state-level green bank in 2011. Green banks can make energy-saving technology more accessible and affordable for families by offering innovative financing and generating new markets. These innovations can make a real difference.

Through the Solar for All program, a partnership between the Connecticut Green Bank and PosiGen Solar, more than 4,500 low-income families were able to access energy efficiency upgrades and go solar, saving more than $2.8 million in electricity costs – on average more than $600 per family. This includes nearly 840 projects in Bridgeport for a cost avoidance of $500,000. This average savings becomes even more significant when macroeconomic factors, such as the War in Ukraine, drive up electricity rates. The first half of 2023 saw electricity rates increase by roughly $0.12/kWh, and the average Solar For All household is now seeing savings on their bills for that period of about $800. Generally, going solar and improving the energy efficiency of one’s home can help reduce the cost burden and ease inflationary pressures.

Along with Solar for All, there are several other ways that the Connecticut Green Bank is working with the state to help families shoulder this burden. They include:

• Determining how the state’s Residential Renewable Energy Solutions program can be leveraged to support families living in affordable housing. Helping these low-income tenants realize the economic benefits of clean energy makes the impact of solar across our state more equitable.
• Managing Energy Storage Solutions, which enables homes and businesses to install battery backup systems, to also include special incentives for families in vulnerable communities.
• Supporting the state in its goals to expand electric vehicle infrastructure, which will help to alleviate the burden of transportation costs on families. The Green Bank finances electric vehicle charging equipment costs for businesses through the C-PACE program and homeowners through the Smart-E program.

The Green Bank’s programs also support businesses and complement other state initiatives, resources, and organizations. Those include Operation Fuel, which provides energy assistance to families struggling to pay for their home heating fuel, and Energize Connecticut, which provides information on all the incentive and financing programs managed by the state’s utilities and the Green Bank.

Additionally, the recently passed federal Inflation Reduction Act incentivizes the adoption of heat pumps and other efficient technologies that reduce energy usage. Reduced energy usage will help families reduce energy costs as prices increase.

The cost of energy in Connecticut may be lamentably high, but the state has been confronting this issue in proactive and creative ways that also protect our families, businesses, and communities.

To learn more about Connecticut’s energy burden and residential solar financing, check out the Green Bank’s most recent StoryMap. You can also visit the free-of-charge first annual Connecticut Energy Expo in October at the Connecticut Convention Center, where renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies for residents and businesses will be on display.