Making Community Financing Work

Funds for the Community Lending Program come from the sale of Renewable Energy Investment Notes. In addition, funds donated to NGE may be used to reduce the principal owed or the interest rate, and may also be used to secure the loan via a risk reserve.

Community green energy has benefits both to the borrower and to the community in which it resides. NGE has developed a funding system that uses 21 measurement points to assess those benefits, which include factors such as the economic impact, environmental impact, human health impact, and neighborhood-enhancement impact.

NGE integrates this assessment with financial information about the borrower into a final funding decision. Through this unique and innovative approach, NGE has created a scalable system to funding renewable energy and energy efficiency projects at the community level.