The Clean Energy Future Blog

By Coalition for Green Capital

WASHINGTON, DC– The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) joined partners today in launching the National EV Charging Initiative, a coalition to spur construction of the nation’s electric-vehicle charging network. The coalition includes 24 national and regional organizations representing automakers, workers, utilities, suppliers, investors and public interest advocates.

“A strong national electric vehicle charging network is a critical component in supporting our investments in electric vehicles as well as our nation’s transition to clean energy,” said Jill Bunting, Deputy Director of the Coalition for Green Capital. “Investment in this network will not only support our climate goals but will also create good jobs, address racial inequities by expanding access to electric vehicles and strengthen public/private partnerships. We’re proud to stand with our partners today in launching the National EV Charging Initiative and look forward to supporting the coalition’s work.”

In a joint memorandum of understanding, CGC and coalition partners pledged to collaborate with all levels of government to build a national charging network as well as advocate to leverage funding and other forms of support from the public sector.

Members of the coalition include:
Alliance for Transportation Electrification (ATE)
Alliance for Automotive Innovation
California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC)
CALSTART
Ceres
ChargEVC
Coalition for Green Capital (CGC)
Commissioner Maria Bocanegra (Illinois Commerce Commissioner and Chair of NARUC’s Electric Vehicles Working Group)
Edison Electric Institute (EEI)
Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA)
Electric Vehicle Charging Association (EVCA)
Electrification Coalition
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
EVHybridNoire
Forth
The Greenlining Institute
GreenLatinos
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)
Plug In America
Sierra Club
Veloz
Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA)

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By Coalition for Green Capital

Proposed Legislation

The House has enacted a bipartisan bill to fund a national Clean Energy Accelerator with $100 billion. The Senate has at least three bills on file to accomplish this goal and the President has called for $27 billion of funding. 

The Clean Energy Accelerator was included in the budget resolution language released August 9, 2021. 

What is the Clean Energy Accelerator?

The Clean Energy Accelerator is a nonpartisan, government-funded, financial nonprofit that resembles other long-standing institutions such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the World Bank. The Clean Energy Accelerator has been designed to catalyze public-private investment in clean power infrastructure by funding green banks in every state that will invest in local projects, create jobs, and lower energy costs. The Clean Energy Accelerator will position the U.S. to lead in clean energy across the world. 

All green banks operate at the frontier of private sector investing, using flexible forms of public finance to attract private sector funding to clean power projects that are not commercially supported at scale for reasons such as size or novelty. In addition, green banks address problems of collective action (providing an anchor tenant to multi-player transactions) or regulatory obstacles (securitizing commitments to carbon power facilities). 

There are currently green banks in 16 states and Washington, D.C., and in 21 more states are interested in creating one. The Accelerator would be the first national climate bank in the United States. Similar banks already exist in various countries, including the United Kingdom, Rwanda, South Africa, and others. 

A Just Transition

The proposed legislation in the House and Senate addresses the imperative of achieving a just transition, meaning a switch from carbon to clean power that improves health, increases job opportunity, and delivers tangible benefits for lower to middle income households. At least 40% of all investments by the Accelerator and its green bank network would have to go toward these equitable ends.

The Legislation’s Impact

If funded, the Clean Energy Accelerator would capitalize green banks in every state. At the national level it would conduct securitizations, pursue standardization of forms and processes for financing clean power projects, and address projects at a regional or national scale. Both the national and state green banks would focus on problems that slow or make inequitable the transition from carbon to clean power as the fundamental energy platform for the United States.

In the last decade state and local green banks have successfully attracted private funds into whole home electrification, renewable power generation, grid upgrades, and resiliency measures. Their investments have created jobs, enhanced energy independence, lowered the cost of energy for consumers and local businesses, and earned money for private investors. In New York and Connecticut, green banks have aggregated and sold their investments to attract new funds for re-investment. These states’ green banks have shown that the Accelerator’s investments are profitable. 

For this reason, it is predicted that a one-time deposit of federal money will lead over a decade to an eightfold increase in private sector investment into components of the clean power platform that otherwise would not have been funded so quickly, or perhaps at all.

By Coalition for Green Capital

Read Professor Tice’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal here.

Clean Energy Accelerator Would Build on Bipartisan Successes Modeled By States

By Richard Kauffman

NYU Adjunct Professor Paul Tice correctly points out (May 23, 2021, WSJ) that “not enough attention is being paid to some of the details” of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. Then, ironically, he gets wrong at least four major details of the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator, a key part of the President’s plan.

The Accelerator would be an independent nonprofit that received up to $100 billion in a single-shot deposit of capital. It in turn would fund 21 existing nonprofit “green banks” in 15 states, as well as new green banks in other states. Over the last decade state green banks have leveraged $2 billion of public dollars with $6 billion of private capital into $8 billion of public-private investment into profitable clean energy infrastructure. My personal experience with this development was as founder of the New York Green Bank (NYGB), which has made half the investment made by all green banks and on which the Accelerator is modeled.

Professor Tice’s first error is the claim that there “is no pressing financial market gap.” The New York Green Bank’s $1.2 billion in capital commitments is evidence that market gaps exist. Private sector companies see palpable gaps in financing for smaller distributed energy projects, for solar, energy efficiency and storage projects. The fact that the New York Green Bank charges market rates for its loans demonstrates that private lenders aren’t generally doing the job.

Tice’s second mistake is to criticize the Accelerator for having the flexibility to offer in a variety of financial techniques, including different debt instruments and guarantees. It is this very flexibility that has enabled the New York Green Bank to adapt to ever changing gaps in private sector financing markets. In contrast to private lenders, green banks are willing to put in the time to incubate financing structures where gaps exist. However, once at scale, private sector entities have taken over opportunities. Community solar was once seen as too small and risky for private lenders. Thanks to green banks, this is no longer the case.

Tice’s third mistake on details is that he thinks the Accelerator’s borrowing on the deposited public capital would be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. He links the Accelerator to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac where there was an implied federal guarantee. The Accelerator bill in the House makes it clear that the Accelerator is independent of government, governed not by federal employees but an independent board, precisely to be sure no one in business would make the professor’s blunder of considering Accelerator borrowing to carry a federal guarantee.

Tice’s fourth mistake is to claim the Accelerator is only a Democratic Party idea. In states where green banks already exist they typically are bipartisan. In recent weeks, Alaska has proposed its own state bank. The Accelerator bill in the House has bipartisan support.

Justice Brandeis called states the laboratories of democracy. State green banks have been laboratories of clean energy finance for a decade. They work. They harness markets and create jobs as well as reduce carbon emissions. They help build resilient infrastructure. They help ensure that the benefits of energy transition are shared by everyone. It’s time to take the idea nationally to give every state their benefit.

By Coalition for Green Capital

Coalition for Green Capital and Rewiring America Outline “Rewiring Communities” Program That Leverages Green Bank Model to Ensure Communities Everywhere Benefit 

Over 90% of Program Funds Would Benefit Low- and Moderate-Income Households

WASHINGTON—A new report released today by the Coalition for Green Capital, which is driving the campaign for the national green bank that’s backed by both President Biden and leaders in Congress, and Rewiring America, a leading advocate of decarbonization through electrification, finds a national green bank would create 700,000 new jobs and drive energy savings for 12 million American households by 2030. Critically, the report, “Rewiring Communities,” lays out a specific plan for more than 90% of green bank funds to benefit low- and moderate-income households, bringing the economic, environmental and health benefits of electrification to families who need them most.

The White House today issued a fact sheet on the administration’s commitment to creating good-paying, union jobs in building electrification and energy efficiency, citing Rewiring Communities and the impact of the Clean Energy Accelerator as laid out in the plan.

Rewiring Communities “has the potential between now and 2030 to secure energy bill savings of up to $750 per year for nearly 12 million American households,” of which 75 percent are low- and moderate-income, and “at the same time creating over nearly 700,000 jobs and driving down household greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40 megatons a year.” 

“Few people spend much time thinking about the heating equipment in their basements. That’s probably as it should be, but it comes at a cost, both to them and to the climate,” said Adam Zurofsky, senior policy advisor for Rewiring America. “What this plan shows is that if we meet people where they are, team up with trusted local partners, and deploy financial flexibility, we can deliver meaningful savings and job opportunities to those families who are hurting the most, all the while slashing emissions and putting the United States on the path to meeting the ambitious, but necessary, climate goals set by President Biden.”

“Twenty-one state and local green banks have used less than $2 billion in public funds to cause over $7 billion of investment,” said Jeffrey Schub, executive director of the Coalition for Green Capital. “Many green banks already target their investments for disadvantaged communities. The Accelerator as a national green bank would similarly be empowered to target investments for communities most in need. It will have the flexibility to pilot innovative approaches, and this report shows what can be done in the household electrification market if Congress passes this bipartisan Accelerator legislation.”

The report specifically evaluates the benefits of household electrification for low-income families, and proposes a programmatic approach to deploy capital through the Accelerator in partnership with participating communities to support up to 12 million projects. Accelerator capital would join up with private co-investment to support local employment, help form new business capacity, and install necessary electrical equipment that will reduce the heavy energy cost and health burdens faced by many low-income homes in America currently relying on fossil fuels. 

The plan also calls for communities to work in partnership to streamline processes and engage with households “at the kitchen table.” Under the plan, no household would have to come “out of pocket” to realize the economic, environmental, and health benefits of electrification. 

Read the full report and fact sheet here. 

About Rewiring America

Rewiring America (@RewiringAmerica) is a growing nonprofit, working to launch a movement that electrifies everything, starting with our 121 million households. We are motivated by this: 90 percent of all emissions in the U.S. are energy related and 42 percent of those energy emissions come from the decisions we make in our homes: how we heat our air and water, cook our food and dry our clothes, and what kind of cars we drive. Through accurate, accessible, and actionable data and storytelling tools and smart and inclusive advocacy and partnerships that will transform the market, Rewiring America aims to achieve America’s emissions goals, improve our health, lower monthly bills, and create millions of clean energy jobs. 

About the Coalition for Green Capital

The Coalition for Green Capital (@CGreenCapital) is a non-profit with a mission to halt climate change by accelerating investment in clean energy technologies and by advocating for, creating and implementing green bank institutions. Green banks are a proven finance model that uses public and philanthropic funds to mobilize private investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other decarbonization technologies. For over a decade, the Coalition for Green Capital has led the Green Bank movement, working at the federal, state and local level in the U.S. and in countries around the world. 

By Coalition for Green Capital

Shows $1.69 billion total investment in clean energy and energy-efficient projects in 2020 alone

5 new green banks join Consortium as efforts to develop more green banks amass across 22 states

WASHINGTON—The Coalition for Green Capital and all twenty-one members of the American Green Bank Consortium released today their annual Green Bank Industry Report for the 2020 calendar year.

“Green banks drove a record amount of clean energy investment in 2020, mobilizing $1.69 billion of total investment with $442 million of green bank funds; in total, this brings cumulative green bank investment to $7 billion using $1.9 billion green bank funds,” the report found.

In 2020, the American Green Bank Consortium counted five new green banks as members and noted that government officials, local leaders, and market actors across 22 states were actively exploring or taking steps to develop green banks.

“Green banks have proven over the course of the last decade that they create jobs, serve disadvantaged communities, and combat the climate crisis,” said American Green Bank Consortium Director Alex Kragie. “Every public dollar is an important investment on these fronts, and green banks get substantial bang for the buck by unlocking multiples of every public dollar in private investment.”

“As Congress considers infrastructure legislation this summer, green banks in the U.S. are making a clear case for the inclusion of a federal Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that can bring green bank impact to scale across the country,” said Coalition for Green Capital Executive Director Jeffrey Schub. “A national green bank is a major part of the solution our country needs to achieve a just-and-true clean energy transition. ” 

The report also stressed the value of federal green bank proposals put forth by Sens. Markey (D-Mass.) and Van Hollen (D-Md.) in the National Climate Bank Act (S. 283) and by Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.) in the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator Act (H.R. 806). Coalition for Green Capital CEO Reed Hundt last month testified before the Senate Environment & Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety in support of S. 283.

“This report only confirms that we need to accelerate the deployment of clean energy infrastructure by establishing a federal green bank,” Hundt said. “This bill is a win for American small businesses, low- to moderate-income families, and millions of people looking for good-paying jobs in cities and towns across the nation.”

Both S. 283 and H.R. 806 bills would provide an initial capitalization of $100 billion to leverage the tried-and-tested green bank model to deploy clean energy infrastructure and create an estimated 4 million jobs in just 4 years. The Coalition for Green Capital has identified over 100 different types of jobs (Standard Occupation Classifications as published by OMB) that Accelerator investment would support.

President Biden in March announced the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator as a key climate provision in the American Jobs Plan, citing the capacity of a non-profit federal green bank to invest with “a particular focus on disadvantaged communities that have not yet benefited from clean energy investments.”

Read the full report here.

By Coalition for Green Capital

Coalition for Green Capital, Green Bank Experts to Testify Before Key Senate Subcommittee on National Climate Bank Act

WASHINGTON—At 2:30 p.m. EDT, April 27, Coalition for Green Capital CEO Reed Hundt testified before the Senate Environment & Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety in support of the National Climate Bank Act (S. 283). 

The legislation would create a nonprofit to serve as a national green bank and provide it with $100 billion to accelerate the deployment of commercially viable clean technology. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Read Hundt’s written testimony.

WHAT

• EPW Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety hearing on S.283, the National Climate Bank Act 

WHO

• Reed Hundt, CEO and Chairman of the Coalition for Green Capital
• M. Duanne Andrade, Chief Strategic and Financial Officer of the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF)

WHEN

2:30 p.m. ET

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

WHERE 

Via live stream.