Friday, June 11, 2010 - County Receives $2.9 Million Federal Grant For Solar Loan Fund Program

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that St. Lucie County will receive $2.9 million to help finance the County's Solar and Energy Loan Fund.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding 20 communities more than $60 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to implement local energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. St. Lucie County was the only agency in Florida to receive grant funding through the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.

Additionally, St. Lucie County is one of five Florida counties that has been invited to partner with the State of Florida in submitting a grant application for $5 million to the U.S. Department of Energy. If the grant is received, St. Lucie County will receive $800,000 to help finance its Solar and Energy Loan Fund.

These funds will provide St. Lucie County individuals and businesses with affordable loans to achieve energy efficiency upgrades and install recommended roof-top solar technologies (i.e., solar hot water heaters and photovoltaic systems). The goal of the program is to keep the interest payments equal to or less than what residents and businesses would be saving on their monthly electric bill. The loans would be guaranteed through a voluntary property tax assessment that stays with the property, not the individual borrower. 

St. Lucie County will use this $2.9 million along with the $20 million in commitments that have already been pledged by four financial institutions (PNC, Sun Trust, Oculina, and IBM PGA banks). The County is working to start the Solar and Energy Loan Fund and transition it to a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).  

The DOE grant recipients were selected through a competitive review process that took into account the expected energy savings and reduced emissions impact of the projects, leverage investments from other non-federal sources and whether the project could be replicated and expanded to contribute to a sustainable market for energy efficiency nationally.