MCE offers zero-interest loans for home batteries in Bay Area
California community choice aggregator MCE and National Energy Improvement Fund (NEIF) are now offering low- and zero-interest loans to Bay Area residents to finance home energy storage systems. MCE is providing the capital for the financing program via a $4 million loan fund. The fund is an extension of MCE’s Energy Storage Program, and in addition to MCE’s $7M Resiliency Fund.
“Releasing this loan fund into our community will help folks get access to the benefits of energy storage,” said Dawn Weisz, MCE CEO. “Providing our customers with additional financing options increases access to technology that helps keep the lights on during outages. We know access to power is a critical issue, and we’re excited to increase energy equity in our communities through this offering.”
Participants may receive rebates and loans to help reduce and offset out-of-pocket costs to purchase and install their own storage systems. MCE maximizes the value of the energy storage systems by automating them to reduce daily energy costs and serve as backup power during outages.
“As a certified Benefit Corporation, NEIF is excited to launch this offering with MCE,” said Matthew Brown, Co-Chair and Founder of NEIF, which has supported hundreds of contractors with access to customized lease and loan financing options for energy efficiency and solar projects. “The offerings coincide perfectly with our goals of serving the full range of customers with accessible finance products, while helping improve the resiliency of homes with battery storage.”
Financing details:
• 0%/10-year financing for income-qualified residential customers,
• 2.5%/10-year financing for other qualified residential customers located in disadvantaged or low-income communities, high fire threat/outage-prone areas, or who have a medical condition requiring a continuous supply of electricity,
• 5.5%/5-year financing for all other residential customers, and
• An easy-to-use portal through which customers can apply for financing.
MCE’s Energy Storage program launched in July 2020 and provides monthly bill credits of $10 per month for each 20 kWh of storage installed, up to a maximum of $20 per month, along with up-front funding from $1,500 to $4,500 based on customer qualification. As part of this program, MCE also submitted funding requests on behalf of over 100 customers to the state’s Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) to further offset customer costs.
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