For consumers who want to go green, a new credit union has opened to help them save greenbacks.
For consumers who want to go green, a new credit union has opened to help them save greenbacks.
The Clean Energy Credit Union launched in November and enables people in all 50 states to take out loans focused on clean-energy projects such as installing solar panels, buying electric cars and making their homes energy-efficient.
The U.S. solar power market grew by 95 percent in 2016, according to a study by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
“Everyone wants to own their own home, and when people find out they can own their own electricity generation asset instead of having to buy from the utility company their entire life, that’s an exciting proposition, too,” said Blake Jones, founding board chairman of the Clean Energy Credit Union.
Access to affordable financing for energy-efficiency and renewable-energy improvements has been identified in a number of studies as a barrier to many homeowners lowering their energy consumption.
“Research has found that the average low-income household spends as much as 20 percent of total monthly income on energy costs. Lowering these costs can play an important part in a broader effort to build wealth and economic opportunity in these households and communities,” said W. Robert Hall, the organizer of the new credit union.
The Clean Energy Credit Union is a federally chartered, member-owned, nonprofit financial cooperative. It’s an online-only institution with no brick-and-mortar offices, to keep overhead low. It will focus solely on clean-energy lending in order to help people afford solar electric systems, electric vehicles, home energy-efficiency retrofits, electric-assist bicycles and net-zero-energy homes. Products offered include savings accounts, CDs and loans.
Green home projects can also be financed through home equity or traditional personal loans; check with your financial institution and compare rates. Solar companies also typically work with a lender to help buyers finance, and Fannie Mae in 2016 started the HomeStyle Energy Program as a mortgage option, letting borrowers complete clean energy upgrades up to 15 percent of the as-completed appraised property value of the home.
For more information on the Clean Energy Credit Union, visit cleanenergycu.org.