Eligible borrowers:
Federal Agencies; utilities; energy service companies; state governments

Eligible systems:
Solar thermal, PV, energy efficiency measures

Amounts:
Varies

Terms:
Up to 25 years using ESPCs

Interest Rates:
0%

For more Info:
1(800) 363-3732
www.doe.gov
www.eren.doe.gov/femp/

Federal Buildings - The Federal government spends more than $3 billion a year on its electric bill for more than 500,000 Federal facilities. Therefore, the President has directed Federal agencies to reduce their energy use by 30% from 1985 levels by the year 2005.

Achieving this goal will save taxpayers more than $1 billion a year. But it will also require initial investments of about $5 billion in energy projects for Federal facilities. As Federal budgets shrink, agencies must turn to the private sector for these investments.

Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) are a congressionally approved mechanism for funding capital improvements using private-sector funds rather than appropriations. Congress explicitly authorizes and encourages agencies to use this purchasing and financing vehicle to retrofit aging facilities with energy-saving, environmentally beneficial improvements and to acquire related maintenance services.

Utilities can also provide financing for solar projects under Basic Ordering Agreements. The Utility PhotoVoltaic Group includes some of the most active utilities; it can provide technical support to rural utilities that have appropriate applications, such as Forest Service cabins, at the end of utility lines that are expensive to maintain.

A number of Federal PV and solar thermal projects are already under way using ESPCs. In this process, an energy service company (ESCO) pays the up-front cost of purchasing and installing energy-efficient equipment that will reduce a facilitys operations and maintenance (O&M) bills. The government then repays the ESCO a share of the utility and related O&M cost savings over the lie of the contract, which can be up to 25 years.

Super ESPCs canbe used by and Federal Agency, and there are two types: regional and technology-specific. DOEs Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) is releasing six regional Super ESPCs, each designated for a particular area of the nation. Technology-specific Super ESPCs typically focus on a particular technology, such as solar collectors, and they apply to the entire nation.

FEMP is currently emphasizing technology-specific Super ESPCs because these contracts enable the Federal government to use its substantial buying power to stimulate growth in environmentally friendly emerging technologies. The technologies covered under these contracts can be bundled with energy-efficient measures to make the results even more economical. The cost of the solar energy system installed under such a contract must meet 33% of the total dollar value of all the energy retrofits.

Technology-specific ESPCs are a streamlined process for acquiring PV and solar thermal systems using a simple delivery order. For more information on ESPC contracting, see the DOE FEMP Web site, http://www.eren.doe.gov/femp/

Information Provided by the U.S. Department of Energy

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