On Earth Day, rooftop solar program grants awarded
Apr. 23—1/1
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STAR-ADVERTISER / 2023
Martha Guzman
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A state loan program helping Hawaii households acquire rooftop solar and energy storage systems that lower their electric bills is being pumped up for a second year in a row.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday, coinciding with Earth Day, that a state agency nicknamed
Hawaii's Green Bank will receive a $62.5 million grant for a program that provides low- and moderate-income households with loans to
acquire rooftop solar and energy storage systems.
The EPA's "Solar for All" program grant also allows the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority to extend the same financing to disadvantaged communities and can be used for community-owned solar systems that benefit the same qualified households and communities, including renters and homeowners.
The federal grant award follows a $100 million appropriation from the state Legislature in 2023 for the same lending program, called Green Energy Market Securitization, or GEMS, operated by the Green Infrastructure Authority.
Gwen Yamamoto-Lau, the authority's executive director, said the Solar for All award will reduce the cost of living for beneficiaries and help the state reach its goal of 100% clean renewable energy for electricity by 2045.
"Leveraging Solar for All funding with state and private capital, HGIA will assist thousands of low-income households lower their energy burden and carbon emissions, while increasing resiliency and grid stability over the next five years," she said in a statement.
Last year, Yamamoto-Lau estimated that the $100 million deposit into the lending program should allow for the installation of at least 2,000 residential rooftop solar systems with storage based on an average system cost of about $50,000. She also said that more could result because some customers use program loans in combination with commercial financing that they could not obtain without support from the program.
Loans from the program carry a fixed 5.5% interest rate and 20-year term, which is not as good as what households with more
income and better credit can obtain in the commercial market.
Still, GEMS is structured so that a borrower's monthly cost for the loan and electricity is less than their monthly electrical bill without solar power. Participants can repay program loans as part of their monthly utility bill.
Martha Guzman, the EPA's Pacific Southwest regional administrator, said in a statement that significant savings on energy bills from household solar for years have been out of reach for too many in
Hawaii.
"With this new EPA investment of over $62 million, residents across Hawaii, including those in our disadvantaged communities, will now be able to adopt solar and reap the advantages of this
climate change-fighting technology," she said.
Hawaii's Green Bank was one of 60 Solar for All grant recipients nationwide that collectively were awarded $7 billion. The EPA estimated that total grant awards will benefit more than 900,000 households with over $350 million in annual electric bill savings.
The federal agency also said the program will reduce 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions
cumulatively from over
4 gigawatts of clean energy capacity.
Gov. Josh Green in a statement said, "Climate change and affordability have continued to be critical areas of focus for our administration. We look forward to continuing
this important work of delivering clean energy to our communities and improving the quality of life
for our residents in
perpetuity."
