Chase’s renewable energy loan
expansion program signed into law

Legislation will double loan period to municipally-owned utilities

May 8, 2009

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Maralyn Chase (D-Shoreline) that will greatly expand opportunities to finance renewable energy projects.

“This is great news,” Chase said. “The capacity for solar energy to contribute to our energy future has grown much faster than our financial mechanisms can support it. This bill will help solve that problem and get more good projects on-line.”

House Bill 1184, which received near unanimous support in the House and Senate, will extend the loan payback period to municipally-owned utilities when the loans go toward renewable energy and conservation projects. This will make costlier projects such as solar cells more feasible by controlling upfront costs.

“If you can extend the payments on those systems, if you purchase one at a good enough price, your electric bills will be lower than the cost of the system,” said Mike Nelson, renewable energy specialist for the WSU Energy Extension Program at Shoreline Community College. “You can basically pay for the cost out of the savings on your electric bill. It makes doing renewable energy on a residential scale much more viable.”

Rooftop solar cells last for 20 to 30 years, but the cost of a top-of-the-line system runs anywhere from $20,000-$30,000, whereas projects such as weather stripping or insulation lasts for 10 to 15 years. Paying back loans within the previous timeframe of 120 months wasn’t an issue with smaller projects.

Chase’s hope is that extending the loan period to 240 months on larger, more costly projects will encourage their development and use.

“This is a great step, but it’s only the first step,” she said. “I’m hoping that in the near future we can extend this offer to include Public Utility Districts and other environmentally-conscious programs throughout the state.”