Posted on
PSE&G received approval by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities BPU to offer $105 million in loans to help finance the installation of solar in New Jersey.
Here are the details:
– PSE&G’s solar program will be open to all of its electric customers,
including low-income, residential, commercial, industrial and
municipal/governmental. The solar panels would be owned by the
developer or the host customer.
— Applications will be available for two years and accepted on a
first-come, first-served basis until 30 megawatts of projects have
been developed.
— PSE&G would provide loans to developers or customers to cover
approximately 40-60 percent of the cost of a solar installation
project, depending on the projected output of the solar energy system
and the cost of the system. The borrower would repay the principal,
plus interest, over 10 years for residential customers and over 15
years for all other borrowers, a considerably longer investment
timeframe than traditional lenders are willing to provide for solar
installations.
— The remaining project cost would be funded by the owner of the solar
installation. The owner may have access to funds from banks and
investors. In addition, the owner may be eligible for a federal
investment tax credit. (Utilities are currently not eligible for
this tax incentive.)
— Owners of solar energy systems would repay the loan with Solar
Renewable Energy Certificates or SRECs, which are created every time
the system generates solar electricity. It takes one megawatthour of
solar generation to create one SREC, which has value in the
marketplace. An SREC is a New Jersey tradable product that
represents the clean energy benefits of electricity generated from a
solar energy system. For the purposes of this program, an SREC is
valued at the market price or $475, whichever is higher. Borrowers
could also repay the loans in cash.
— PSE&G’s electric customers will pay for the cost of the solar program
through the Solar Pilot Recovery Charge (SPRC), which will be
included in the delivery part of their monthly bill. PSE&G will sell
the SRECs it receives for loan repayment in an auction, and credit
the proceeds from the sale to customers through the SPRC, which will
offset a portion of the program costs.
go to http://www.pseg.com/customer/solar/index.jsp to get details about PSE&G solar loan program
TAGS:
New Jersey