Explore Commercial and Municipal Financing Options for Efficiency Upgrades

Investing in energy efficiency is a great way to save money, and strengthen the reliability and resiliency of your facilities. Efficiency Maine provides incentives to help businesses, municipalities, and schools across the state make energy upgrades more affordable. But incentives aren’t the only way Efficiency Maine can help. The Efficiency Maine Green Bank offers financing options that complement incentives to help cover the up-front costs of your energy-efficiency project.

Financing Options for Businesses

Small Business Energy Loans
If you run a small business that could benefit from upgrading their heating and cooling system, our Small Business Energy Loans are designed to help. These loans range from $2,000 to $10,000 per customer location, come with a 4.99% interest rate, and require no money down or closing fees.

Here’s an example: If you’re planning a $7,750 project to install two high-efficiency heat pumps, you might qualify for a $3,200 incentive from Efficiency Maine. That would leave a balance of $4,550. With a Small Business Energy Loan, you could finance that amount and choose a repayment term that works for your budget — around $389 per month for 12 months or as low as $136 per month over 36 months.

You can learn more and apply online at efficiencymaine.com/small-business-energy-loans.

Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE)
If your business is located in a participating municipality, C-PACE financing could be another great option. C-PACE allows property owners to access long-term financing — up to 100% of a project’s cost — for retrofits or new construction that improve energy efficiency or add renewable energy systems.

Enacted by state law in 2021, Efficiency Maine administers the C-PACE program and works to connect borrowers with capital providers where local ordinances enable the program. As a strong tool to empower businesses to invest in efficiency projects, C-PACE is considered a unique economic development opportunity, too. You can learn more at efficiencymaine.com/c-pace.

Long-Term Care Facilities
Long-term care facilities can also access targeted financing through the Efficiency Maine Green Bank. These exclusive loans are available in conjunction with our Long-Term Care Electrification Retrofits funding opportunity notice, which, for a limited time, offers larger incentives than usual for electrification projects. Financing is available for both project cost balances and whole-building energy audits. Learn more about these time-limited opportunities at efficiencymaine.com/long-term-care-retrofits.

Financing Options for Towns, Cities, and Schools

Municipal Lease
Municipalities and schools often face different challenges than commercial entities, which is why the Efficiency Maine Green Bank also offers connections to local lenders that offer municipal leases.

These leases are non-debt financing instruments that typically lower the up-front cost to $0. Essentially, the lessee uses utility bill savings to pay for the financing costs. Municipal leases can help municipalities pay for their efficiency projects within their existing budgets.
The Efficiency Maine Green Bank is an important part of our work. As a complement to the Trust’s other incentive programs, the Efficiency Maine Green Bank helps businesses and municipalities reduce the up-front cost of efficiency projects. Our financing offerings cover a range of opportunities for you to help keep your upfront costs low and help facilitate your investments in energy efficiency.

Want to learn more? Schedule a virtual consultation with Efficiency Maine to explore your options. Or if you’re ready to get started, connect with an Efficiency Maine Qualified Partner today. To see more content that describes the benefits and cost savings associated with energy efficiency subscribe to Efficiency Maine’s blog post notifications.