Long-term care facilities that receive project incentives through Efficiency Maine’s Funding Opportunity Notice (FON) for Long-Term Care Electrification Retrofits (FON-020-2025) are eligible for loans to cover the balance of project costs. The Efficiency Maine Green Bank provides this targeted financing opportunity using a federal grant through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Capitalization Grant Program (EERLF).
A summary of the Electrification Project Loan for Long-Term Care Facilities as of today appears below.
| Building Types | Existing licensed senior long-term care facilities in Maine (including assisted-living facilities, continuing care communities, nursing homes, memory care facilities, and hospice facilities) that are heated primarily with oil, propane, or electric resistance systems. |
| Projects | Electrification retrofit projects involving heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and/or water heating. Projects must receive an Efficiency Maine incentive under FON-020-2025. Eligible project costs include material/equipment and installation labor costs only. |
| Contractor Requirements | Upgrades must be installed by an Efficiency Maine Qualified Partner (QP). |
| Borrower | A business, nonprofit, or public organization that conducts a majority of its business in Maine and that operates an existing long-term care facility in Maine. The individual signing the loan documents must be an authorized representative of the organization with evidence of corporate authority. |
| Prerequisites | Facility must have completed a whole-building energy audit that recommends implementing the project measure(s). (See details below.) |
| Building Types | Projects | Contractor Requirements | Borrower | Prerequisites |
| Existing licensed senior long-term care facilities in Maine, (including assisted-living facilities, continuing care communities, nursing homes, memory care facilities, and hospice facilities) that are heated primarily with oil, propane, or electric resistance systems. | Energy audits that satisfy the criteria outlined below under Energy Audit Requirements. | Energy auditors must be an active Efficiency Maine Qualified Partner (QP). | A business, nonprofit, or public organization that conducts a majority of its business in Maine and that operates an existing long-term care facility in Maine. The individual signing the loan documents must be an authorized representative of the organization with evidence of corporate authority. | Facility must have completed a whole-building energy audit that recommends implementing the project measure(s). (See details below.) |
| Fees ($) | There are no application, origination, or pre-payment fees. Late payment fee: 5% of amount due or $10, whichever is less. Non-sufficient funds fee: $25 per occurrence. |
| Maximum Borrowing Amount ($) | The maximum loan amount is $200,000. The borrowing amount per loan cannot exceed the eligible project costs (material/equipment and installation labor costs), minus the rebate received under FON-020-2025. There is no minimum borrowing amount. |
| Term Length | 3 years. |
| Interest Rate | 4.99% Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Rates shown are as of today’s date and are subject to change. Rates are fixed and interest is calculated using the simple interest, Actual/360 method. |
| Amortization or Repayment Schedule | Monthly principal and interest payments. There is no prepayment penalty. |
| Collateral Requirements | Efficiency Maine will require the grant of a purchase money security interest in the equipment acquired with the loan proceeds. |
| Funding Requirements | In order for a loan to be disbursed:
The loan amount will be disbursed directly to the Borrower at project completion. |
| Fees ($) | Maximum Borrowing Amount ($) | Term Length | Interest Rate | Amortization or Repayment Schedule | Collateral Requirements | Funding Requirements |
There are no application, origination, or pre-payment fees. Late payment fee: 5% of amount due or $10, whichever is less. Non-sufficient funds fee: $25 per occurrence. | The maximum loan amount is $200,000. The borrowing amount per loan cannot exceed the eligible project costs (material/equipment and installation labor costs), minus the rebate received under FON-020-2025. There is no minimum borrowing amount. | 3 years. | 4.99% Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Rates shown are as of today’s date and are subject to change. Rates are fixed and interest is calculated using the simple interest, Actual/360 method. | Monthly principal and interest payments. There is no prepayment penalty. | Efficiency Maine will require the grant of a purchase money security interest in the equipment acquired with the loan proceeds. | In order for a loan to be disbursed:
The loan amount will be disbursed directly to the Borrower at project completion. |
Program terms are subject to change or termination.
Borrower will be required to execute a loan agreement and promissory note with Efficiency Maine with additional terms and requirements. Because the loan funds are provided through the federal government’s Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Capitalization Grant Program within DOE’s State Energy Program, Borrowers are required to observe certain federal requirements described in Appendix II to 2 CFR Part 200 – Contract Provisions for Non-Federal Entity Contracts Under Federal Awards. These federal contract “flow down” provisions will be incorporated in the loan agreement and will be a contractual requirement.
Among the federal contract “flow down” requirements for the loan agreement (without limitation) are the following:
Any project leveraging the loan must satisfy federal Davis Bacon Act (DBA) requirements. (Note that this does not apply to energy audits.) This means that the installer must pay all laborers and mechanics at least the geographic area’s prevailing wage and fringe benefits for their work on the project. They must also satisfy several compliance and reporting requirements, including submitting weekly certified payroll records. Click here for more information.
Any project leveraging the loan must satisfy federal National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requirements. This means that, for any property that is 50+ years old, the Maine State Historic Preservation Office must review the proposed project details to determine whether it will affect the property (as defined by Section 106 of the NHPA). To facilitate this review, the installer must submit the physical address of the building, the type and age of the building, a description of the proposed scope of work, a description of where the change is to the outside of the building, a color photograph of the primary facade of the building, and information about the building’s configuration (shape) to Efficiency Maine. Participants must receive confirmation of the Maine State Historic Preservation Office’s approval prior to initiating the installation. Click here for more information.
Participants must conduct a facility-wide energy audit prior to accessing the loan funds. (See Energy Audit Requirements section below for detail.) Efficiency Maine will accept compliant energy audits that were performed within the last year. For those participants that need a new energy audit, the Efficiency Maine Green Bank will finance 100% of the costs of this prerequisite. (Click here for details on the loan offering for energy audits.) For the subset of participants that have fewer than 500 employees and that ultimately implement a project under Funding Opportunity Notice (FON) for Long-Term Care Electrification Retrofits (FON-020-2025), Efficiency Maine will award an additional grant to pay off 100% of that original energy audit loan.
The energy audit must be an ASHRAE Level II Audit or equivalent. Specifically, it must:
