Clean Energy Finance Tools and Resources
State and local governments and communities are using a range of financing programs and mechanisms to support clean energy investments such as energy efficiency, renewable energy and other clean energy infrastructure investment such as energy storage. EPA has created tools and resources to help state and local governments gain an understanding of a range of options to finance clean energy investments.
Clean Energy Financing Toolkit for Decisionmakers
The Clean Energy Financing Toolkit for Decisionmakers provides profiles of a dozen clean energy financing programs that state and local decisionmakers can use to identify, develop, or revise state and local clean energy financing programs by providing examples across jurisdictions and access to more detailed programmatic resources.
Use the Clean Energy Financing Toolkit for Decisionmakers to learn about the following:
- Green banks
- Energy loans and credit enhancements
- Energy equipment leases
- On-bill loan programs
- Inclusive utility investments: tariffed on-bill programs
- Performance contracting and energy service agreements
- Revolving loan funds
- Municipal bonds and green bonds
- Commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE)
- Customer power purchase agreements
- Community shared solar
- Energy efficiency mortgages
Federal resources to find and access financing for specific clean energy investments:
- EPA ENERGY STAR Home Upgrade and Federal Income Tax Credit and Incentives for Energy Efficiency
- Home Upgrade is designed for residential customers to explore a set of six high-impact, energy efficiency improvements for your home (e.g., smart thermostats), with rebate and tax credit finders as well as guides to assist in buying and installing the improvements.
- EPA offers information on Green Power Supply Options including Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
- EPA Clean Energy Finance Primer: Using Renewable Energy Certificates to Achieve Local Environmental Goals
- Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Financing Navigator
- DOE created this tool to assist owners and lessees of commercial, industrial, multifamily, and the "MUSH sector" - municipal and state governments, universities and colleges, K-12 schools, and hospitals - find ways to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
- EPA Clearinghouse for Environmental Finance
- This online portal helps communities local information and funding sources (i.e., state or federal grants) to meet their environmental infrastructure needs.
- Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs)
- EFCs help communities access federal funding for infrastructure and greenhouse gas reduction projects that improve public health and environmental protection, providing technical assistance to develop and submit project proposals through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Other clean energy finance resources:
- National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO): Key Financing Resources and Publications
- Berkeley National Lab: Financing Energy Efficiency