Partnership Expands Financing Options for Residential Energy Efficiency

Renovate America, a financing provider for home-energy and water-efficiency improvements, and the Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA), a nonprofit organization for residential energy efficiency, are teaming up.

The two entities announced a partnership in March, whereby the 21,000 contractors, 85 distributors, and six manufacturers that belong to EGIA will have access to Renovate America’s Home Energy Renovation Opportunity (HERO) program. HERO provides 100 percent financing for energy- and water-saving products for up to 20 years with affordable fixed interest rates.

HERO has a few protections built in. Homeowners make payments based on their property taxes, and payment is made to contractors only when consumers approve the job. Contractors’ track records are screened, and pricing must be determined to be fair in the open market.

The program gives local governments a residential PACE (property-assessed clean energy) financing plan. It includes workforce training, consumer protection, and ongoing access to capital.

The goal for the partnership is to give contractors and homeowners more options for energy- and water-efficiency and renewable-energy projects.

“EGIA shares our mission of protecting homeowners while making energy efficient home improvements easily accessible and affordable through the industry-leading HERO financing program,” Nick Fergis, COO and co-founder of Renovate America, said in a statement. “EGIA’s national network will provide a powerful way to engage contractors as we scale our business in California and other states.”

Since 2011, HERO has financed more than $1.3 billion in home improvements, which has saved homeowners more than $2.3 billion on energy bills. According to Renovate America, HERO has conserved more than 8.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, reduced emissions by more than 2.3 million tons, and saved more than 3.5 billion gallons of water.

The partnership will focus initially on California, which has 5,300 EGIA members and 7,000 HERO registered contractors.