LIPA plans to allow on-bill loan financing
The Long Island Power Authority next year will allow consumers for the first time to pay for approved energy-efficiency measures via their LIPA bill.
The program, expected to start in the first half of the year, uses a state-backed loan program created as part of the Green Jobs-Green NY legislation.
Dozens of products and renovations to improve energy efficiency of residences will be eligible through the program, including replacement windows, high-efficiency gas and oil furnaces, wood-pellet stoves, insulation, central air-conditioning and solar water-heating systems. The program also will cover refrigerators, dishwashers and other appliances that are Energy Star qualified.
Customers must have an analysis of their homes performed by state-approved efficiency contractors to be eligible for on-bill financing. Loans backed by the state are for up to $25,000, at interest rates of 3.49 to 3.99 percent. Terms are from five to 15 years. The loan program is administered and backed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
The program does not cover solar electric and wind-energy systems, which can cost upward of $70,000, but one state source said future iterations of the loan program might include them. The cost of solar panel systems, and the lack of state-backed low-interest loans for them, has long been an impediment for expansion of the systems.
Michael Hervey, LIPA's chief operating officer, said LIPA-contractor National Grid had been working to get the financing program up and running by June, but he has requested a quicker implementation.
Michael Deering, LIPA vice president for environmental affairs, said the loans will be designed so that customers' bills would remain relatively stable even after the cost for improvements are built into their bills. The program will structure loan payments so that they are equal generally to the amount of the energy savings. He said LIPA hopes to implement the program during the first quarter of next year.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
