EERE Network News - November 4, 2009


The U.S. Department of Treasury announced on October 27 a new allocation of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) totaling $2.2 billion for 805 recipients across the country. These energy bonds are designed to help government agencies, public power providers, and cooperative electric companies obtain low-cost financing for clean energy development projects. Drawing in part upon funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the bonds function as "tax credit" bonds, which means that the bondholders receive a federal tax credit in lieu of a portion of the interest on the bond. That, in turn, keeps the interest payments low for the project owner. For this round of CREBs, the federal tax credits will cover 70% of the interest on the bonds. Because the Treasury Department has a limit on the tax credits it can provide to such CREBs, it must allocate the bonds in advance.

For the current round of CREB allocations, eligible agencies and organizations had to apply to the Treasury Department by August 4. Overall, the amounts and recipients selected included: $609 million to be issued by power co-ops in 17 states, topped by Alaska with a total of $124 million for wind power projects; $800 million for governmental entities in 17 states, headed by California governments authorized to allocate $640 million in bonds for a variety of solar and hydroelectric projects; and $800 million for public power providers in six states, led by Washington state utilities, which can issue almost $500 million in bonds for various wind and hydropower projects.

EERE