Newsom rolls out renewable energy loans

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

The city of San Francisco is preparing to launch a loan program aimed at increasing residential energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption, Mayor Gavin Newsom says.

Speaking at the Green:Net 09 conference on March 24, Newsom said the city plans to launch a program similar to a Berkeley, Calif., solar initiative started in 2008, which allows homeowners to pay for solar installations through a 20-year assessment on their property taxes.

The difference is that the San Francisco program will be “exponentially bigger,” Newsom says. While Berkeley’s first round program provided $1.5 million for solar installations, Newsom says San Francisco plans to offer between $20 million and $30 million in loans.

The San Francisco program would also apply across a spectrum of projects, such as renewable power installations, cogeneration systems, boiler replacements and energy efficiency retrofits. Some of those projects may also be eligible for utility rebates and tax breaks from the federal stimulus package.

Newsom says the city is currently awaiting submissions for a request for proposals it made to find a banking partner. Proposals are expected in by early April 2009, he says, and the city plans to begin dispersing funds by the end of the year.

An existing San Francisco solar initiative which was launched in 2008 and offers subsidies for residential installations has been a major success, Newsom says, resulting in a 300 percent increase in solar installations in the city in the program’s first eight months. He added that local government support for solar has been a boon to solar installers, and such benefits could spread under the new program.