The California Energy Commission (CEC) has expanded its Energy Conservation Assistance Act (ECAA) program, a low- and zero-interest clean energy loan program, to include applications from California Native American Tribes.
The first recipient of the expanded program is the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California. The Rancheria is a regional emergency/evacuation center during power outages, wildfires, and natural disasters.
The CEC has approved a $3 million loan at a 1% interest rate for the tribe to build a carport- and rooftop-mounted solar photovoltaic system to support the casino, hotel, and event center building. The Middletown project is expected to save the Rancheria $212,000 annually in utility costs, and payback is expected in 14 years.
The CEC has invested more than $100 million in tribal clean energy projects through programs like ECAA, the Long Duration Energy Storage Program, and the Electric Program Investment Charge program, which has resulted in microgrid installations for seven tribes statewide.
The ECAA program provides low-interest loans for energy efficiency, renewable energy, fleet electric vehicle charging, and energy storage projects. The program makes 1% interest loans available to cities, counties, special districts, public colleges and universities, public care institutions, and public hospitals and zero-percent interest loans for public school districts, charter schools, county offices of education, and state special schools.
The program has provided more than $500 million in loans for more than 950 projects, saving energy costs.
“Payback of the loan is based on the energy savings of the project, and sometimes those savings can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each year,” said Armand Angulo, who is the equity and public participation manager for the CEC’s Office of the Public Advisor, Energy Equity, and Tribal Affairs.
