LEEP blocked by House in voice vote
Unfortunately, the LEEP Act did not pass its vote in the House Government Organizations committee. The discussion of the bill was based on a faulty understanding of how the bill works, and that discussion killed the bill. The committee may be open to a study resolution during the legislative interim.
Over 1,000 letters were sent to the Capitol about LEEP. Thank you all for your support. What is WV-LEEP?
The Local Energy and Efficiency Partnership (WV-LEEP) for West Virginia is an innovative way for commercial property owners and small business owners to pay for energy efficiency upgrades. Funding is provided or arranged by a local government for 100% of a project’s costs and is repaid with an assessment over a term of up to 20 years. Local government assessment financing has been used efficiently for decades throughout the United States to fund improvements to private property that meet a public purpose.
- Financing would be available for all types of commercial and industrial properties, large and small, and may be available to non-profits and government facilities.
- Financing approvals are simple, but WV-LEEP projects must save money for the property owner.
- Energy audits, benchmarking and evaluation can be used to ensure that projects make sense, but WV-LEEP is 100% voluntary. In communities that adopt WV-LEEP, assessments are only paid by participating owners, and only for their own projects.
- Programs are locally based and tailored to meet local market needs.
Benefits of WV-LEEP
WV-LEEP financing has many features that can uniquely solve barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency measures.
- 100% financing requires no up-front cash investment
- Long-term financing (up to 20 years) results in immediate positive cash flow
- No payoff upon sale because WV-LEEP assessments (and energy savings) remain with the property
- Assessment costs and savings can be shared with tenants
- WV-LEEP can attract a wide range of private investors with low-interest rates
- WV-LEEP may be treated as off-balance sheet financing
- Non-recourse, non-accelerating financing
- WV-LEEP programs are local and community members are motivated to engage in outreach and marketing efforts
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