USDA Rural Development is investing $17,615,000 through loan guarantees for solar renewable energy projects in Maine through its Rural Energy for America Program. This investment means that clean solar energy will be produced locally, potentially resulting in significant savings for residential, commercial, and industrial rate payers in Maine's rural communities.

As traditional sources of commercial real estate financing were taking a cautious approach to lending during the pandemic, property owners turned to Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing to fund energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy projects, and new developments.

The U.S. EPA announced three contract awards for the clean-up of more than 50 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation on Thursday, worth up to $220 million over the next five years. Work is scheduled to begin later this year following the completion of assessments in coordination with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.

St. Louis Park has launched a pilot cost-share program called Solar Sundown with the goal of doubling the amount of rooftop solar in the city by the end of 2021. Under Solar Sundown, the city will fund the 4% difference between the 2021 Investment Tax Credit and the 2019 credit, allowing property owners to receive a 30% credit on their solar investment.

The Pennsylvania Solar Center is paying special attention to small- and medium-sized businesses this winter. Many haven't explored going solar and may be reluctant to think about discretionary spending when so many companies are just trying to stay afloat these days. But several incentives and programs can be layered on top of one another to make the goal more achievable now than when the world wasn't yet upside-down.

The St. Petersburg City Council approved a lease and development agreement to develop an affordable and energy-efficient townhome project. The proposed project site is currently owned by the city, which will transfer the land lease with a small fee sale to the developer and use $386,000 in tax increment financing (TIF) funds from the Affordable Housing Redevelopment Loan Program to subsidize construction costs.

The Illinois Energy Conservation Authority NFP (IECA) has been selected by Cook County as the program administrator for the Cook County Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing program for commercial real estate owners. As the second largest county in the United States, Cook County's passing of C-PACE legislation has the potential to provide commercial real estate owners with the opportunity to implement long-term funding for energy-efficient, renewable energy and water conservation projects within commercial buildings.

Developers, building owners, tenants, and lenders operating or underwriting loans in New York City will need to consider the impact of the city's newly enacted Climate Mobilization Act. This act constitutes a profound shift in the regulation of commercial real estate in New York City, and C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing will likely become an increasing feature of the landscape of New York City real estate transactions.

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: Social Justice and the Muni Markets
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern

CDFA Rural Development Finance Webinar Series: Financing Disaster Resiliency in Rural Communities
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern

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This report by Chamberlin/Dunn offers an evaluation of two consecutive years (FY19-FY20) of the Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER Initiative. The report aims to understand successes, challenges, and lessons learned through implementation, and it also examines early results of POWER projects.

This evaluation was designed to help ARC and its stakeholders learn from the POWER Program's implementation successes and challenges; identify technical assistance needs; and report on the qualitative impact of investments made, to date, with POWER funds.

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