SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Three businesses in the town have recently taken advantage of a Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank program to help businesses finance their conversion to so-called clean energy such as solar power.
The Providence-based bank’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, loan program provides full financing to businesses for energy efficiency and renewable-energy building upgrades. The improvements reduce energy costs and are often cash-flow positive, enabling business owners to reinvest in their companies, the bank said.
Matunuck Beach Properties, a 50-acre beachfront community in the village of Wakefield, is installing a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system through the program, as well as National Grid’s Renewable Energy Growth Program, which allows the utility’s customers to sell the energy they generate under long-term tariffs at fixed prices. Upon completion of the Matunuck project, the property’s value is expected to increase by $145,425 and generate a total energy cost-savings of $240,000. The improvements also are expected to reduce the property’s estimated greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual carbon footprint of 40 homes, the bank said.
Meanwhile, Pier Cleaners, a local dry-cleaning business, installed roof-mounted solar panels with the help of a $131,838 loan under the bank’s program. The company is now expected to save $279,000 in energy costs over the life of the loan, the bank said. Pier Cleaners also installed solar panels at its Westerly location, which is expected to reduce energy costs there by 94 percent, for a combined savings at both locations of more than $500,000 over the long-term, the bank said.
In addition, South Kingstown’s Laurel Lane Country Club is similarly benefiting from the bank’s loan program, using it to install ground-mounted solar panels to power the club’s hospitality and golf operations, and to support conversion of its fleet of golf carts from gasoline-powered to electricity-powered. The club will save an estimated 5 million kilowatts hours of electricity over the 25-year life of the loan – equivalent to the yearly electricity use of nearly 400 homes.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
