New York Energy Smart Loan Fund Offers Incentives for Energy Efficiency Across Empire State

If you own real estate in New York State, you may qualify for an interest relief payment from the New York Energy Smart Loan Fund if you plan to make an investment of any kind towards improving the energy efficiency of your property.

Payment comes in the form of a lump sum to the lender (not to you) when a loan for a particular renovation or installation of an energy efficient service has been blessed by an approved lender. The interest relief is then passed on to you on payments over the full period of the loan.

The purpose of the program (administered by NYSERDA) is to offer interest rate reductions on any loan that aims to increase the energy efficiency of a property. Loans must come from an approved lender but the refinancing of existing loans is not covered. Loans must be for an amortization period of 10 years – those amortized over a longer period of time will only receive the 10-year rate.

The maximum interest rate reduction for most of New York State is 4 percent. Con Edison customers may be able to receive an interest rate reduction of up to 6.5 percent depending on the situation- check out the program page below for more details. Potential recipients under the program also need to be customers of approved energy distributors (i.e., Con Ed and National Grid).

Improvements which may qualify for the program include (but are not limited to) heating and air conditioning systems, lighting, windows, hot water heaters, solar and wind systems, energy efficient appliances, and irrigation equipment.

Loan parameters differ depending on the type of property applying for relief. For example, the maximum loan amount that may be subsidized for a commercial property (which includes agricultural and institutional buildings) is $1 million, with an additional $500,000.00 for green building improvements. (At 4 percent, this works out to a reduction of $60,000.00).

The subsidy for individual multi-family properties (five or more residential units) is $2500.00, up to a maximum of $2.5 million ($100,000.00 reduction at 4 percent). Residential buildings (up to four families) are eligible for a subsidy of loans up to $20,000.00 ($30,000.00 for Con Ed customers).

Check out specific details about the program, including application forms, on the NYSERDA Loan Fund page.

• Smart Loan Funds Offer Subsidies (NYREJ)

• Smart Loan Program (NYSERDA)