Alliance Recognizes Loan Program’s Energy-Saving Home Improvement Success
Washington, D.C. – June 6, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The Keystone Home Energy Loan Program (Keystone HELP®) is the winner of the Alliance to Save Energy’s 2013 Andromeda Star of Energy Efficiency award. The Pennsylvania Treasury Department and AFC First Financial Corporation (AFC), along with their partner the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, will be honored for Keystone Help® during the Alliance to Save Energy’s Annual Dinner on October 2 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.
“Honoring Keystone HELP and its state partners was an easy choice,” said Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan. “Expanding financing options and educating consumers are major pillars to advancing energy efficiency and Keystone is ahead of the curve already helping thousands of Pennsylvania residents save energy and money.”
Keystone HELP® provides lower cost financing to homeowners for ENERGY STAR single measure improvements such as heating, cooling, insulation, geothermal and whole house energy improvements under Home Performance with ENERGY STAR guidelines.
“We are deeply proud of Keystone HELP, which so far has helped more than 11,000 Pennsylvania families to save money while increasing the energy efficiency of their homes. It also creates jobs in an area of the economy where there is tremendous growth potential,” said Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord. “We thank the Alliance to Save Energy for recognizing the work of our program and for doing so much to promote residential energy efficiency.”
Keystone HELP® has been an extremely cost‐effective alternative for homeowners to finance both deeper and more efficient energy retrofits. Since 2006, over 11,000 homeowners have experienced annualized reductions of 20 Mwh of electricity, 40,000 mcf of natural gas, 300,000 gallons of oil, and 30,000 gallons of propane on a cumulative expenditure of $9.0 million in program funds.
The loans are originated and serviced by AFC, an energy efficiency lender and Home Performance with ENERGYSTAR sponsor located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Funding for Keystone HELP® is provided by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department (loan principal) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (program support funds). AFC and Treasury estimate that the completed home improvement projects are saving consumers $3.8 million a year on energy bills.
In January 2013, Pennsylvania Treasury completed its first secondary market sale of almost 4,700 Keystone HELP® loans, receiving $23 million in cash and $8.3 million in deferred payments, for a projected total of $31.3 million, helping pave the way for future national secondary market sales. Keystone HELP® has also been instrumental in the creation of WHEEL (Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans), which is a potential key piece in the development of a national secondary market for energy efficiency loans.
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The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, the economy, and national security.
For more information about Keystone HELP, visit www.patreasury.gov/keystoneHelp.html
