In April 2019, CT Green Bank announced the sale of $38.6 million investment-grade rated asset-backed security (ABS) notes. This innovative first-of-its-kind issuance monetizes the solar home renewable energy credits (SHRECs) generated through the Residential Solar Investment Program (RSIP). The sale was comprised of two tranches of SHRECs produced by more than 105 megawatts of 14,000 residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The SHRECs were aggregated by the Green Bank and sold in annual tranches to Connecticut’s two investor-owned utilities, Eversource Energy and United Illuminating Company, at a fixed, predetermined price over 15 years. The funds raised through this sale will recover the costs of administering and managing the RSIP, including the incentives offered to residential participants in the program.
The Green Bank worked with Kestrel Verifiers to certify that this issuance conforms with the Climate Bonds Standard. Further, it partnered with the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) to independently assess the impact of the systems in tranches one and two of the SHRECs. CAR estimates that these systems will produce 238,000 MWh of electricity each year, avoiding the emission of approximately 749,494 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (tCO2e) of greenhouse gases (GHGs). CAR leveraged the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Avoided Emissions Generation Tool (AVERT) and Co-Benefits Risk Assessment (CoBRA) in their assessment of air quality and public health impacts respectively.
