With no upfront costs, this innovative financing tool makes energy efficiency affordable to all

From Nate Berg / ENSIA: North Carolina’s Roanoke Electric Cooperative is helping members bring down energy costs. Because the energy costs in this area is due to a lack of energy efficiency, the cooperative offers tariffed on-billing to help homes offset expenses like insulation and new heat pumps. The tariffed on-billing uses federal loans to pay for said expenses, and then the customer pays the tariff charge in their bill – which ends up being lower because of the energy-efficient upgrades.

Click here to read the original story.

Issue Areas:

Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Environment, Poverty Reduction Measures

Impact Areas:

Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Finance

Actors:

Businesses, Government

Communities Served:

Communities Experiencing Economic Hardship, Workers

Strategies:

Easing Economic Burdens for Individuals, Increase Education / Insights Sharing, Utilizing Sustainable or Renewable Resources

Success Factors:

Business With Social Goals, Empowering People, Expanding Access, Meeting People Where They Are At, Overcoming the Big Challenges

Geographic Region:

North America

Countries:

United States

Date:

February 26, 2019

More Resources:

Can Monthly Cash Payments Make Our Economy More Equitable?

From Sonali Kolhatkar / Yes! Magazine: Guaranteed income programs aim to reduce poverty by providing cash to those in need with no strings attached. One of these programs in New York City, The Bridge Project, focuses on helping women of...

Pay-What-You-Can Farm Stands Feed Communities Against Tough Odds

From Gabriel Pietrorazio / Civil Eats: Farm stands operating on sliding-scale and pay-what-you-can models are improving access to fresh, healthy food in communities battling poverty and food insecurity. In these models, residents who can afford to pay full price are...

Conversation with Kari Wolanksi

Kari Wolinsky is the acting director of the Center for Social Data Insights and Innovation at Statistics Canada. She previously worked at the Department of Finance designing Canada’s Quality of Life framework. Kari Wolanksi spoke with Ashley Hopkinson on March...

Results From The City That Just Gave Away Cash

From Emma Peaslee / NPR: A guaranteed income pilot program in Stockton, California, resulted in improved mental health and even increased full-time employment rates. The extra cash gave recipients who were struggling with poverty the mental and financial bandwidth to...

4-day workweek pilot in South Africa – the results are in, with some surprises

From Business Tech: 28 South African businesses and one Botswanan business participated in a 4-day week pilot in 2023. The results showed huge benefits for both employees and employers. Read the original story here. Find more wellbeing employee initiatives.

...

How tax credits and social finance are building a healthy future for Nova Scotians

From Diane Berard / Future of Good: Novia Scotia, Canada, created community economic development investment funds with a 35% tax credit to investors to help small businesses that need capital but don’t qualify for bank loans. The cooperative FarmWorks brings...