Energy Efficiency
Revolving Loan Fund

Purpose of the Program

The Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund (EERLF) is a collaboration of the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities and the Bowling Green Community Development Foundation (CDF.)  This program is designed to allocate capital to local projects dedicated to more effectively utilize electricity.  The program is not intended to represent a substitute for private sector funding; rather, the program’s goal is to successfully motivate local business and industry to upgrade or replace equipment and/or fixtures that will reduce their electric consumption.  The EERLF program is limited to any business or industry in the Bowling Green community which is served by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities.

Loan Administration

The EERLF program is administered by the CDF.  The CDF’s Executive Director is responsible for marketing, acceptance of loan applications and carrying out the responsibility for the day to day functions of this loan program. An EERLF Committee, appointed by the city’s Director of Utilities and the CDF Board for two year terms, oversees approvals or rejections of all loans.

Eligible Loan Types

This EERLF loan is available to private for-profit enterprises. The loan is focused on eligible companies seeking to proceed with projects centered on the procurement of more energy efficient depreciable assets.  Loan amounts will be considered for up to 50% of the total cost of the energy efficient project.

Financing Policies and Techniques

The EERLF program has no minimum loan amount and the maximum amount is bound by the existing amount of capital in the fund.

Interest Rate: The interest rate and terms of the loan will be 0% over the life of the loan.

Repayment: No additional new capital is required for repayment for the EERLF loan. Payment for the loan is automatically recouped and administered by the City of Bowling Green Municipal Utilities by deriving an electricity usage proxy (Baseline usage over similar production levels for the previous two fiscal periods) for the loaned party and comparing the proxy to an actual usage amount.  The difference in usage, from actual to proxy, is then utilized to repay the fixed monthly payment.  Loan statements will be presented monthly to the EERLF participant.  The interest rate will be held at 0% interest until the loan is completely repaid.

Security for EERLF Loans: All EERLF loans are non-collateralized loans.  Loan approval is subject to meeting the following criteria which will be reviewed by the Loan Administration Board.

Borrower must provide a project description including total estimated cost and payback analysis

In the event of EERLF Participant default, whether it be through location closure or late payment of electric bill(s) or movement of plant operations outside areas served by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, or bankruptcy, the participant is responsible for payback of the remaining balance of the note within thirty days of official notice of default without penalty.  

EERLF Applications Forms and Fees

An application form is required to be submitted.  The form is provided in Appendix A. To facilitate processing, a non-refundable fee of $100.00 must accompany the application.  For loans in a larger amount than $50,000 the applicant will be required to join the CDF on an annual basis, if not already a member.