Reduce Risk, Increase Clean Energy: How States and Cities are Using Old Finance Tools to Scale Up a New Industry

This paper offers the first in-depth look at how communities are using well established public finance tools to reduce finance risk in clean energy, and creating a new path to reach capital markets to finance the ever increasing demand for clean energy. The Clean Energy and Bond Finance Initiative or CE+BFI, a project of Clean Energy Group and the Council of Development Finance Agencies, released this report about the innovative and successful strategies employed by states and cities for financing clean energy projects, especially the creative uses of bonds to reduce the cost of capital. The paper points to particular financing strategies at the state and municipal level that can be adapted and implemented to accelerate the clean energy finance revolution in other states and cities, and at a federal level.