Blog

It has become apparent that the Trump administration will be substantially less supportive of energy efficiency and renewables than the Obama administration.  This will pose a challenge for state energy offices who have worked closely with DOE in the past. Does this mean that clean energy initiatives and uptake will be dramatically curtailed?  That remainsRead more

Clean Energy Finance Programs: Assessing Program Risk and Addressing the Holder Rule An overview brief presented by Harcourt Brown & Carey (HB&C) A PDF version of this brief can be downloaded here: HB&C Holder Rule Brief As builders and designers of clean energy finance programs, we at HB&C work with a broad range of energy industryRead more

September 7th, 2016– Today the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy released a paper titled “Green Bank Accounting: Examining the Current Landscape and Tallying Progress on Energy Efficiency”.  HB&C provided some context, research and comments in the formation of this paper and are excited with the result, which provides a great overview of theRead more

HB&C, in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO), has been performing finance tune ups for State Energy Offices over the past two years.  These tune ups are designed to be a quick and inexpensive assessment of existing finance programs offered through the State, with recommendations on how those programs can betterRead more

A client interested in forwarding clean energy legislation, including the formation of a state green bank, commissioned Harcourt Brown & Carey (HB&C) to conduct an inventory and gap analysis of financing products used for clean energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) improvements in the state of Colorado. To download the full gap analysis report, clickRead more

Financing Products Descriptions Recently, HB&C produced a clean energy financing gap analysis for the State of Colorado, (more on that in an upcoming blog post, but it can be downloaded here: Colorado Clean Energy Finance Gap Analysis).  Part of that analysis required clearly defining the financial instruments that HB&C considers to be commonly used forRead more

Last week, in part 1/2 of this 2 part series, we explored the basic ideas regarding the development and mission of a green bank. This can be boiled down to three market conditions (capital, confidence, convenience) and the key decisions that must be made in terms of structure, goal, strategy and governance in order to form a greenRead more

HB&C has been providing advisory services in the formation and development of green banks for some time. We’ve assisted in the development of the Connecticut Green Bank, Michigan Saves (a not-for-profit green bank entity serving the State of Michigan) and most recently, we’ve provided advisory services for the development of a green bank in MontgomeryRead more

HB&C recently attended the national PACENation conference in Denver, the first of its kind.  The conference was highly relevant to Harcourt Brown & Carey because have been involved in drafting legislation and designing PACE programs for some time, most notably having worked with MASS DOER to draft legislation (currently held up in political process), andRead more

Signs seem to be pointing to the operating lease going the way of the dodo bird, or my favorite dinosaur, the Dimetrodon.   Extinct may not be the right term, but much like today’s chickens may be living relatives of the dinosaurs of old, the capital lease may soon be the only living relative of theRead more