Dive Overview:
The first national green bank in the United States was opened, and the Inflation Reduction Act, The group made the announcement Thursday..
CGC, which also operates as the American Green Bank Consortium, has said it plans to use the IRA funds for direct and indirect clean energy investments with its network of state and local green banks.
The EPA first CGC was chosen to set up a national green bank. In April, the group was awarded $5 billion from the National Clean Investment Fund as part of a $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grant, part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that also included $369 billion in clean energy grants.
Dive Insights:
CGC said that with EPA funding, the organization will directly invest in eligible clean energy projects and “A self-sustaining national network of state and local green bankscommunity lender, community partner. As the American Green Bank Consortium, a membership organization for green banks, CGC reported that its members will invest $10.6 billion in 2023, of which $5.2 billion will be public investments and $5.4 billion will be private capital. The report was also released on Thursday..
CGC CEO and co-founder Reed Hunt, a former Federal Communications Commission chairman and former CGC chairman, said Thursday’s announcement begins the process of releasing EPA funding to allow the bank to develop staff, make investments and begin building a network of green investors in each state.
“Finally, our vision has officially become a reality: the nation’s first national green bank is open for business,” Hunt said in Thursday’s announcement. “Now is the time for public-private investment, teamed with tax credits and U.S. Department of Energy financing, to be three ways this Administration wins the battle against catastrophic climate change and fights for social justice in all American communities.”
The bank plans to use EPA grant funding to fund $21.1 billion in clean power projects in its first year, Hunt said. The bank already employs 23 people, a number expected to double by the end of the year, and has more than $10 billion in projects in the works.
Brian Garcia, CGC board chair and president and CEO of the Connecticut Green Bank, thanked the EPA for the “systematic, comprehensive and extensive process” that led to the creation of the nation’s first national green bank.
“We cannot waste any time working with the Green Bank Network to mobilize private investment across the country for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution and deliver meaningful benefits, such as lowering energy costs for families, creating jobs in our communities, improving public health and growing the green economy, especially in areas that are underinvested in these projects,” Garcia said in Thursday’s announcement.
CGC also announced its initial team for the national green bank on Thursday, including veterans of the green economy and renewable energy. In addition to Hunt and Garcia, the team will consist of:
Stephen Brown, founder, CEO and chief network officer, Texas Green Bank and Texas Clean Energy Fund;
Chief Impact Officer Jessica Buendia (formerly vice president of sustainability at national nonprofit Dream.Org)
Chief Operating Officer and Compliance Officer Jeff Deal has 40 years of experience in financial institutions and previously served as CEO of Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank.
Chief Capital Officer and Investment Officer Alfred Griffin (former president of the New York Green Bank)
Chief Investment Officer Michael Hoffman, a former senior managing director at Blackstone Group and co-head of Riverstone’s renewable energy fund;
Chief Management and Development Officer Eli Hopson, who most recently served as the first CEO of the DC Green Bank;
CFO Sanjeev Kumar has a 25-year career in the renewable energy industry and has led two successful initial public offerings.
Chief of Staff Daniela Nili, a veteran of election and advocacy campaigns who built the greenbankmovement.org database;
David Pettit, former deputy general counsel and general counsel and chief strategy officer at Xcel Energy;
The bank’s application helped build a coalition of 18 subrecipients (16 state and local green banks and two national nonprofits). The national green bank will also fund and support a network of 191 other participating partners to “develop a national pipeline that can equitably advance clean energy adoption.” According to the company’s website:.
