“Green bank” launched to attract clean-energy capital

The Colorado Energy Office is helping launch a “green bank” that will leverage private dollars to enhance and spur investment in clean-energy projects.

The energy office has formed the nonprofit Colorado Clean Energy Fund, which will team up with the Coalition for Green Capital and other organizations. The coalition, whose partners include the U.S. Department of Energy, foundations, and environmental organizations, works nationally and internationally to increase investment in renewable-energy and energy-efficient projects.

“This is really the culmination of a multi-year effort,” Jeff King, a program manager with the energy office, said Tuesday. “We’ve engaged with the coalition for several years, looking at the Colorado market and identifying possible financial gaps.”

Once the Colorado Clean Energy Fund begins operation, expected in early 2019, other partners will be involved, King added.

King said state dollars won’t be used for the fund. The Coalition for Green Capital will help with startup costs.

Making the kind of changes envisioned in the Colorado Climate Plan aren’t easy and aren’t cheap, said Susan Nedell of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a national group of business leaders, investors and professionals.

The climate plan calls, for among other things, reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions by more than 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025 and maximizing the use of renewable energy without increasing taxpayers’ costs.

A report released this year by Environmental Entrepreneurs said Colorado has 57,591 clean-energy jobs with workers in all 64 counties. Colorado ranks seventh among the 50 states and District of Columbia in renewable-energy jobs, according to the report.

A handful of states, including California and New York, have set up programs focusing on investing in clean-energy developments and projects.