The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Murphy, Blumenthal push for creation of federal ‘green bank’
Nearly a decade after the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the creation of a “green bank” to finance solar arrays and other clean energy systems, U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal have revived a proposal for the federal government to create a national green bank.
The proposed Green Bank Act of 2021 would allow the U.S. Department of the Treasury to issue up to $50 billion in “green bonds” to provide backing for state-based programs like the Connecticut Green Bank. The Hartford-based authority provides upfront financing for cleanenergy projects that are paid off through varying means, including one mechanism under which project owners pay off amounts due through additional assessments on property taxes over time.
Blumenthal and Murphy have been seeking a federal green bank since 2014, with the concept winning passage in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2009 before falling short in the U.S. Senate. Blumenthal separately supports a CLEAN Future Act proposal under consideration in Congress that includes a provision for a “national climate bank” that would include startup funds to form green banks in states that do not have one.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., a co-sponsor of the original 2009 legislation, has since taken the lead sponsor role in the House, including for the 2021 edition of the Green Bank Act.
“The legislation we’re proposing today would take this model nationally so states can establish their own green banks, create clean energy jobs and reduce carbon pollution,” Murphy stated in a press release Monday. “To tackle the existential threat of climate change, we’re going to have to pull resources from the public and private sectors. This legislation helps us get there.”
President Joe Biden included the concept in his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan, which would include $27 billion for a Clean Energy & Sustainability Accelerator to support green bank initiatives. Biden is pushing for Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion infrastructure bill that would unleash investment across a range of sectors, including renewable energy systems like solar arrays and wind farms.
Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy, Biden’s White House national climate adviser, served a stint as a Connecticut Green Bank board member.
Over the past nine years, the Connecticut Green Bank has approved projects totaling $1.95 billion that represent 434 megawatts of energy capacity.
The Connecticut Green Bank also draws support from a monthly charge on electric bills, totaling $394 million over the past nine years including nearly $37 million in 2020. And last year, it launched a “Green Liberty Bonds” program in which individual investors can purchase in denominations of $1,000, selling out its initial allotment of nearly $17 million.