Dollar and Energy Saving Loans
Low-interest loans through Nebraska lenders for households, businesses and public bodies making qualifying energy-saving improvements.
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You can finance qualifying appliance replacements, insulation, draught sealing, windows and doors, and heating, cooling or water-heating upgrades. The application form for each measure sets its energy-performance requirements.
The ordinary programme advertises simple interest rates of 5%, 3.5% or less. Your final annual percentage rate (APR), which reflects the rate and applicable loan fees, can vary by lender. Borrower maximums for home, building or system improvements are $125,000 for one- and two-family dwellings, $250,000 for buildings with at least three dwellings and one to three storeys, and $500,000 for businesses, manufacturers, institutions, nonprofits, apartment buildings of four or more storeys, agricultural buildings, local governments and other political subdivisions except state government. Farms and ranches and public school districts also have a $500,000 borrower maximum.
Pre-qualified home and building improvements can be financed for up to 15 years; replacement appliances for up to five years. Other pre-qualified projects have terms of three to ten years according to category. Minimum monthly payments are $25 for appliances and electronics and $50 for other loans. The lender determines the loan and its terms; these are borrower limits, not guaranteed amounts. Qualifying projects exceeding the advertised limits on loan amount and term may be considered case by case, with an additional 0.5% funding fee at closing.
Eligibility
- You must meet the lender’s credit requirements as well as DWEE’s project requirements. Only Nebraska legal residents may apply. The forms define a Nebraska legal resident as a Nebraska taxpayer, Nebraska partnership, Nebraska-chartered corporation, Nebraska government subdivision, or a person who has maintained a permanent residence and lived in Nebraska for more than six months. Residency requirements may differ for ENERGY STAR business, nonprofit or institutional partners. Projects must be in Nebraska.
- For replacement appliances, the new appliance must be ENERGY STAR certified. Check the manufacturer and model in the ENERGY STAR appliance listings. The old appliance must be at least three years old and must be traded in or disposed of; you cannot keep it.
- Farms and ranches must produce at least $1,000 of agricultural products in a calendar year. Public school districts are excluded from the replacement-appliance application, even though they are a borrower category elsewhere in the programme.
- The building must be at least five years old for the door, window, wall and ceiling improvements on Form 2 and the heating, cooling and water-heating improvements on Form 3. The Form 3 route excludes new construction. Replacement windows and doors require Form 2.3 and documentation of the listed performance or construction requirements. For heating and cooling equipment, the contractor can check the model’s performance rating against the minimum on Form 3.
- An improvement or equipment purchase outside the pre-qualified lists may qualify through an energy-saving analysis showing that it pays for itself within 15 years for building improvements, five years for replacement appliances or home and office electronics, or ten years for other projects. Submit the analysis and supporting documents to DWEE; it assesses the savings estimates and sends an acceptance listing qualifying measures to your chosen lender. A third-party analyst must sign the Analyst No-Interest Statement on Form 34, confirming that neither the analyst nor their subcontractors have a financial interest in purchases or contracts to carry out the project. The owner authorizes access to utility usage, cost and billing records on the same form, unless they have already completed Forms 1, 2, 3 or 4.
- Do not purchase, start work or contractually commit to the project before your lender notifies you of DWEE’s signed funding commitment. A bid may be accepted contingent on that commitment. Starting early normally removes eligibility.
- The lender can seek prior DWEE approval for immediate installation if a heating system fails or is red-tagged from September through May, or if a cooling system fails from April through October and immediate replacement is essential for verifiable medical reasons. A conventional loan can then bridge the work until an energy loan refinances its balance. Equipment-performance and borrower-credit requirements still apply.
- You may install work yourself, but cannot finance the value of your own labour. Deduct any project rebate from the project cost. The improvement forms authorize utility-data access and access to the property and records for inspections. On Forms 1, 2 and 3, you undertake to finish within five months after the lender receives DWEE’s signed commitment.
How to apply
- Statut
- Candidatures au fil de l’eau
- Conditions de cette période de candidature
- Loans depend on participating lender availability, credit approval and DWEE’s commitment of funds.[^c12]
Get the relevant project forms from the official programme page, DWEE or your participating lender. Obtain an itemized bid or quote for each qualifying measure; DWEE requires one, although your lender may ask for more. Complete the forms and attach the bids. Individuals and sole proprietors must submit the United States Citizenship Attestation (Form A); include Project Start Notification (Form B) for the project forms listed on the programme page.
Take the package to a participating Nebraska bank, savings institution or credit union. The lender assesses your credit and submits the project for DWEE’s funding commitment. Wait for the lender’s instruction to proceed, complete the approved work and tell the lender when it is finished so it can finalize the loan.