Low-interest commercial energy loan

• Eligible applicants include commercial and industrial businesses, for-profit landlords, cities, towns, counties and other government bodies, public or private K–12 schools, school districts, higher education institutions, hospitals, nursing homes, healthcare institutions, nonprofits and individuals aged 18 or over. The commercial policies exclude individual-homeowner and other single-family residential lending. The current business offer is for existing Delaware facilities, owned or leased.
• Your project must reduce net energy requirements, increase on-site renewable energy capacity or reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a Delaware property or site, using a qualified contractor. Efficiency and emissions-reduction measures need an audit completed within the previous six months or justification under Board-approved general standards. Renewable energy projects need a professional technical feasibility analysis completed within the previous six months or justification under those standards. For efficiency projects, projected savings over the measures' expected working lives, weighted across the project, must exceed their cost, including financing.
• Contractors must meet SEU's Responsible Contractor Policy. The wage rates set by the Delaware Department of Labor for mechanics and labourers in the county where the work takes place apply to individual trade contracts exceeding $50,000 after excluding non-labour costs. You must comply with applicable laws and codes and obtain necessary permits. Applicants' hiring and facilities, products or services must be nondiscriminatory; project contractors and subcontractors must provide equal employment opportunity by contract.
• Demonstrate repayment ability through projected cash flow including energy benefits, supported by credit history, financial statements, tax filings and bank and trade references. You must have no outstanding judgments and no delinquent or defaulted federal, state or local tax obligations. Individuals owning at least 20% of a borrowing entity, directly or indirectly, must provide a personal guarantee in the application, committing to repay personally if the borrowing entity cannot pay.
• If you lease the site, include the property owner's written approval; the landlord must waive statutory liens: claims created by law over the project improvements to secure amounts owed to the landlord.
• Every borrower must maintain the required commercial liability insurance (the manual specifies ‘special form’) and any other insurance required by the nature of the project on the project property throughout the loan term. Name SEU as an additional insured on the liability policy and, where appropriate, as lender's loss payee and/or mortgagee on other policies to protect its interest as lender. For loans above $150,000, liability coverage must be at least $2 million in total and $1 million for each occurrence. Construction loans above $150,000 require builder's risk and/or commercial property insurance. Supply current policies and renewal evidence throughout the loan.
• The programme excludes check-cashing, money-lending, pyramid or networking businesses, investment in securities, private ventures or speculative enterprises, and real-estate purchases unless required for renewable energy or energy-conservation systems. The financed business must be legal.
• Borrowers must supply the periodic disclosures required by their loan documents. These may include annual tax returns or financial statements, insurance renewals, repayment-monitoring reports and updated contact information; failure to respond to missing-disclosure follow-up breaches the loan documents even if repayments are up to date (a technical default).
• Keep the project records requested by SEU for as long as the loan remains active or for at least three years after completion of the funded work, whichever is longer.
• You must have the experience and managerial, technical and financial capacity to complete the project and service the loan. Relevant skills may come from your own team, board, consultants, contractors or development team.
• Identify your project costs, other funding sources and any funding you must raise from owners (equity), and demonstrate authority to borrow. Legal entities must be in good standing with the state and IRS; corporations need a functioning board. The manual calls for three years of audits, comparable financial reports or tax returns and a current operating budget. SEU must initially assess financial capacity as “Adequate” or better: its risk assessment considers financial condition, borrower experience, project viability, collateral and relevant market conditions. Guarantors must supply financial information when personal guarantees are used. Startups and businesses under two years old must include a business plan in the application.

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• Subject to available loan funds and credit approval.

Contact Stephanie Maves for application assistance at smaves@slipstreaminc.org or 800-361-5663 extension 6953. Programme questions can go to Luana Spalluto at luana.spalluto@deseu.org. Applications may be submitted throughout the year, and loan staff first screen your eligibility and proposed project. If you pass, they provide a full application and information checklist tailored to the loan product. Funding availability is checked before underwriting.

Accept the commitment letter within 60 days of issue; otherwise it becomes void. Finalize the loan (loan closing) within 180 days after acceptance. Use the loan only for services and materials needed for the funded project, and for loan-closing costs if loan staff approve them. You must authorize automatic repayment from your bank account and allow SEU to inspect funded projects, properties and related materials, including contracts and equipment, during normal business hours.

The programme requires a project start within three months and an implementation schedule of no more than six months, unless you receive a written exception or agreement, such as for equipment or permitting delays. SEU may withdraw financing if the project cannot start or finish within the agreed schedule.