For MCBG, SCA designed an innovative low-to-moderate income rooftop solar financing program, including securing an SREC broker partner and a PPA provider partner. For SCA’s second engagement, with MCGB, a pilot program was created to mitigate out-of-pocket costs that affordable multifamily property owners incur when installing EV charging infrastructure.

SCA developed a toolkit to support Confluence’s decarbonizing bank lending work. The toolkit provided Confluence member organizations with strategies to connect with their banks about reducing, or eliminating, fossil fuel lending. SCA developed a selection of engagement strategies so each organization could easily identify a strategy that suited their structure, and needs, when engaging with their bank. 

In 2018, MCEC engaged SCA to develop a strategic plan for the Center to become financially self-sustaining over the next 5 years. The strategy report recommended actions for MCEC to develop a green financing platform consisting of various products including pre-development loans for low- income focused energy efficiency and solar projects, transportation electrification, and community resiliency projects.

SCA developed a strategy to reach more customers, in Michigan, with a specific focus on communities of color, low- and moderate-income communities, and disenfranchised communities. The submitted report assessed options for market expansion of existing products and strategies for developing new products and services. 

SCA developed a framework for inclusive solar finance with the goal of identifying interventions that could expand access to solar products for all customers, particularly low-income and/or low-FICO customers. In addition to engaging stakeholders, SCA also conducted independent research, to identify barriers that contribute to limiting low income and/or low FICO customers’ access to solar products, potential interventions, and a discussion of market impacts. 

Public-Private Partnership infrastructure strategies

SCA served as a business and financial advisor to ACE in their partnership with Mercy Housing, a national nonprofit organization providing affordable and low-income housing services, to retrofit many of Mercy’s properties with energy efficiency upgrades.  SCA led outreach and engagement with over 75 capital providers to introduce ACE and the project to the stakeholders ultimately helping ACE close its inaugural project with the Reinvestment Fund. The success has been recognized as ‘one of the nation’s first examples of applying the Energy Service Company (ESCO) model to multifamily affordable housing non-profits’ by the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Initiative. 

SCA served as an advisor for NYC-EJA, and its member organizations, to support them in developing and understanding clean energy projects and project finances. SCA also conducted a workshop for member representatives to share details, and challenges, of clean energy projects in their communities. In this workshop SCA also provided an overview of solar photovoltaic terms and definitions, community solar project and financing structures, state and federal tax incentives, and financial modeling.  

Since 2015 SCA has served as a strategic financial advisor to Groundswell developing innovative finance solutions to expand low- and middle-income communities’ access to sustainable infrastructure technology and solutions. SCA aided Groundswell with developing its subscriber management function in addition to leading outreach to potential investors including commercial banks, CDFIs, foundations, private capital, and others. SCA also helped refine Groundswell’s finance structure, including the development of a financial model to evaluate project finances and cash flows.