GROWING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY MARKET THROUGH THIRD-PARTY FINANCING

This article explores mechanisms for growing the energy efficiency market through third-party financing. First, to evaluate the opportunity for third-party investors, the article outlines the size of the energy efficiency market and highlights certain relevant sectors. The energy efficiency implications of recent and pending legislative stimuli to energy efficiency investing, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 are discussed, as well as the hazards of over-reliance on government funding. Structural challenges to the growth of the market are reviewed as well as promising solutions and current deal structures. Lastly, of particular interest to those seeking financing, a comparison of the appropriate cost of capital for energy efficiency projects is compared to the potential