Energetic Insurance has entered the solar industry, announcing the first solar PV project that uses its EneRate Credit Cover policy. The insurance policy backstops payment default risk on commercial solar projects, which enables project developers to obtain affordable financing by providing confidence and certainty in project cash flows.
The 800-kW carport project at a retail center in California was developed by CalCom Energy with tax equity investment from Symbiont Energy. Live Oak Bank was the debt lender.
“Today marks an important milestone for the commercial and community solar market,” said James Bowen, co-founder and CEO of Energetic Insurance. “EneRate Credit Cover levels the playing field so that project developers can now offer the same electricity savings to small and medium businesses that were previously reserved for the largest companies in the U.S. Our policy provides the missing link for commercial solar that FICO has provided to residential solar and will enable the commercial solar market to attain and surpass the adoption rates seen in the residential solar market.”
EneRate Credit Cover improves transaction velocity in the commercial solar market, which has historically been associated with a slow and uneven development process. The policy allows project developers to access more customers and complete more solar projects due to the more predictable credit enhancement of EneRate Credit Cover.
Project developers can purchase EneRate Credit Cover to protect against default risk for up to a 10-year term on solar projects with unrated non-residential customers, as well as community solar projects.
Energetic operates as a Managing General Underwriter (MGU) with initial capacity provided by SCOR Global P&C, allowing project financiers to benefit from SCOR’s AA-/Aa3 credit rating and unlocking access to more attractive financing options. Energetic Insurance is a venture-backed company which includes investments from Congruent Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures and Clean Energy Venture Group. Energetic Insurance is also the recipient of an $800,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). To date, Energetic Insurance has raised $4 million, including grant funding.
“We have seen several attempts to solve the credit barrier in commercial solar and were big believers in Energetic’s approach from their early days,” said Joshua Posamentier, co-founder and managing partner of Congruent Ventures. “As a venture investor, watching Energetic successfully navigate the nexus of the insurance and financial and energy industries to launch a novel and impactful product is the most exciting part of my job. The solar industry is very excited to see EneRate Credit Cover available in the market and we expect rapid adoption as the new standard in commercial solar credit enhancement.”
News item from Energetic Insurance
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