The Trillion BTU program is a partnership between The Saint Paul Port Authority, Xcel Energy, the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE), the Minnesota Legislature and the U.S. Department of Energy, with Xcel Energy covering most of the program’s operating expenses.
In its five-year existence, the program has been involved in 107 completed projects, totaling $51.8 million. Nearly $27 million came directly from Trillion BTU loans with a zero defaults. To its credit, Trillion BTU has resulted in annual natural gas and electric savings equal to 294 billion BTUs (value: $8.8 million). Using these metrics, the Saint Paul Port Authority is one of the state’s green project lending leaders.
Step One:
Money saving opportunities are identified by energy audits and engineering studies (Xcel Energy co-funding and CEE technical assistance available).
Step Two:
Customer chooses the project and contractor, Xcel Energy provides the rebate, and the Saint Paul Port Authority provides the financing (up to 100% financing).
Step Three:
The Saint Paul Port Authority funds the loan, leveraging Federal stimulus monies provided by the Minnesota Department of Commerce to create the program. The goal is to establish a positive cash flow payment schedule with energy savings exceeding the payment obligation.