Page 39 - Flathead Beacon // 10.28.15

ENERGIZING THOUGHTS DAVID BOPP LOAN PROGRAM DETAILS
BUILDING PERMITS
BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED IN KALISPELL AND WHITEFISH IN SEPT.
IN 2012 FLATHEAD ELECTRIC Cooperative created a fixed low inter- est loan program to help our mem- bers afford the upfront costs of energy efficiency upgrades. We found over and over that this was one of the largest hur- dles our members faced when it came to improving the efficiency of their homes. We have been working to remove hur- dles from our members’ paths and this program has become one of our best tools for this purpose.
A member is eligible to participate if they meet the criteria for a rebate for upgrading their heating system to a heat pump, installing new windows, or upgrading their insulation. We allow our members to claim the rebate and apply for a loan. The loans are financed in house by Flathead Electric Coopera- tive on the bill.
The loans are financed at 3 percent interest with a term of up to five years. We chose 3 percent since this creates a pass through to members of our borrow- ing costs; therefore not subsidizing one member off of another or adding a bur- den to our operating costs. A maximum five-year term was selected since it lim- its our long-term liability for each loan. We were looking for options that would benefit our members on the individual level, but that also will not affect our members as a whole body.
We determine eligibility based on payment history with FEC and their Experian credit scores. A member can receive anywhere from $500 to $7,500 in loan money. As a result, depending on what they are financing they can receive up to $7,500 in loan money, plus up to $3,000 in rebate money to total no more than $10,500 in aid for a member.
Our first loan was created on Feb. 1, 2012. Since that date we have com- pleted 216 loans with an additional 20 that are pending completion. We have loaned over $855,000 dollars in the last four years with no delinquencies and no defaults. That is correct; zero defaults. We saved ourselves the burden of setting up liens by tying their loan to their elec- tric account. The loan is simply another line item charge and therefore, if the bill is not paid in full the member will start down the same path as any other mem- ber who chooses not to pay their full bill; disconnection of electric service. If this were to happen it would trigger a
default and require the loan to be paid in full before electricity is turned back on. This is explained in detail to each appli- cant and so far has worked very well as a deterrent to default. To date we have had 38 loans, which is just over $100,000, paid off completely. We have received over $360,000 in total payments from our members.
During the last four years we have sent out evaluations to every member who has received a loan. The evaluations that are returned show over 60 percent of the recipients thought the loan was crucial to getting the upgrade com- pleted. We have found this number has dropped from 75 percent the first year but it appears to have stabilized.
Our loan program has been especially popular for the installation of ductless heat pumps. On average 28 percent of all our ductless heat pump rebate recipi- ents have also chosen to finance through FEC, with this number reaching 42 per- cent since January 2015. We have also financed on average 15 percent of our members’ ducted air source heat pumps, 1 percent of our members’ ground source heat pumps, 10 percent of our members’ window upgrades, and 12 percent of our members’ insulation upgrades.
Each year we are helping our mem- bers save over 890 mWh through the loans we have provided. Over the expected life of each efficiency mea- sure, we are expecting to have helped save our members over 20,000 mWh. If 60 percent of this would not have been achieved – if not for our loan program – we consider this to be an enormous success.
Our long-term goal is to create a loan program that is self-sustaining where the payments made by members each month on their principal is used to finance new projects for other mem- bers. Therefore, we would have created a fund that aids our members without creating a burden or cost to the general membership.
A self-sustaining loan program that makes long-term energy efficiency attainable and affordable for our mem- bers without burdening the coopera- tive has been our goal. We feel we are well on our way to meeting this goal and are excited that this tool has been so successful.
KALISPELL
RECIPIENT: Bridgeland Properties; 253 Northland Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Westcraft Homes FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $265,000
RECIPIENT: Kalispell Public Schools; 663
Corporate Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Hammerquist and Casalegno FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $150,000
RECIPIENT: Chuck and LeAnn Siderius; 401 Third St. E
CONTRACTOR: Mastercraft Home Builders FOR: Addition
VALUE: $4,000
RECIPIENT: Eureka Town Pump Inc.; 859 W Reserve Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $3,670,000
RECIPIENT: Bridgeland Properties; 448
Northridge Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Westcraft Homes FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $265,000
RECIPIENT: NW Montana Human Resources; 214 S Main St.
CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $10,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1015 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1005 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1025 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1035 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1045 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1055 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1065 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1075 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Tollefson Construction
FOR: Apartments
VALUE: $770,000
RECIPIENT: Matt Regier; 1701 Bluestone CONTRACTOR: Regier
FOR: Duplex
VALUE: $200,000
RECIPIENT: Flathead County; 40 11th St. W CONTRACTOR: Stellar Integration and Safety FOR: Fire system
VALUE: $20,500
RECIPIENT: Serengeti Properties; 101 North Riding
CONTRACTOR: AMI Construction
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $145,985
RECIPIENT: Serengeti Properties; 103 North Riding
CONTRACTOR: AMI Construction
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $145,985
RECIPIENT: Jim Ryan; 142 Second St. W CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Repair
VALUE: $3,000
RECIPIENT: K&E LLC; 160 Eighth Ave. WN CONTRACTOR: Roof Works, Inc.
FOR: Repair
VALUE: $47,000
RECIPIENT: Hutton Ranch Plaza Associates; 150 Hutton Ranch Rd.
CONTRACTOR: Silver Creek Construction
FOR: Remodel
FOR: Addition VALUE: $25,000
RECIPIENT: Mike Dofelmire; 361 Second Ave. WN CONTRACTOR: JAH Builders Inc.
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $30,000
RECIPIENT: Larry and Eulalie Johnson; 611 First Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: Wild Country Builders FOR: Addition
VALUE: $5,500
RECIPIENT: LJI, MD, PLLC; 255 Westland Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Regier FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $250,000
WHITEFISH
RECIPIENT: WBC; 6130 Hwy 93 S CONTRACTOR: TBD
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $185,430
RECIPIENT: Fred and Kim Anderson; 1750 E Lakeshore Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Fields Construction
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $105,000
RECIPIENT: Thomas Hughes; 805 E Second St.
CONTRACTOR: Ross Toelcke FOR: Addition
VALUE: $50,000
RECIPIENT: Bruce Walker; 25 O’Brien Ave. CONTRACTOR: Kai Forbash
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $75,000
RECIPIENT: Tome Fuller and Carol Cunningham; 5021 Tumblehome Ave.
CONTRACTOR: Constenius Construction
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $170,000
RECIPIENT: Mark and Ashleigh Margill; 221 Mountainside Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Bear Mtn Builders
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $1,000,000
RECIPIENT: Ty Culver; 337 Sawtooth Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Big Mtn Builders FOR: Single-family residence VALUE: $301,000
RECIPIENT: Jeff Beck; 708 Aspen Grove CONTRACTOR: Haskill Millworks
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $200,000
RECIPIENT: Triple S Land Group; 775 Salmon Run CONTRACTOR: SSD Development
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $300,000
RECIPIENT: Cody and Cynthia Benkelman; 17 Willowbrook Close
CONTRACTOR: Artisan Construction
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $8,400
RECIPIENT: Maureen Casey; 1430 Wisconsin Ave. CONTRACTOR: Jeremiah Dougherty
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $15,000
RECIPIENT: Brett and Janice Pierce; 29 Somers Ave. CONTRACTOR: Blackwell Enterprises
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $9,200
VALUE: $70,000
RECIPIENT: Timothy Bochman; 1971 Teal Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Owner FOR: Remodel VALUE: $8,840
RECIPIENT: Twin Ventures, LLC; 904 Fourth Ave. W
CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Repair
VALUE: $12,000
RECIPIENT: Digital Planet, LLC; 131 First Ave. E
CONTRACTOR: Schrock Commercial FOR: Repair
VALUE: $30,300
RECIPIENT: Ron Terry Construction; 130 Short Pine Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Ron Terry Construction
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $107,000
RECIPIENT: Joseph Moore; 525 Eighth St. E CONTRACTOR: Elements Diversified
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $16,000
RECIPIENT: Rlo Arizona Holding LLC; 5 Glacier CONTRACTOR: J&F Construction
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $230,000
RECIPIENT: Bighorn Development; 125 Battle Ridge Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Bighorn Development
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $200,000
RECIPIENT: BID Const.; 117 Looking Glass Ave. CONTRACTOR: BID, Inc.
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $128,500
RECIPIENT: Flathead County; 820 S Main St. CONTRACTOR: IT&M Division
FOR: Sprinklers
VALUE: $17,738
RECIPIENT: Red and Black LLC; 7 Main St. CONTRACTOR: Bear Mountain Builders FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $70,000
RECIPIENT: Hariom Corporation; 1680 Hwy 93 CONTRACTOR: Neu Tech Roofing
FOR: Repair
VALUE: $4,200
Cir.
“OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO CREATE A LOAN PROGRAM THAT IS SELF-SUSTAINING.”
David Bopp is the energy services representative at Flathead Electric Co-op.
S
RECIPIENT: Brad and Cynthia Blasdel; 35 Third Ave. E CONTRACTOR: Clint Theline
OCTOBER 28, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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