MoCo offers HELP: Home Energy Loan Program

Montgomery County is the first in the region to adopt a low-interest Home Energy Loan Program (HELP).   

Many homeowners would like to make their home more energy efficent or switch to a renewable energy source to heat and cool their home. The big hurdle is the inital cost of making these improvements, and the lengthy payback period on the investment. Montgomery County is formulating a loan program to remove this hurdle for homeowners through low interest loans, making energy efficient upgrades easier to finance.

Under HELP, a homeowner would voluntarily obtain a home energy audit from a certified auditor to identify the universe of cost effective, energy efficient and renewable energy measures that could be taken. The homeowner would then take the results of the audit to the County, which would provide a zero interest loan to make the improvements. The loans would be paid back over a 15 year period with the savings from the upgrades. The loan would run with the property, not the homeowner who took out the loan, meaning less risk for the applicant.  The seed money for HELP comes from the Energy Efficency funds of the Federal Stimulus.

The Montgonery County Department of Environmental Protection is requesting public comments until April 1 as they develop the regulations behind this program. The full regulations can be found here.  Comments should be addressed to:

Eric Coffman, Senior Energy Planner Eric.Coffman@montgomerycountymd.gov