UnFinancing Subscription | Energy Services Agreement | Lease | Loan | PACE Loan | Energy Performance Contract | On-Bill Financing | Power Purchase Agreement | |
Down Payment? | No | No | Sometimes | Almost Always | No | No | No | No |
Underwriting | Approvals with just a Corporate Name and Address | Traditional | Traditional | Traditional | Traditional | Traditional | Pay Utility On Time Plus Application | Traditional |
Contract Size | Small | Small to Large | Medium to Large | Medium to Large | Large | Very Large | Small | Medium to Large |
Amount of Info Needed From Customer | Lowest | Medium to High | Low to Medium | Medium to High | High | High | Low to Medium | Low to Medium |
Equipment Ownership? | Third-Party (EMPEQ) | Third-Party | Customer | Customer | Customer | Customer | Customer | Third-Party |
Fixed Payment? | Yes | Sometimes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sometimes | Yes | No (Take or Pay) |
Includes Service? | Yes | Sometimes | No | No | No | Usually | No | Usually |
Personal Guarantee | No | Almost Always | Almost Always | Almost Always | Sometimes* | Almost Always | Sometimes | Sometimes |
Predetermined Customer Buyout at End of Contract? | No | Usually | Sometimes | N/A | N/A | Sometimes | N/A | Sometimes |
Requirement for a cash flow positive project | No | Yes | Sometimes | Sometimes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sometimes |
Can be classified as a Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charge in a commercial lease? | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Negatively Affects Borrowing Ability (Can Be Considered "Off-Balance Sheet"? | No** | Sometimes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sometimes | Yes | Sometimes |
Cancellation? | Yes | Sometimes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Requires Expensive Measurement & Verification by Engineers to Prove Savings? | No | Yes | No | No | Sometimes | Yes | Yes | Sometimes |
Requires Expensive Energy Modeling and Extensive Scopes of Work? | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Enhanced Reliability of Operations | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Almost Never |
Close Time | Fastest | Medium to Long | Short | Medium to Long | Long | Long to Very Long | Long to Very Long | Long to Very Long |
Speed of Approval | Near Instataneous | Slow | Fast to Medium | Medium to Slow | Medium to Slow | Slowest | Medium to Slow | Medium to Slow |
Available Portfolio Wide | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
Length of Contract (Years) | 5 to 10 | 5 to 15 | 3 to 7 | 2 to 7 | 5 to 25 | 10 to 20 | 2 to 15 | 5 to 25 |
Requires Mortgage Lender Approval | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Deeper Relationship with the Customer | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Equipment Types | All | Almost Only Energy Efficient | All | All | Almost Only Energy Efficient | Almost Only Energy Efficient | Almost Only Energy Efficient | Solar, CHP, Only Energy Producing Assets |
Enables Contractors to Sell a Service Contract with Install | Always | Always | Sometimes | Sometimes | Sometimes | Always | Sometimes | Always |
Usual Interest Rates and/or Cost of Financing | Low to Medium | Medium | Low to Medium | Lowest to Medium | Medium | Highest | Lowest | Highest |
References | US DOE: Efficiency As A Service | US DOE: Lease Financing | US DOE: Loan Or Debt Financing | US DOE: Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy | US DOE: Energy Savings Performance Contract | US DOE: On Bill Financing Or Repayment | US DOE: Power Purchase Agreement | |
* When required, the guarantee is ALWAYS a lien against the property. ** EMPEQ has worked to make the UnFinancing Subscription an off-balance sheet item, but ultimately we are not CPAs and a customer should always seek professional accounting advice. |
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