Developed by Governor Jay Inslee, the Clean Energy Fund supports the development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy technologies. The CleanTech Alliance worked in partnership with the Washington Department of Commerce to encourage support of the first Clean Energy Fund in 2013 and we’ve been involved in every funding cycle since.
- Bigger Bang for the Buck: The first two funds, CEF I (2013) and CEF II (2015), invested $76.4 million. These funds attracted an additional $166 million in matching funds, a $2.47 return for every $1 invested by the state.
- Job Creation: Clean Energy Fund investment attracts support for highly skilled jobs. UniEnergy Technologies, Doosan GridTech, EnerG2, and Enel X are prime examples. Each has leveraged CEF funding to gain market traction and significant foreign investment for our state.
- Better Homes and Offices: The CEF funds a revolving loan fund for non-profit lenders (Craft3, Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission). Thousands of loans have been initiated thanks to the CEF, improving the health and comfort of homes and office buildings and saving energy. Craft3 CEF lending has included commercial-industrial energy efficiency (59%), community scale renewable energy (16%), green contractors (11%), and cleantech manufacturing (14%).
- Research and Education: CEF supports research partnerships between universities, national laboratories and private industry that explore fundamental questions, test new technologies and provide students with hands-on opportunities.
- Grid Modernization: Since 2013, CEF has supported deployment of utility-scale batteries with smart software and sensors for better grid management and resiliency statewide. A collaborative research project on transactive technology is developing systems that can respond to each other and share power automatically across the state. The technology will decrease power outages while providing community shelters during extreme weather conditions.
The Washington State Department of Commerce compiled the following reports on the detailed impact of the first two CEFs.