Best Practices for Nonprofits Working in Renewables
February 20th, 2009 by 
There are all kinds of tax credits and other green incentives in the new economic stimulus bill.
But nonprofits are being left out of the mix. Such organizations are usually ineligible for federal tax incentives for renewable energy projects, according to folks from the National Development Council.
The council, one of the oldest national nonprofit community and economic development organizations in the U.S., aims to change that. The group has secured $1.5 million for a solar installation project at the Gasser Foundation’s base in Napa Valley, Calif.
“For too long, forward thinking nonprofits have been ineligible for the same tax incentives as private industry,” says Robert Davenport, NDC president. “We hope to apply this model for other nonprofit projects across the country looking to modernize, cut long-term costs, and install a green operating system.”
The NDC’s model uses a financing structure that takes advantage of the renewable energy tax credit. The $1.5 million for the Gasser project is made up of tax credit equity, two loans and a state cash rebate from the California Energy Commission.
The Gasser project includes rooftop solar panels installed by Borrego Solar that are expected to supply almost all of the building’s power, cutting out about 26 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
The NDC describes the Gasser project, the first of its kind in the nation, as groundbreaking and pioneering.
Read more at the North Bay Business Journal.
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