Worried about climate change? Want to do more to support the spread of renewable energy? There’s a new credit union designed for people like you.
The Clean Energy Credit Union is a new federally chartered credit union with a mission to help speed adoption of renewal energy by making it more broadly affordable. It was founded by a group of self described “clean energy geeks and cooperative enthusiasts,” including executives from credit unions, clean energy companies and cooperatives.
When it launches later this year, the special purpose credit union will be offering savings accounts and clean energy CDs, which will be used to make low-cost loans for home solar installation, energy efficiency retrofits, electric cars and other high fuel efficiency vehicles. Every dollar deposited with the credit union will be federally insured and used solely to finance a clean energy project.
Over time, the credit union plans to add new products, including checking accounts and debit cards for credit union customers; and for borrowers, new clean energy-themed products such as loans for students enrolled in clean energy studies or for companies in the business of renewable energy.
“We envision a world where everyone can participate in the clean energy movement,” says Blake Jones, a founder of the new credit union and its board chairman. “There are lots of people looking for ways to get involved, and this will be relatively easy thing for people to do that will have a really big impact.”
The Clean Energy Credit Union (CECU) is based in Boulder, CO, but will serve all 50 states. It will skip branches and operate solely online—a move that will help lower operational costs and keep loan rates down. It is open to members of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), a nonprofit solar advocacy group that anyone is able to join, and the credit union is looking to expand its member organizations.
CECU received its federal charter from the National Credit Union Association (NCUA), a federal agency, in September and plans to launch by year-end, with an official membership drive kicking off in early 2018. It is the first federally chartered credit union in Colorado in three decades, and the second one chartered nationally this year.[…]
The post A New Credit Union Will Focus on Clean Energy appeared first on Locavesting.
The full and original article can be viewed on Locavesting.com
Visit the Invest With Values - Resource Directory to access leading investor information, opportunities, organizations, events, groups and tools.