How the DOE could marshal its loan guarantees to decarbonize the grid and boost energy equity in one fell swoop.

Can a government program created to back industrial-scale energy infrastructure help get efficient smart appliances and solar-battery systems into the hands of Americans who typically would not be able to afford them?

In Shah’s view, both sides are critical to a clean grid. For months, he’s been talking about an idea for how companies and financing parties could get support from LPO’s loan guarantees to lower the cost of making it happen.

“We’re thinking we can turn water heaters, refrigerators, thermostats, electric vehicles and batteries into virtual power plants” to balance the increasingly variable and weather-dependent supply of clean electricity, Shah said in a September interview.

To make sure that networks of these devices are ready to help balance out the grid, his office is interested in offering loan guarantees to companies that would make grid-responsive, energy-efficient appliances and equipment available to a broader class of customers than can access them today. And to make sure they’re available to households of all income levels, he’d like the companies that LPO supports with its federal loan guarantees to offer financing to low-income buyers at much lower interest rates than what they’re able to get today.

Source: Jigar Shah’s big idea for getting rooftop solar and… | Canary Media