What if the Industrial Authority used its bond-issuing power
to finance rooftop solar?
And what if it combined that with utility-scale solar projects
on its own industrial park lands, and for example at the airport,
or at the new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant?

Here’s the idea, in a report by
Citi GPS,

Energy Darwinism: The Evolution of the Energy Industry,
October 2013,
pages 48-49,

It is not just the technology that is evolving in the solar
industry; the financing of solar projects, both residential and
utility-scale is evolving quickly. The most notable development here
has been in the form of solar leasing, whereby the rooftop panels
are owned by a third party who effectively leases the rooftop from
the home/factory/office owner, the latter receiving payment normally
through a reduction in electricity bills paid for by the lessee.
This provides the benefits of cheaper and cleaner solar electricity
to the homeowner, whilst negating the need for the significant
initial capital outlay. The panel owner or lessee earns their return
via incentive mechanisms such as the U.S. Investment Tax Credit, and
via the sale of the electricity back to the local utility. This
financing mechanism has proved particularly successful in the U.S.
and is gaining traction in the UK, with companies in other countries
looking to follow suit.

This is what

Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning suggested back in May that SO might do.
But we don’t have to wait on Southern Company or Georgia Power.

At the utility scale level, the emergence of innovative financing
vehicles such as green bonds is also facilitating deployment of the
technology. The predictable and low-risk nature of solar generation
means that it is ideally suited to debt finance. Green bonds are
essentially a pooled investment which is then invested in the debt
of many different projects, potentially in different countries or
jurisdictions, thereby reducing technology, political, regulatory
and other risks via the portfolio effect. The long-dated nature of
solar farms with their (relatively, depending on location)
predictable revenue streams, low risk (no moving parts, maintenance)
and attractive returns relative to bond yields make them especially
attractive to certain types of investor such as pension funds or
insurance companies, as well as companies looking to boost their
green credentials while earning an attractive return on capital.

And why not combine the two ideas?
Green bonds for rooftop solar!

Jobs and industry right here in south Georgia;
isn’t that what the Industrial Authority is for?

-jsq