United Wind, a leading provider of distributed wind energy solutions, has secured financing from U.S. Bank and New York Green Bank to expand its market leading WindLease program, which enables both residential and commercial property owners to lease distributed-scale wind turbines (less-than or equal to 100kW in rated capacity). United Wind’s popular program offers qualified customers a fixed rate, 20-year maintenance-free lease to immediately reduce their energy costs by harvesting their on-site wind energy, without any initial out-of-pocket costs required from the customer.
“Rural communities represent a vast, underserved market for renewable energy across the U.S. and beyond. Our WindLease program delivers highly competitive energy prices in these areas when compared to the grid or other renewable technologies,” said Russell Tencer, Co-Founder and CEO of United Wind. “Today’s announcement represents an inflection point for our industry; with this new access to affordable project finance capital, distributed wind is now positioned to grow rapidly and meet customer demand for affordable wind energy in these communities.”
“U.S. Bank is pleased to announce its commitment to United Wind and their WindLease program,” said Daniel Siegel, vice president of U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation’s renewable energy finance division. “We see this opportunity as furthering the bank’s overall commitment to supporting a green energy future.”
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“New York Green Bank is delighted to provide a construction loan to United Wind, establishing a precedent for distributed energy generation and addressing the issue of limited private financing market interest to date in supporting the construction of smaller-scale distributed energy projects,” said Alfred Griffin, President of New York Green Bank. “We’re pleased to play a role in providing NYS residential, agricultural, and small commercial customers with greater access to distributed energy solutions and ultimately to more affordable energy.”
United Wind launched the WindLease program in late 2013 in an effort to provide financing to the historically underserved distributed wind market. During in its first two years of operations, the company closed two rounds of project financing, deploying over $7 million into 26 projects throughout the northeast. With this new partnership, distributed wind energy begins its transition from niche concept to mainstream solution.
United Wind is a leading provider of low-cost distributed wind energy through its WindLease program. Founded on the belief that the wind energy must be affordable to compete with conventional, less sustainable energy sources, United Wind provides customers with low-cost wind energy options that make sense for today and the future.