Small-Scale Energy Loan Program

Summary

Note: This program is currently insolvent and has been on hiatus since 2015. The insolvency is a result of the default of high-risk loans that occurred between 2007 and 2012 and the lack of new loan origination since 2015. The program will require General Fund support to meet bond debt service payments in 2022 and 2023. The 2021 Legislature in SB 5506 (2021) appropriated $3.5 million General Fund to ODOE to pay SELP bond debt service through the 2021-23 biennium. As of October 2023, SELP is not currently accepting new loan applications.

The Oregon Small-Scale Energy Loan Program (SELP) was created in 1979 after voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the sale of bonds to finance small-scale, local energy projects and is administered by the Oregon Department of Energy. The sale of bonds is made on a periodic basis and, occasionally, may be done to accommodate a particularly large loan request. 

The program offers low-interest loans for projects that:

• Conserves energy;
• Produce energy from renewable resources such as water, wind, geothermal, solar, biomass, waste materials or waste heat;
• Use recycled materials to create products; or
• Use alternative fuels.

Loans are available to individuals, businesses, schools, cities, counties, special districts, state and federal agencies, public corporations, cooperatives, tribes, and non-profits. School districts receive special rates. 

Though there is no legal maximum loan, the size of loans generally ranges from $20,000 to $20 million. Terms vary, but are generally set to match the term of the bonds that funded the loans. Loan terms may not exceed project life. Loan fees are set based on the size of the loan and range from 1 - 2% of the loan  amount requested.