Bank of North Dakota, Industrial Commission outline Clean Sustainable Energy Authority lending, grant limits and pipeline

The House Energy and Natural Resources committee received an update on the Clean Sustainable Energy Authority from staff at the Bank of North Dakota and the Industrial Commission, who outlined how the authority evaluates applications, how it funds approved projects and which large projects are in the authority’s pipeline.

Bank of North Dakota chief business development officer Kelvin Holod told the committee the program uses multiple review steps before a funding decision reaches the Industrial Commission, which makes the final allocation votes. "As applications come in and go through the process, there are several checks to ensure that as the project is coming through, it meets the intent of the Clean Sustainable Energy Authority," Holod said. He described an initial review, a technical review committee specified in the enabling legislation, a bank economic viability review and then the authority’s recommendations to the Industrial Commission.

Holod explained the program’s cash-management approach: the legislature established a line of credit at the Bank of North Dakota rather than funding a large cash balance up front. The bank said the line is currently in the roughly $373 million range and that funds are moved from that line into a revolving loan fund only when projects are ready to draw. Holod told the committee the revolving loan fund currently holds roughly $3.3 million in repayments; about $44 million in loans are outstanding and the authority has approved commitments totaling roughly $333 million. He said the…