Carolina Clean Energy Fund seeks county sign-off to shift Buncombe loan-loss reserve to cover fees for low‑income electrification loans

Michelle Myers, consumer lending program director with the Carolina Clean Energy Fund, presented a proposal to the subcommittee to reapply part of Buncombe County’s existing $100,000 loan-loss reserve to cover a 2.99% fee charged by the North Carolina Clean Energy Fund for income‑qualified borrowers. Myers said the change is intended to make Self-Help Credit Union’s EnergySaver loan more affordable for households at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) and to pair with an anticipated EnergySaver NC rebate that staff said will become available in the county starting June 1.

Myers said the loan-loss reserve was established in 2023 with $100,000 set aside by Buncombe County to enable residential electrification and energy-efficiency lending. At the time of the briefing she reported three loans had been made under the program and that $20,589.56 is currently allocated to Self-Help Credit Union to…