Panel lays out federal, state and local financing options — and gaps — to help Montgomery County buildings meet BEPS

Montgomery County's Transportation and Environment Committee held a work session on Sept. 16 focused on financing implementation of the county's Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS), bringing together the Montgomery County Green Bank, Maryland agencies and a U.S. Department of Energy official to describe available funding and remaining gaps.

Stephen Morell, CEO of the Montgomery County Green Bank, said the bank's FY24 receipt of $18.1 million from the county energy tax helped close more than $105 million in project investment by underwriting savings and using longer amortizations to make loans affordable. "We underwrite to savings," Morell said, describing a Chevy Chase co-op project financed with a 10-year loan and 30-year amortization that paid for HVAC upgrades and improved energy performance.

Rebecca Price, coordinator of the Maryland Clean Buildings Hub at the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), described the state's "first-mile" technical-assistance effort to reduce administrative burdens and help owners "stack" federal and state incentives, train contractors and provide road maps for audits and multi-year plans. Price said MEA is soft-launching the hub and aims to have public resources and a coordinated website available by Jan. 1.

Scott Falvey of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) summarized two state programs: the Empower funds (utility ratepayer-funded incentives transitioning in 2025 toward greenhouse-gas reductions) and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program (GHGRP). Falvey said Empower currently provides roughly $5,000 per unit, while GHGRP can provide up to $15,000 per unit with a $1,250,000 project cap and requires affordability commitments (Empower: 20% of units at 80% AMI with five-year restrictions; GHGRP: 51% of units at 80% AMI with 15-year restrictions). He warned that GHGRP currently issues grants only, which can complicate participation for properties with tax-credit financing.

Hans Reimer of the DOE Loan Programs Office said the office can provide low-cost capital for large portfolios but typically lends to projects starting at about $100 million. "Our loans typically start at a $100,000,000 and up," Reimer said, and he explained that borrowers can be state agencies, assembled project vehicles or nonprofit portfolios rather than individual building owners.

Panelists and council members repeatedly flagged several barriers: (1) upfront costs and the reimbursement model used by some state programs, which forces owners to pay and wait for grant reimbursements; (2) utility "heavy ups" and interconnection costs for electrification and rooftop renewables that can fall on the last interconnecting customer and materially alter project economics; (3) program eligibility and the difficulty for tax-credit financed properties to accept grants; and (4) limited technical-assistance capacity and outreach, which the Clean Buildings Hub and the Green Bank's TA program aim to address.

Contractor representatives and MEA staff emphasized that many efficiency gaps are not driven by capital but by operational attention: owners often do not act on free or low-cost recommendations because facility staff are focused on daily maintenance. Julie Wolfington, an energy and sustainability leader introduced as working with an HVAC and energy services firm in the county, said, "The carrot method has not worked," arguing BEPS will compel attention to tune systems and plan replacements in line with normal equipment lifecycles.

Panelists outlined potential remedies: stacking incentives (tax incentives, utility funds, state grants), Green Bank bridge financing for retroactive incentives, exploring legislative changes to allow loans instead of grants for some state-funded programs, and assembling portfolios to meet DOE lending thresholds. Reimer said a pooled approach could allow smaller owners to access lower-cost federal capital while the state or county contributed equity or credit enhancement.

The committee asked staff to continue outreach: the county will consider a deadline extension on the regulations so conversations can continue and scheduled a follow-up panel with faith community leaders for Sept. 23. Chair Glass said the session was meant to help stakeholders understand where resources sit and what gaps remain as the county and state finalize regulatory and programmatic details.

Next steps: DEP will publish a benchmarking report and an energy map and target lookup tool to increase building-level visibility; MEA aims to stand up the Clean Buildings Hub resources by January; DHCD and partners will continue exploring legislative fixes and ways to cover upfront audit or utility upgrade costs; and the Green Bank will continue to offer technical assistance and bridge finance while the council considers extending the regulatory timeline to allow for additional stakeholder engagement.