SAN JUAN, P.R.–Puerto Rico’s credit unions are participating in a program that helps residents finance solar power kits that have grown increasingly popular as the island struggles to regain power months after back-to-back hurricanes devastated the power grid in 2017.
Many people still lack power.
The solar power kit costs approximately $9,000, which is an especially substantial cost in an economy struggling to get back on its feet. The University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Center for Impact Finance has been working on a demonstration project in Puerto Rico in conjunction with Jesus Obrero Cooperativa de Ahorro y Creditor to finance solar power kits for residents.
The solar power kits aren’t new. Jesus Obrero has been providing loans for solar power kits for six years, Executive Director Aurelio Arroyo told NextCity.org. The CU serves roughly 10,000 people between the cities of San Juan, Guaynabo and Bayamon.
In order to be able to offer financing to more people for solar power kits, Jesus Obrero is pursuing certification from the Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), NextCity.org reported.
“Under other circumstances, it wouldn’t be possible to help low-income people get solar energy,” Arroyo told NextCity.org. “The banks are not financing these projects. We cooperatives are doing it, and we want a lot of families to have access to this.”
Other CUs are also pursuing CDFI certification. The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions and the Carsey Center organized a January workshop on the island, with 60 local institutions in attendance. The session described the process of obtaining CDFI certification, as well as outlining financing approaches for solar power kits, NextCity.org said.
The Federation said it is currently working with 30 cooperativas on the CDFI certification process.
There is currently one CDFI-certified credit union operating in Puerto Rico: Miami-based JetStream FCU. JetStream FCU was certified as a CDFI in 2012 and is currently implementing its FY2017 award of $776,500 to help families in extreme distress living on the island as well as those relocating to Florida as a result of the economic crisis and devastating hurricanes. In 2014 it received a $1,209,000 award to help residents in Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans in Florida and Haitian immigrants start microbusinesses, for self-employment, according to CU Strategic Planning, Tacoma, Wash., which worked with JetStream to obtain the CDFI funding.