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CIT Finances Joe Kennedy's Citizens Energy Solar Project in Massachusetts
Green Technology Featured Articles
May 08, 2013

CIT Finances Joe Kennedy's Citizens Energy Solar Project in Massachusetts

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

New York City-based CIT Group Inc., a provider of financing and advisory services to small businesses and middle market companies, has arranged $26 million in funding for Boston-based Citizens Solar Holdings to construct five ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power plants in Massachusetts that will deliver lower-cost, cleaner energy to the towns of Holyoke, Whately and Agawam.


Citizens Solar Holdings is a subsidiary of Citizens Energy Corporation, a 501(c)4 non-profit founded by Joseph Kennedy II in 1979 to use revenues from commercial enterprises to support charitable energy-related programs in the United States and abroad. Kennedy is a nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

CIT Corporate Finance served as Sole Lead Arranger in the latest transaction and financing was provided by CIT Bank, the U.S. commercial bank subsidiary of CIT. Bostonia Partners acted as Financial Advisor to Citizens Energy for these projects. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Citizens is a well-known and proven electric utility with substantial experience developing, owning and operating power projects,” said Mike Lorusso, group head of CIT Energy. “Completing this transaction further enhances CIT’s position in the project finance marketplace for renewable energy transactions while helping to grow the alternative energy sector.”

Kennedy, who is chairman and president of Citizens Energy, said, “We’re so grateful to CIT for their faith in us and our solar projects. Thanks to their financing expertise, we’re able to deliver greener and cleaner low-cost energy and at the same time generate revenues to help the poor." 


Above, Joseph Kennedy II, chairman and president of Citizens Energy (courtesy of Citizens Energy).

This is the second such project for Citizens Solar Holdings. In January, Citizens Energy launched an initiative to reduce the electricity bills of low-income residents of the Imperial Valley in California through the installation of rooftop solar collection systems. That program was designed to help relieve the burden of high energy costs for residents of the valley, where summer temperatures can soar over 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

The California Citizens Energy Solar Homes Project is expected to cut a homeowner’s electricity costs by an average of 40 to 50 percent. The systems are purchased, installed and maintained at no cost to the homeowner, with all the savings coming right off the family’s electricity bill. More than 100 solar systems are being installed at the homes of income-eligible households annually. To be eligible for the benefit, households must have received a free energy audit and weatherization services to ensure the most efficient use of the electricity. The total program will generate about one million kilowatts annually, save about 2.3 million pounds of carbon emissions, and cuts costs for needy households by millions of dollars.

Over the last three decades, the Citizens Energy has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in energy assistance to heating oil, electricity and natural gas customers in over 30 states. The organization is perhaps best known for its partnership with CITGO, through which it works with thousands of oil heat dealers and local fuel assistance agencies in 25 states to provide deliveries of home heating oil to those in need.  The Oil Heat Program provides eligible families with a one-time delivery of 100 gallons of home heating oil for the winter season.




Edited by Alisen Downey


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