Citi Joins Forces With Practice Greenhealth
NEW YORK — Citi, a full-service bank, and Practice Greenhealth, an organization helping healthcare institutions to implement sustainable, eco-friendly practices, announced a new pilot partnership effort to encourage renewable energy.
The Healthcare Renewable Energy Initiative aims to offer transparent, flexible financing options for health systems and hospitals seeking to reduce energy consumption and become more energy efficient.
"We know the healthcare sector is very interested in renewable energy, decreasing its environmental footprint, and role-modeling sustainability in their communities," said Anna Gilmore Hall, executive director of Practice Greenhealth.
The two-phase initiative involves an initial analysis by an independent engineering firm for potential feasibility of renewable energy alternatives for the health system based on an analysis of the physical plant and existing energy-use patterns, officals from Citi report.
If the engineering assessment that a renewable energy alternative is possible, the second phase of the initiative will kick in, which involves Citi working with the hospital to assess, finance and implement a cost-effective plan that enables the hospital to purchase green energy, according to a Citi statement. In most cases, the most cost-effective plan be is a power-purchase agreement.
The initiative will undergo a pilot run in New Jersey and Massachusetts, where state subsidies allow hospitals to use solar power to save money, hedge energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint, officials said.
The financing program allows hospitals with reliable execution, low-cost financing through tax credits, tax equity and debt to result in the lowest overall cost of power, officials from Citi said. Healthcare systems may realize cost savings if the price of renewable energy is lower than the cost of electricity purchased off the grid.
The company will also assess expansion to other states.
"As a global corporate citizen, Citi views sustainability issues from both a risk and an opportunity perspective,” said Andrew Pines, managing director of the healthcare finance group at Citi. “We always look for opportunities to make sustainable investments and to develop products and services with a positive environmental and social impact."