Zions Bancorporation, which does business in several western states, announced this week that it is launching a new funding system for renewable energy projects.

The Zions Energy Link is a new branch of the bancorporation dedicated to freeing up funding for clients that want to finance residential, business or even small utility-scale projects, according a release from the bank.

The Zions Energy Link will offer financing solutions for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington, according to the release.

The program fits well in Zion’s structure, said Craig Robb, director of the new Energy Link program.

He said the bank functions as a community bank in most places where there are branches.
“And this fits within our core standpoints in terms of being a community bank,” Robb said.

Providing funding that helps homeowners and communities become more sustainable makes sense from an ethical view, he said. But the program also makes good economic sense. The bank has done some research and discovered that financing sustainable energy projects is safe and can be lucrative.

The Energy Link lending team is actively seeking financing opportunities that will access billions of dollars of loan guarantees available from the Department of Energy's and Department of Agriculture's loan-guarantee programs, as well as other government programs in conjunction with its Washington, D.C.-based partner, Interlink Capital Strategies, according to the release.

Robb said the bank also knows from experience that sustainable energy projects work and can make a positive impact on the environment.

The bancorporation recently built a parking structure at its National Bank location in Tucson, Ariz., and covered it with photovoltaic solar panels. The panels produce about 400 kilowatts of energy and provide a quarter of the power used in the 130,000 square-foot building, Robb said.

“We’ve already seen the benefits involved with our own project,” Robb said.

And now the bank wants to make those benefits more accessible.

He said the program can help the bank firm up its role as a community bank, providing funding for projects that help the community, while making a positive impact on the environment and maintaining its own financial solvency.

“It’s kind of like a trifecta,” Robb said.