Plural and USDN Launch Climate Capital Collaborative to Finance Municipal Clean Energy Projects
The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) has partnered with Plural, a financial services firm focused on energy infrastructure, to launch the Climate Capital Collaborative. This initiative aims to create a repeatable financing channel for municipal clean energy projects following the rescission of Inflation Reduction Act funding under OB3. The collaboration involves Arizona State University's Walton Sustainability Solutions Service and Ezra as an execution partner. The pilot program includes six initial projects across multiple states, with plans to scale within USDN’s network over time. According to public federal award data, around $12 billion in clean energy project funds were never disbursed due to the funding rescission. The Climate Capital Collaborative seeks to address this gap by aggregating and standardizing smaller municipal projects into pools that institutional investors can underwrite. The initiative structures financing through special-purpose vehicles without using municipal debt capacity, allowing for long-term investment in solar, geothermal district energy, microgrids, and other clean infrastructure. The collaboration leverages USDN’s network of over 250 cities and counties to identify viable projects with stable revenue streams.
Topics: clean energy climate change funding municipal projects