Scale Microgrids Closes $225 Million in First of its Kind Energy Transition Debt Facility

RIDGEWOOD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scale Microgrids (“Scale”) recently closed a first of its kind non-recourse project finance debt facility to fund the construction and operations of a portfolio of microgrids, combined heat and power (CHP) systems, community solar, rooftop solar, battery energy storage systems, and microgrid electric vehicle infrastructure projects in markets including California, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Colorado, North Carolina, New Jersey and New York.

These distributed energy projects will impact communities across the country, providing a diverse range of businesses, schools, municipalities, and rate-paying consumers access to energy that is cheaper, cleaner and more resilient.

“This deal serves as proof that the renewable energy landscape is changing. Microgrids, by their nature, incorporate a number of different technologies - and capital providers’ willingness to step up and support a diverse “first of its kind'' portfolio further supports Scale’s vision of bringing microgrids and DERs to the masses. We’re thrilled to be leading this transition, and powering the world with distributed energy,” said Ryan Goodman, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Scale Microgrids.

“We thank our partners KeyBanc Capital Markets and City National Bank for demonstrating leadership in the commercial banking sector with the closing of this debt facility. With the closed facility, Scale has increased its access to the debt capital markets, which is a cornerstone of our strategy to deliver microgrids and distributed energy projects at favorable rates,” said Julian Torres, chief financial officer at Scale Microgrids.

KeyBanc Capital Markets acted as joint lead arranger and structuring administrative agent on the loan. City National Bank also contributed as joint lead arranger, and Energetic Insurance provided a credit insurance policy enabling access to the bank lending market. Black & Veatch was an independent engineer to the lenders; Wood Mackenzie delivered market forecasts; Allen & Overy provided legal counsel; and Foley Lardner served as lender counsel.

”This transaction is another example of our ongoing commitment to the distributed energy transition,” said Andy Redinger, head of KeyBanc Capital Markets’ Utilities, Power & Renewable Energy Group. “We’re excited to partner with a tier-one platform like Scale Microgrids as they execute on their strategy to deliver high-quality distributed energy assets to the market.”

“City National Bank has been a leader in financing utility-scale and distributed generation renewable power projects with a focus on solar, wind and storage technologies,” said Craig Robb, Managing Director, Power Project Finance at City National Bank. “We are proud to work with Scale Microgrids as they work to scale new energy projects for businesses, schools, and municipalities.”

“Microgrids are an essential part of the next wave of the energy transition movement and Scale is providing innovative leadership with their long dated microgrid service agreements with a customer first approach. We at Energetic are excited to partner with Scale to unlock market access to more categories of commercial and non-profit enterprises,” said James Bowen, chief executive officer at Energetic Insurance.

This sizable financing will bolster the reliability and equitability of the nation’s electricity system by providing the infrastructure for a more decarbonized and distributed energy future.

About Scale Microgrids: Scale is a vertically integrated distributed energy platform, with a core focus of designing, building, financing, owning and operating cutting-edge distributed energy assets that offer cheaper, cleaner, and more resilient power. Their team of energy and financing experts accelerate growth in distributed energy projects by providing financing to technology providers, energy developers, and OEMs, while also directly helping large energy-consuming customers ​to take charge of their energy infrastructure and future-proof their businesses.

About KeyBanc Capital Markets: KeyBanc Capital Markets is a leading corporate and investment bank providing capital markets and advisory solutions to dynamic companies capitalizing on opportunities in changing industries. Our deep industry expertise, broad capabilities and unique ideas are seamlessly delivered to companies across the Consumer & Retail, Diversified Industries, Healthcare, Industrial, Oil & Gas, Real Estate, Utilities, Power & Renewables, and Technology verticals. With over 800 professionals across a national platform, KeyBanc Capital Markets has more than $50 billion of capital committed to clients and an award-winning Equity Research team that provides coverage on nearly 700 publicly traded companies. Securities products and services are offered by KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, and its licensed securities representatives, who may also be employees of KeyBank N.A. Banking products and services, are offered by KeyBank N.A.

About City National: With $95.9 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 69 branches, including 22 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami*. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $88.2 billion in client investment assets. City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the world’s leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 17 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 27 other countries. For more information about City National, visit the company’s website at cnb.com.

*City National Bank does business in Miami and the state of Florida as CN Bank.

About Energetic Insurance: Energetic Insurance is a Managing General Underwriter (MGU) with a novel, data-driven approach to develop new risk management products to unlock exponential growth in the renewable energy industry. Energetic Insurance complies with all state-mandated regulations for surplus line insurance brokers and is licensed as a surplus lines broker in Massachusetts with License #: 2053916. (www.energeticinsurance.com)