ECAA Program Overview, 2019-Present

ECAA: Energy Conservation Assistance Act loan program.

ECAA-Ed: Zero-interest loan program for public school districts, charter schools, state special schools, and county offices of education.

ECAA-Reg: Low interest loan program (currently 1% interest) for local governments, special districts, public colleges/universities, public care institutions/public hospitals, and California Native American tribes.

Disadvantaged Community (DAC): Low-income or disadvantaged communities designated by California on CalEnviroScreen 4.0.

Repayment Status: Construction has been completed, and applicants are in repayment of loan.

Paid-In-Full Status: Construction has been completed, and loan has no outstanding balance.

In Construction Status: Project has been approved and is under construction.

Waitlist Status: Project in on the waitlist due to funding availability.

HVAC Project: Project involving energy measures related to heating, ventilation and air condition equipment.

Lighting Project: Project involving energy measures related to lighting such as LED retrofits or lighting controls.

Solar Project: Project involving energy measures related to solar photovoltaic systems.

Battery Storage Project: Project involving energy measures related to battery energy storage systems.

EV Infrastructure Project: Project involving energy measures related to electric vehicle charging infrastructure for public fleets.

Other Project: Project includes additional components not included in the sectors listed or data is unavailable for historical loans. Common examples include thermostat replacement, refrigeration, and transformer upgrades.

Estimated Cost Savings ($/Yr): Calculated energy savings per year based on completed project energy measures in dollars.

Approved Loan Amount: Full amount of ECAA loan at time of Business Meeting approval (does not include any loan amendments after approval).

Recipient Types:

• College:
  1. Provides, and is legally authorized to provide, a program of education beyond secondary education, on a day or residential basis and meets all of the following requirements:
     1. Admits as students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of that certificate.
     2. Is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association.
     3. Provides an education program for which it awards a bachelor's degree or higher degree or provides not less than a two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a degree at any institution that meets the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) and provides that program.
  2. Provides not less than a one-year program of training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation and that meets the provisions of paragraph (2). (PRC 25411 (c)).
• Hospital: A public or nonprofit institution that is both of the following:
  1. A general hospital, tuberculosis hospital, or any other type of hospital, other than a hospital furnishing primarily domiciliary care.
  2. Duly authorized to provide hospital services under the laws of this state. (PRC 25411 (c)).
• Public Care: A public or nonprofit institution that owns:
  1. A long-term care institution.
  2. A rehabilitation institution.
  3. An institution for the provision of public health services, including related publicly owned services such as laboratories, clinics, and administrative offices operated in connection with the institution.
  4. A residential child care center. (PRC 25411 (c)).
• Local Educational Agency: A county office of education, school district, or charter school.
• Local Government: Any county, city, district, or other political subdivision created by and subordinate to the state to provide services and enact laws within a specific geographic area smaller than the state.
• Special District: Limited purpose local governments – separate from cities and counties.
• State Agency: Any department, division, independent establishment, or agency of the executive branch of the state government.
• Tribe: California Native American tribes, which include federally recognized and non-federally recognized tribes within the state.

Information
The dataset includes all historical ECAA loans. Due to the longevity of the program certain records prior to 2019 may have limited information available. The records reflect information at the time of loan approval. Certain fields, including disadvantaged community status and utility, may have changed since the time of loan approval, which is not reflected in the records.

Data last updated: December 11, 2025

Data Collection Information
Loans are added to the database at the time of approval.

Citing
Please cite use of these data and images. California Energy Commission [Year]. California Energy Commission [Dashboard Title] Data last updated [insert date last updated]. Retrieved [insert date retrieved] from [Dashboard URL]