Latest Updates
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HUD Operating Cost Adjustment Factors & The Importance of Good Data
On December 11, 2024, HUD published a notice establishing the Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs) they will be using for FY25 and requesting comments on some methodological changes to how they are calculated. While often overlooked as a bureaucratic exercise, the establishment of OCAFs actually has an incredible impact on the funding level for projects…
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State capacity: The Inflation Reduction Act, American federalism, and infrastructure finance
On December 3, 2024, CPE Senior Associate for Energy Finance Advait Arun presented at the University of Sydney’s Climate Economy political economy and geography workshop about how the Inflation Reduction Act builds state capacity in the public sector. His presentation focused on three aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act—namely, elective pay (direct pay), the Loan…
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HUD Rebrands Faircloth-to-RAD as Restore Rebuild
On November 12th, the Office of Multifamily Housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced they have officially rebranded the process widely known as “Faircloth-to-RAD,” doing away with the bureaucratic moniker in favor of “Restore-Rebuild.” For the past few years, Faircloth-to-RAD, (hereafter referred to as Restore-Rebuild), has generated interest as a new pathway for public housing…
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Increasing Housing Supply with HUD’s Risk Share Program and FFB: Opportunities and Challenges for HFAs
In February of 2024, HUD and Treasury announced an indefinite extension of the Section 542(c) Housing Finance Agency Risk-Sharing Initiative offered through HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank (FFB). The Risk-Sharing Initiative allows HFAs to originate mortgages for new construction or rehabilitation of properties with affordable housing rental units. HUD and…
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Big tech is gambling on nuclear
The past month has seen a flurry of new power purchasing agreements (PPAs) between big tech and nuclear power companies—reviving the fortunes of a sector that had been struggling since the high-profile cancellation of Nuscale’s commercial pilot with Utah’s utilities and the cost overruns at Vogtle 3. Tech companies believe that they can gain major…
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The project finance valley of death
There’s a point in the development and deployment of infrastructure where developers need to replace investors seeking asset value appreciation with investors willing to provide the kind of longer-term debt financing that can underwrite project deployment.
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Drawing inspiration from state bond banks
This post was originally published in the the July 2024 edition of our monthly Capacity Factor newsletter. For the public sector to access all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment facilities, states and municipalities must develop or augment their legal and financial capabilities, including: filling out IRS tax forms, underwriting, project development, and strategic planning.…
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CPE Testimony to Senate Budget Committee
On September 25th, 2024, CPE’s Executive Director Paul Williams had the honor of testifying to the Senate Budget Committee about financing constraints for multifamily development, and opportunities to ease those constraints. Download a PDF of the testimony. To: The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman Committee on Budget, United State Senate The Honorable Charles Grassley, Ranking Member…
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Climate Week NYC Event Schedule
CPE’s Energy and Finance Team will be in New York City for Climate Week between September 22-27. Here is our schedule.
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Pricing Problems & Solutions: the role of batteries in electricity markets
What happens to electricity prices when variable resources (VREs) like solar and wind become the grid’s dominant source of energy? Energy modelers have ideas, but no clear answers. Wind and solar are relatively unique compared to nuclear, gas, and coal systems because, despite having some upfront capital costs, they do not have fuel costs. This…