2017 Preferred Shares Investment
On April 7th, 2017, CEF launched its first opportunity for members to invest directly in the co-ops growth and success: Class A Preferred Stock. This first Preferred Stock drive secured $501,000 in member investment as of the closing at the end of 2017.
Preferred Stock helped us cover:
$128,200 in Xcel fees to launch our next 6 gardens
$20,000 in land use permits from counties where we are developing solar gardens
$210,000 in initial EPC contractor payments before project financing
$50,000 in project legal fees before project financing
$25,000 to finish up our subscriber management system
These expenses will be recovered by the co-op through project financing (total financing for our first 7 projects is around $12.5 million) and reused for future project development. Additional funds raised will help launch or staff expansion and provide a direct equity stake for CEF in our solar garden projects.
Class A Preferred Stockholder will get a dividend – usually 8% – for every year your capital is invested in the co-op. The expected term of investment is 10 years, though the co-op has the right to redeem shares invested at an earlier date, and we have included some options for early redemption by investors as well. Dividends paid are generated by the co-ops’ profits as we operate our solar gardens after the operating expenses and debt we incur.