New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) became the first US municipal bond issuer to securitise a portfolio of residential solar and energy efficiency loans with its second annual issuance of its Green Jobs-Green New York programme.

The transaction was four times oversubscribed and raised $15.51 million. The 2019 bonds were secured exclusively by loans to homeowners for the installation of solar electric systems and energy efficiency improvements. This represented an expansion of the use of proceeds of the previous year's bonds, which only included solar loans. The 2019 bonds also extended the program to include homeowners with low credit scores and "more limited" credit histories.

NYSERDA said it also increased the transparency of its reporting last year, claiming to become the first issuer to report solar loan and energy efficiency loan portfolio performance data through a publicly accessible platform. Performance data on the pledged loan portfolio will be reported through the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)'s Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) system, which provides free access to the information for the public as well as investors.

NYSERDA said it plans to finance additional residential solar and energy efficiency loans issued through the programme using a similar asset-backed bond structure.