The Texas grid operator ERCOT issued a weather warning for the start of this week due to extreme cold, high electricity demand and the “potential for lower reserves.” It’s enough to send a chill up the spine of the Texans who lived through widespread blackouts during the 2021 freeze.

Things like generators and microgrids are on the rise because of electricity reliability concerns in the state. For low- and middle-income Texans, a new and expanding lending program is also helping ready them for the strains of a changing climate.

In its first year, the program by the Clean Energy Fund of Texas hit $1 million in low-interest loans for home projects like “it’s solar, obviously it’s batteries,” said Clean Energy Fund of Texas CEO Billy Briscoe. “There are HVAC systems, more energy-efficient heat pumps, insulation.”

Projects reduce energy demand and protect homes if the power goes out, Briscoe noted. “This is as much about resiliency as it is about renewable energy.”

The Texas program is in partnership with the Solar and Energy Loan Fund, a nonprofit that is ramping up its lending across the Southeast, according to CEO Duanne Andrade.

“Texas is like the gold-star proof of concept,” she said. “They are demonstrating that if we facilitate the mechanism to deploy this capital efficiently at low cost, then we can serve low- and moderate-income communities with a low cost product.”

Their green home loans program has seven partners — with twice as many in the pipeline.