Summit Capital Advisors

Challenge: In January 2018, Howard University experienced a catastrophic failure at its central heating plant, causing millions of dollars in damage and delaying the start of classes for the spring semester. The University installed temporary boilers to heat the campus and initiated a procurement process to secure the services of a private partner to finance and construct a new central utility plant. Summit assisted the University in qualifying and selecting a private energy services provider for this combined heat and power plant.

At the time, the University had limited options to finance the new plant, which was expected to cost over $50 million. The selected energy services company had submitted an offer to take on the financing and ownership of the new plant in return for a long-term service agreement. Summit helped with navigating a complex process for designing a new plant, financing the construction cost, and retaining the services of an energy partner with the capability to implement and operate the project.

Solution: To support this complex undertaking, Summit implemented four workstreams:

• Analyze proposal. Summit personnel evaluated the merits of a proposed design-build-finance-operate-maintain proposal from an energy service provider that offered to deliver the new plant in exchange for a 40-year service agreement. 
• Examine financing alternatives. Given the cost and duration of private financing for the new plant, the University requested Summit’s assistance in identifying potential alternative sources of long-term financing. At the time, the University had a sub-investment grade credit rating, making a bond issuance a challenge. However, Summit identified a lender that could finance the project on its balance sheet with the goal of going to the secondary market at a later date. In addition, the lender issued a bridge loan to fund project development activities, including detailed design, demolition, and lead time equipment purchases.
• Structure and negotiate transaction. The development of the project incorporated a progressive design-build approach, providing the University with off-ramps during the transaction structuring and negotiation process. Summit coordinated interactions with the energy partner and facilitated the negotiation process. This effort culminated in a 20-year design-build-operate-maintain agreement that required the energy services provider to deliver a new plant under a fixed-price, date-certain arrangement and to operate the plant pursuant to key performance indicators. 
• Provide post-closing support. Summit has provided project monitoring services since the commercial closing of the transaction. These services have included supporting negotiations of delay and compensation events, project budget updates, interim operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement negotiations, and board of directors updates.

Result: The project has experienced delays in completion but has been delivered on budget. Several positive outcomes can be attributed to key decisions made by the University during the project development process, including the following:

• By bringing the financing in-house and owning the new power plant, the University benefitted from clean energy tax credits passed under the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Funding the procurement of long-lead time equipment prevented supply chain-related delays that arose in the years immediately following the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• The negotiated agreement included a significant delay in liquidated damages and other financial penalties associated with contractor-caused delays; the outcome was positive despite these delays. 
• Ongoing project surveillance by the University and its advisors has included the same individuals and firms, including Summit. This institutional knowledge has been essential to navigating issues that arise with a highly complex undertaking like a combined heat and power (CHP) plant being constructed on the brownfield urban setting. 

The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was created to provide long-term, low-cost financing for critical water infrastructure projects. As the program scaled from its initial funding rounds to a mature portfolio exceeding $14 billion in credit assistance, WIFIA needed robust program development capabilities to ensure consistency, transparency, and risk management across all phases of the loan lifecycle. Summit has served as a trusted advisor to WIFIA since its inception, supporting program development activities that underpin the program’s operational integrity and growth.

Challenge: WIFIA faced the task of launching a new federal credit program with evolving statutory requirements, high public visibility, and a diverse range of borrowers. The program needed a scalable framework to handle projects ranging from $20 million to multi-billion-dollar investments, integrate risk management and credit evaluation into operations, standardize application intake and monitoring, and ensure compliance with federal credit and internal control standards—all while meeting aggressive timelines for loan approvals.

Solution: Summit delivered a comprehensive program development solution that combined policy design, process engineering, and technical innovation. The team designed end-to-end workflows for application intake, credit evaluation, and loan closing, ensuring alignment with statutory requirements and best practices. Risk scoring tools and due diligence protocols were developed to assess borrower credit profiles and project viability, enabling consistent, defensible decision-making. Cash flow and credit subsidy models were built and refined to support accurate budgeting and long-term portfolio management. A-123-compliant internal controls and fraud-risk management processes were implemented to safeguard program integrity, while collaboration with EPA, borrowers, and financing partners streamlined negotiations and accelerated project approvals.

Results: Summit strengthened WIFIA’s operational maturity by establishing repeatable, transparent loan evaluation and approval processes that supported more than 75 projects and nearly $30 billion in infrastructure investment. Risk assessment and internal controls were embedded into program operations, improving governance and reducing exposure, while scalable tools and frameworks enable WIFIA to manage a growing portfolio efficiently and in full compliance. These efforts helped position WIFIA as a model federal credit program, showing how disciplined program development can drive infrastructure investment at scale.

Challenge: Beginning in 2021, The California Endowment (TCE) sought to strengthen the management and oversight of its growing Program-Related Investment (PRI) portfolio, which included loans to community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other mission‑aligned organizations. The portfolio required consistent, disciplined credit review, structured documentation, and timely assessment of borrower performance to ensure financial soundness and alignment with TCE’s investment objectives.

At the time, TCE faced several constraints—the portfolio contained borrowers with varying fiscal year‑ends, complex financial structures, and differing levels of reporting capacity. TCE also began expanding its investment focus to include areas such as environmental and infrastructure projects, increasing the analytical demands on its internal team. To support these objectives, TCE required an experienced partner capable of providing underwriting expertise, ongoing monitoring, and structured financial due diligence. Summit was selected to support underwriting, portfolio reviews, and the refinement of investment oversight processes.

Solution: Summit approached the engagement by embedding itself as an extension of TCE’s investment team. The work began with evaluating new investment opportunities through comprehensive underwriting that included reviewing borrower financial statements, assessing organizational capacity, modeling cash flows, and identifying potential credit risks. Summit also led due‑diligence calls and prepared final investment memos that captured both the financial rationale and anticipated risk mitigants for each proposed transaction.

Alongside underwriting, Summit took responsibility for the annual review of existing CDFI borrowers. This involved examining financial performance, covenant compliance, liquidity trends, and leverage positions. Summit participated in yearly financial statement review calls with each borrower and documented all emerging risks and operational concerns, ensuring TCE had a clear, current view of portfolio health.

Results: Summit’s work helped TCE bring greater structure, clarity, and stability to its PRI investment process. The organization benefited from enhanced underwriting rigor, more transparent borrower assessments, and a consistent framework for evaluating financial risk. Summit’s ongoing monitoring provided early visibility into issues within the portfolio, enabling TCE to make more informed decisions about renewals, mitigants, and follow‑up actions.