§ 135-g. Financing. 1. Where any home conservation plan is approved by the commission and requires utility financing, any such plan shall provide that upon entering into a financing contract and security agreement with an eligible customer, the utility shall reimburse such eligible customer, or pay directly to an authorized contractor and/or supplier a sum of money to cover the costs of installing energy conservation measures, subject to the maximum amount set forth in subdivision four hereof. Such sum shall be referred to as "the amount financed".

2. Any such home conservation plan shall contain several options for period of repayment; provided, however, the maximum repayment period shall be seven years and it shall be offered in each plan.

3. Each participant shall repay to the utility the total amount financed plus allowable interest charges on such amounts, through charges separately set forth and identified, on such participant's periodic bill for gas or electric service from the financing utility, or may be separately billed as provided in the plan.

4. The total amount financed by a participant shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars in the case of a single family home, three thousand five hundred dollars in the case of a two family home, four thousand dollars in the case of a three family home, and four thousand five hundred dollars in the case of a four family home.

The total amount financed by a participant for paragraph (j) of subdivision four of section one hundred thirty-five-b of this chapter shall not exceed four thousand dollars in the case of a single family home, five thousand dollars in the case of a two family home, five thousand five hundred dollars in the case of a three family home, and six thousand dollars in the case of a four family home.

5. In the event an eligible customer takes both electric service and gas service from different utilities, the customer may choose to participate in one plan offered by either the gas company or the electric company, but not both. The total amount financed shall become an added portion of the bill from the one utility in whose plan the customer participates and shall become a debt due such utility.

6. Any financing utility shall be entitled to receive interest from each participating, eligible customer on the amount financed by that customer at a maximum rate to be determined by the commission in approving the utility's home conservation plan. In determining the maximum rate of interest, the commission shall consider the cost of borrowing to the utility from all available sources, the cost of financing generally available to potential participating customers from other sources, the maximum use of funds available to a utility, efforts by the utility to minimize interest costs, and shall endeavor to set the rate in a manner which will assist customers in installing energy conservation measures at the lowest possible cost. In no event shall the interest rate exceed the overall rate of return awarded to the utility in its last general rate case. The commission and any financing utility shall develop and adopt means for minimizing the cost to utilities for providing financing under this article.

7. In adopting any such home conservation plan the commission shall set maximum aggregate amounts to be available for financing by each utility in the year of its plan.