How Contractors Get Paid on a KEEL Project

You get paid twice. Neither payment waits on the owner.

On a KEEL project you earn a referral fee for bringing the deal, half at notice to proceed and half at commercial operation, and you are paid your EPC contract at your quoted price on milestones tied to your own work. The funding partner funds the project, so none of your capital is at risk. Here is the sequence, what triggers each payment, and what KEEL needs from you at each step.

Stage	What happens	What KEEL needs from you
Screen	Customer bill in, indicative monthly payment out within two business days	One recent bill, rough system size, address
Proposal	Interval data pulled, savings modeled, incentive stack verified, owner proposal issued	Equipment and labor quote, single-line diagram, site photos
Lease signed	Owner signs with the funding partner (you are not a party to it); KEEL files the interconnection application with you	Interconnection package
Notice to proceed	Conditional utility approval received; funds release; EPC contract issued; first EPC milestone paid and first half of the referral fee paid	Signed contract acknowledgement, insurance certificate
Equipment delivered	Second milestone paid on delivery to site	Delivery confirmation, serial numbers
Mechanical completion	Installation complete, inspection passed	Inspection sign-off, as-built photos
Commercial operation	Utility permission to operate received; system commissioned to KEEL's checklist; final EPC milestone paid and second half of the referral fee paid	PTO letter, commissioning report, monitoring live
Service term	Ongoing O&M contracted on industry-standard terms, installer preferred	Service agreement

EPC milestone percentages are set in the contract for each project and follow the equipment-to-labor mix of your quote. The referral fee is set in the channel partner agreement.

Two rules that protect you

Nobody orders equipment before conditional interconnection approval. The utility's answer is a condition precedent to funding and to starting installation, so a project that will not interconnect dies on paper, not in your warehouse.

Your quote is your price. KEEL prices around your number, not under it. If the monthly payment does not clear the owner's savings at your price, KEEL says so at the screen stage, before you have spent a site visit.

Common questions

Who is the EPC contract with?

The contract is issued on behalf of the lessee or the funding partner, depending on the structure, with KEEL as the administering party. Your counterparty for payment questions is KEEL.

What if the job runs over?

Construction cost overruns and schedule slip sit with the contractor, the same as on a cash job. Scope changes the owner requests are handled as change orders against the lease before work proceeds.

Can I be the servicing contractor after switch-on?

Usually, yes. KEEL contracts ongoing service on industry-standard terms for the equipment, and the installing contractor is the default choice where they want the work.