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Green Energy Financing Faces Federal Roadblock - SF Gate

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An innovative financing scheme designed to help homeowners afford to make their homes greener and more energy efficient could be in trouble. The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently announced that it would not support Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) finance programs, like one set to launch for Oakland residents later this year.

Under the PACE scheme, local governments provide financing to property owners for green energy work—such as installing solar panels and energy-efficient windows. The owner pays the money back as a line item on his or her property tax bill. Alameda County was set to offer PACE financing in the coming months as part of a statewide initiative called CaliforniaFIRST. But the red light from federal home loan authorities has put the program on hold, jeopardizing the local green economy, some say.

“Having PACE taken off the table sets us really far back,” said Matt Golden, founder and president of Recurve, a San Francisco-based green energy retrofit company that works throughout the Bay Area. San Francisco launched its own PACE program, called GreenFinanceSF, last April, but it was recently suspended because of the conflict with federal authorities.

During the short time the program was open, Golden said his company sold more than a dozen green energy retrofit projects to customers planning to use the financing scheme to fund the work. “We had a huge spike [in business] when people were interested in the PACE program,” Golden said, “and that’s definitely fallen off.”

Read the rest of the story by Jill Replogle, and learn more about how local officials are trying to keep the PACE program available, at Oakland North.

Source:
SF Gate