Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing empowers state and local governments to meet important public policy objectives and boost local employment at no cost to public budgets. PACE supporters are deeply concerned by the incendiary attacks leveled against this innovative and successful policy today from some on Capitol Hill.
Observers should look beyond the inflammatory rhetoric and focus on common sense and basic facts. The PACE industry has long been committed to putting the homeowner’s best interests first and is supportive of additional strong consumer protections at the federal level to safeguard homeowners making energy-efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, or hurricane protection improvements to their homes. But these protections must not dismantle the innovative model at the heart of PACE financing.
Unfortunately, rather than accomplishing this in a constructive way, legislation being introduced in Congress is a thinly disguised effort to kill PACE by subjecting it to extraneous federal regulations. We are hopeful we can work with the sponsor on the House side to improve the bill. The average PACE assessment is less than $25,000 – and as such, should come with clear disclosures and a three-day right to rescission – as required by law in California where most PACE assessments exist. More work can and should be done to ensure the best outcome for homeowners. But supporters of clean energy, job creation, and state and local authority to solve public policy challenges should reject a legislative process being driven by banking interests that only see PACE as competition for market share.
David Gabrielson
Executive Director, PACENation