“C-PACE will play a significant role in helping Connecticut become a national leader in clean energy by facilitating major energy savings for commercial and industrial properties,” said CEFIA President Bryan Garcia. “It also creates new opportunities for Connecticut banks and financial institutions to invest in local clean energy projects through a proven financing mechanism.”
“The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority looks forward to working with the Connecticut Bankers Association, Connecticut Business and Industry Association, Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, and numerous other key stakeholders to develop standards and protocols to support this statewide clean energy financing effort,” Garcia said. “C-PACE is a ‘win’ for all involved, as it will encourage and enable local institutions to invest in commercial clean energy projects and help Connecticut’s businesses stabilize their energy costs and continue to increase their competitiveness.”
Under C-PACE, the cost of an energy project may be funded by special financing arranged through CEFIA and repaid annually by the property owner through a special “benefit” assessment on their property tax bill. C-PACE spreads the cost of energy improvements over the expected life of the measures and allows the repayment obligation to transfer automatically, like other property assessments, to the next owner if the property is sold.
Benefit assessments are a safe and familiar tool of municipal finance that has been used for many projects including, street paving, water and sewer systems, and street lighting. C-PACE is a proven and effective vehicle to attract private capital into the clean energy market. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have PACE enabling policy and thousands of energy projects have been funded through PACE assessments.
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