Blogs by Marcus McNeill

One recent (and quite surprising) tidbit of solar news that has gotten very little coverage was the unlikely pairing of Tea Party Republicans and Progressive Democrats to push for the reinstatement of the Property Assessed Clean Energy bill to promote renewable and efficient energy retrofits and upgrades for both commercial and residential properties. This strange pairing of forces is but the latest chapter in a convoluted tale of nonsense that has been the short but eventful life of the PACE program, yet it offers a hope that PACE may have a future to look forward to.

PACE financing is a novel idea wherein local and municipal governments issue specific bonds to investors, using the profits from the sale of the bonds to offer loans to commercial and residential property owners to use on renewable energy retrofits or upgrades. The loans, interestingly enough, are attached to the individual property rather than the person borrowing the money, meaning they smoothly transfer in the case of the property being sold. The loan is repaid over time through a lien on the property tax bill. However, in 2010 the Federal Housing Finance Agency convinced Freddie Mae and Fanny Mac to discontinue backing PACE loans for residential properties, thus effectively stalling the program.

The new team of Tea Party and Progressive legislators aim to give the PACE financing program a jolt and get it moving on a Federal level once again. Not only is it incredible that these two antithetical caucuses have chosen to work together, but even more so that it is on a piece of legislation focused around renewable energy during a time where the debt ceiling dominates the news cycle rather than solar news. Perhaps it is an indicator of better times of compromise to come in the future. Or perhaps not.