New Canaan has joined nearly 90 Connecticut municipalities in a program aimed at encouraging businesses to become more energy efficient, followingTown Council approval July 16.
Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, facilitates loan financing for clean energy improvements to commercial, industrial and multi-family property owners who then receive private capital up front for the entire project. The loan is then repaid through a benefit assessment lien for the commercial owner.
Mark Robbins, of the Conservation Commission, told the council that the program is “equipment agnostic,” which means that it’s there to provide capital and underwrite a project, not tied to specific technology.
“It’s a mechanism for facilitating capital to fund multi-measure energy improvement projects,” Robbins said. “It’s simply a loan.”
The state General Assembly approved C-PACE in 2012 and the program is run by the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority.
One of the unique features of the repayment obligation is that it “runs with the property and not with the current owner or occupant,” Robbins said. In other words, a lien is placed on the property so that if it changes hands, the new owner is responsible for repaying the loan. Read more.