Building owners could finance energy-saving projects and repay long-term loans through municipal property tax assessments
Advocates for a clean-energy financing program on Friday renewed their call for state lawmakers to pass a bill, S-1510, that would let New Jersey municipalities obtain private funds for energy-conservation or clean-energy retrofit programs on behalf of the owners of commercial or residential buildings.
New Jersey PACE, an acronym standing for Property Assessed Clean Energy, is designed to encourage building owners and managers to save energy and reduce carbon emissions, while increasing real-estate values and improving buildings’ resilience to extreme storms like Hurricane Sandy.
A capacity audience of some 270 builders, bankers, real estate professionals, energy contractors, and politicians gathered at Princeton University to hear details of the plan. Its goal is to facilitate the flow of private capital to building owners who want to make improvements like installing solar panels or new heating systems but can’t raise the money or don’t want to wait for years to recoup high upfront costs.
Under the plan, participating municipalities would arrange 100 percent financing for qualified projects through private lenders, who would be repaid over terms of up to 20 years with revenue from a property tax assessment on an improved building. Read more.