Across 36 states and the District of Columbia, building upgrades supported by PACE financing have resulted in an estimated 9.1 million metric tons of avoided C02e emissions1
RICHMOND, Virginia, September 17, 2019 – PACENation, the nonprofit organization that advocates for expanded access to PACE financing, today announced its relaunch as an independent, membership-funded nonprofit organization. In its new capacity, PACENation will continue to provide public officials, other stakeholders, and members of the public with resources and educational materials related to PACE financing.
Executive Director Colin Bishopp announced three of PACENation’s new initiatives and partnerships at the Virginia Clean Energy Summit in Richmond, VA today. He also touted some of the extraordinary economic and environmental benefits associated with PACE. “For nearly a decade, PACENation and its members have worked with public officials and their partners to expand access to PACE financing,” Bishopp said. “So far nearly 250,000 American property owners have benefited from these efforts. And so have millions of others. In the hundreds of American communities that have authorized PACE financing, PACE has created 60,000 local jobs and reduced CO2e emissions by an estimated 9.1 million metric tons. That is an extraordinary achievement.”
PACENation’s initiatives and partnerships announced today include:
- Industrywide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative. Over the course of the next several months, PACENation will work with more than 150 leaders in the PACE community to develop a set of proactive steps we can take together to build a PACE marketplace that is more diverse, equitable and inclusive.
- Webinar Series for State and Local Officials and their Partners. In collaboration with the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the National League of Cities (NLC), PACENation is pleased to announce a new webinar series to support the growth of PACE financing in new and existing markets. This series will address recent developments and common questions related to both commercial and residential PACE programs. The first webinar in the series is scheduled for Oct 8th at 2:00 p.m. ET. Please contact sarah@pacenation.org for more details.
- Industry Insights and Market Data
Beginning in 2020, PACENation will provide detailed industry insights and market data to its members, including:- Quarterly Market Reports to keep members updated on the most recent C-PACE and R-PACE market activity;
- Quarterly Market Update Calls, which will feature updates on market developments from the PACENation team and featured expert speakers; and
- PACENation’s new cloud-based PACE data platform, which will enable members to access more detailed and customized PACE market statistics on demand (launching in 2020).
PACENation also announced today the election of nine clean energy finance and policy leaders to its board of directors:
Trenton Allen of Sustainable Capital Advisors, J. Caleb Bell of Bricker & Eckler, Sarah E. Hunt of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, Cliff Kellogg of the C-PACE Alliance, Bali Kumar of Lean & Green Michigan, Fred Lee of the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation, Kimberly Lewis of the U.S. Green Building Council, Chet Love of the Cornerstone Group, and Dee Martir of the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance. These new board members join existing directors Jessica Bailey of Greenworks Lending, Deborah Burke of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Keith den Hollander of the Christian Coalition, Cisco DeVries of Titan Grove, Jane Elias of Sonoma County, Beau Engman of PACE Equity, Laura Franke of PFM Financial Advisors, David Gabrielson of PACENation, Mansoor Ghori of Petros PACE Finance, Bob Giles of PACEfunding, Donald Gilligan of NAESCO, Ashok Gupta of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Andy Holzhauser of Donovan Energy, Bert Hunter of the Connecticut Green Bank, John Kinney, and Brad Knyal of E3.
PACENation is pleased to welcome these distinguished leaders to its board:
Trenton Allen is an experienced energy and banking professional with nearly 20 years and $18 Billion in transaction experience. Trenton has financed a wide range of infrastructure projects including, water, wastewater, energy efficiency, fossil and renewable energy for utility, business and governmental clients. Trenton is a frequent speaker at major energy conferences and is widely regarded as a thought leader in the financing of clean energy projects. Trenton is passionate about energy security and creating solutions that provide energy access to underserved communities around the world.
J. Caleb Bell is chair of Bricker & Eckler’s Public Finance practice group with a regional practice that emphasizes public finance and economic development matters. He has been instrumental in advancing energy financing in Ohio and the Midwest. Over the course of his career, he has served as bond counsel and underwriters’ counsel in more than $5 billion of revenue bonds funding a wide variety of infrastructure, utility, and renewable energy projects. Caleb was retained by clients to author Ohio’s property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing statute, he served as bond counsel for Ohio’s first issue of PACE-secured bonds, he has financed over $250 million of C-PACE projects, he is lead counsel for Ohio’s R-PACE program, and he routinely works with public and private PACE lenders.
Sarah E. Hunt is a leader in conservative clean energy policy. As co-founder and CEO of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, she leads public policy research and leadership development programs by and for women, minorities, and mavericks. Prior to founding the Rainey Center, Hunt launched a clean energy program at the American Legislative Exchange Council and a climate change program at the Niskanen Center. Her commentary on energy policy is regularly sought by a variety prominent publications. Ms. Hunt is also a children’s rights advocate, volunteering with efforts to help young women escape abusive homeschool environments.
Cliff Kellogg is Executive Director of the C-PACE Alliance, a coalition of the major C-PACE capital providers, law firms and service providers. He co-authored C-PACE Alliance’s white paper, The Elements of a Well-Designed C-PACE Statute and Program to Attract Private Investment and Foster Transaction Volumes. C-PACE Alliance offers technical assistance to emerging C-PACE programs, publishes best practice papers, and seeks to strengthen C-PACE Program Administrators. From 2015 to 2017, Cliff was the White House liaison to the City of Detroit, coordinating the federal government’s response to the City crisis. He organized and led a collaboration of banks and nonprofit housing counseling organizations that offered a new home loan — the Detroit Home Mortgage — to cover the cost of renovations above artificially low appraised values. Cliff worked at the US Department of the Treasury, helping to develop the New Markets Tax Credit and as Director of the State Small Business Credit Initiative. Previously, he served as President and CEO of City First Bank of DC, the first CDFI bank in the region. Cliff graduated from Yale Law School and from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Bali Kumar is Chief Executive Officer of Lean & Green Michigan, where he helps develop and deploy the PACE marketplace across Michigan. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council (MIEIBC), the Michigan League of Conservation Voters (MLCV), the Utility Consumer Participation Board (UCPB), and Brilliant Detroit. He was recently named one of Midwest Energy News’ 40 under 40 honorees.
Fred Lee is the Co-CEO of the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation. He helped launch NYCEEC as a founding member, previously serving as NYCEEC’s General Counsel and Vice President. Fred has experience in clean tech, real estate finance and the public sector. Prior to joining NYCEEC, Fred led the Center for Economic Transformation’s Clean Technology and Energy team at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He served as project lead on a variety of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and focused generally on developing the clean technology and energy sectors in NYC. Prior to entering the energy related industry, Fred was a structured finance attorney, focusing on securitization of real estate related securities.
Kimberly Lewis is Senior Vice President of Market Transformation and Development for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Kimberly is laser focused on diversity, inclusion, equity and advancing transparency and excellence. Kimberly directs all of USGBC’s local communities, volunteers, and emerging professionals around the world, delivering on the USGBC mission of improving the quality of life for all through more sustainable cities and communities worldwide.
Kimberly was the founder of the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, which is now globally represented in five international markets. She has served on the advisory boards of Starwood Hotels, Marriott International Hotels and the convention and visitors bureaus in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Denver. She is a member of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) and the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), where she has served on the CSR task force. Kimberly also serves on the board of directors for Groundswell and is the former chair of the board of trustees of the Green Building Foundation. In April 2011, Kimberly was recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Clean Energy.
Chet Love is the co-founder and managing partner of the Cornerstone Group, a diverse right-of-center public affairs and management consulting firm that helps companies navigate the complex legal and policy landscape. Chet is the lead for Cornerstone’s management consulting work. Prior to founding Cornerstone, Chet served as General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer for a national commercial and consumer lender. Chet also served as the Director of Policy and Legal Counsel for SolarCity (now Tesla Energy) where he led the solar industry’s efforts on consumer protection, housing regulation and co-founded the industry’s diversity and inclusion committee.
Chet has extensive expertise in the energy sector with knowledge of rate making, rate design and policy matters. He is an expert on consumer protection and real estate matters and has helped create industry consumer protection best practices–which have been adopted into law in many states around the country. He is regularly called upon by industries such as the solar and PACE industry to advise on consumer protection matters. Chet has also been a long-term believer in blockchain technology and regularly advises members of congress, state legislators as well as federal and state agencies on blockchain policy.
Dee Martir is Director of OHIO PACE for the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (GCEA). As Director of OHIO PACE, Dee is valued as the heartbeat of growth for PACE throughout OHIO. Dee brings over 10 years of Business Development and Energy Efficiency experience and has a diverse background, including entrepreneurship, software development, electrical engineering, and pharmaceutical sales.
Prior to joining GCEA, Dee’s experience included UK based ONZO ltd, WeatherBug, Calico Energy, Direct Options, and Procter & Gamble. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee University and an MBA in Marketing and IT from the University of Cincinnati.
About PACENation
PACENation is the nonprofit membership organization that advocates for expanded access to PACE financing. PACENation provides resources and support to local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that are committed to allowing American property owners to improve the efficiency and resiliency of their homes and businesses with PACE.
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1 According to USC research, $1 million invested in PACE resulted in approximately 1,400 metric tons in avoided CO2e emissions. Scaled up to the entire PACE sector, this would point to a reduction of 9.1 million metric tons CO2e.