The Coachella Valley Association of Governments’ Executive Committee voted Monday to go with Santa Rosa-based Ygrene Energy Fund to organize a regional property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing program.
The company’s promise to open local offices and its bottom-line numbers won over committee members who had considered going with two PACE programs, Ygrene and the Western Riverside Council of Governments’ HERO program.
PACE allows cities or counties to offer their residents affordable up-front financing for big-ticket, energy-efficient property improvements, from variable-speed pool pumps and cool roofs to solar installations. Long-term repayments, up to 20 years, are tied to a resident’s property taxes.
“Our commitment is local presence,” Mike Lemyre, Ygrene’s director of program development, told the committee. “We will have some presence on a regular schedule across the valley.”
A CVAG staff report also compared Ygrene and HERO on the costs to property owners for a $30,000 home loan and a $100,000 commercial loan over a 20-year term. Read full story.