Description

Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing effectively allows property owners to borrow money to pay for energy improvements. The amount borrowed is typically repaid via a special assessment on the property over a period of years. New York has authorized certain local governments to establish such programs, as described below. (Not all local governments in New York offer PACE financing; contact your local government to find out if it has established a PACE financing program.)

In August 2009, New York enacted legislation authorizing towns to create residential home energy efficiency programs funded by periodic charges or fees for the services rendered. The effect of this policy, although not precisely a loan, is similar to a loan. In towns that offer such a program, the town would be permitted to enter into contracts for home energy audits and energy efficiency improvements on behalf of participating residents. Participating residents benefit by having improvements made upon their property by the town at no up-front cost to themselves and are permitted to repay the town for the improvements through a periodic fee or charge. The charges associated with the service constitute a lien upon the property on which the improvements took place.

In a characteristic unique to New York, the law integrates towns’ ability to offer these programs into existing provisions allowing towns to create refuse and garbage improvement districts and collect fees for the provision of these services. The law specifically allows for programs that are designed for “the prevention or reduction of waste matter consisting of carbon components or energy waste from residential properties and the performance of energy audits and the purchase and installation of energy efficiency improvements on such residential properties.” The law itself appears to be modeled after the Long Island Green Homes Program which uses the same program structure. The Long Island Green Homes program was initiated in 2008 by the Town of Babylon.