Gov. John Carney, D-Del., recently signed S.B.113 into law, enabling Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing in Delaware.
Once implemented, C-PACE will offer a new method for financing commercial energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, explains the nonprofit Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU), which runs an Energize Delaware program and will serve as the administrator of the C-PACE program.
To sign the bill, the governor was joined by Sen. Harris McDowell, Rep. Trey Paradee, Rep. Debra Heffernan, New Castle County Executive Matthew Meyer and Public Advocate Andrew Slater, as well as supporters of sustainability and clean energy in Delaware.
“Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing will help more Delaware businesses pursue energy efficiency and renewable energy projects,” says McDowell, the primary sponsor of the bill. “More projects mean more energy savings, which result in a cleaner, more sustainable Delaware.”
DESEU says C-PACE is a voluntary and innovative way to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on commercial properties. Loans are funded by private lenders and are paid back through a voluntary assessment on the property’s county tax bill.
With the signing of S.B.113, Delaware joins the ranks of the 34 other states that have signed PACE-enabling legislation, says the DESEU.
“Our next step is to begin working on the program design,” says Tony DePrima, executive director of the DESEU. “We hope to have PACE up and running in the first quarter of 2019.”
