Energy Smart Loan Program
The Energy Smart Loan Program is a PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program in Pitkin, Eagle, and Gunnison Counties of Colorado. The ESLP is based on Boulder County's successful Climate Smart Program, which was initiated in 2009.
Overview
The Energy Smart Loan Program stems from a successful ballot measure passed in Pitkin, Eagle and Gunnison Counties in November 2009. The ESLP CREATES a special loan district for energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations. It is based on the PACE concept and Boulder County's Climate Smart program.
History
The White House endorsed Property Assessed Clean Energy programs via its 'Recovery through Retrofit' report in October 2009.
Due to TABOR laws in Colorado and the current enabling legislation (HB 1350), voters in each county must approve of a new special district before the PACE model can be implemented. Other PACE programs are currently running in California, most notably in Berkeley, and New York state. San Francisco has also recently created a PACE program called GreenFinanceSF.
PACE
A PACE BOND is a bond where the proceeds are lent to commercial and residential property owners to finance energy retrofits (efficiency measures and small renewable energy systems) and who then repay their loans over the assigned term (typically 15 or 20 years) via an annual assessment on their property tax bill. PACE bonds can be issued by municipal financing districts or finance companies and the proceeds can be typically used to retrofit both commercial and residential properties.
One of the most notable characteristics of PACE programs is that the loan is attached to the property rather than an individual.
External links
- ESLP Community Office for Resource Efficiency
- ESLP Fact SheetCommunity Office for Resource Efficiency
- CORE Community Office for Resource Efficiency
- Climate Smart Boulder County's PACE Program
- PACE
- Recovery through Retrofit
- Pitkin County Overview
- CORE Wiki
- San Francisco San Francisco PACE program