Tea Party Joins Dems to Save Solar PACE Funding!

August 30th, 2011 by Susan Kraemer

While we were all fuming during the ridiculous bra-waving by the GOP over whether we should pay our bills or not, a rather startling bit of actual legislation was being proposed in their Tea Party House, as revealed by Ethan Elkind at Legal Planet.

For some reason, municipal bond financing for solar energy retrofits has the approval of twelve twelve! Republicans who’ve cosponsored a bill by a New York Representative, Nan Hayworth (R) (!) and California progressive Dan Lundgen (D) (duh) who put forth legislation to restore the ability of municipalities to offer PACE funding for solar panels and other clean energy retrofits.

Under PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) local governments could finance efficiency and clean energy upgrades to properties via the sale of bonds, with property owners repaying the local government via property tax assessments. And it was popular: December 14th Deadline Brings $80 Million in PACE Funding Requests.

But then during the madness of the housing market econo-apocalypse the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) effectively halted the residential PACE program by telling Fannie and Freddie, its client entities, to stop underwriting mortgages on PACE-assessed properties. (Fannie and Freddie Inadvertently Shut Down PACE Solar Funding and How to Make Them Stakeholders; to End this Impasse)

The FHFA decision was absolutely inexplicable, because it’s really no skin off Freddy and Fannie’s nose if cities want to lend homeowners money to save on their energy bills over time while cutting their carbon footprint and helping their cities meet the Mayors’ Kyoto Accord that so many cities signed on to.

The FHFA contention was that it was risky, but PACE funds have always been lent under the proviso of

“the use of a locally approved contractor, a home energy audit or feasibility study by a certified auditor prior to the PACE deal, and eligibility limited to property owners who have not been delinquent for at least the past three years on property taxes, among other safeguards”.

Which is part of the language of the bill. Actual legislation. And actual clean energy legislation. These Tea Party members are not proposing tax-assessed financing for back yard nukes, or coal boilers. This legislation could have been written by Barbara Boxer:

“It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that those PACE programs which incorporate prudent programmatic safeguards to protect the interest of mortgage holders and property owners remain viable as a potential avenue for States and local governments to achieve the many public benefits associated with energy efficiency, water efficiency, and renewable energy retrofits. In addition, it is essential that the power and authority of State and local governments to exercise their longstanding and traditional powers to levy taxes for public purposes not be impeded”.

Public benefits! There are public benefits to renewable energy retrofits! Nobody better tell the Koch brothers who these twelve recalcitrant Tea Party members are! I better keep their names secret.

Another Big Win for Koch Tea Party Funding – NH Abandons RGGI
Susan Kraemer@Twitter

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Tags: progressive legislation

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

Breath on the Wind

Great article, nicely done. I love the featured pic, worth 1000 words easily.
Don Jeter

I am very happy to see Tea Party folks can find some energy programs to support other than “Drill Baby Drill”. This is the kind or “responsible” government that I am looking for. Fiscal Restraint is appropriate to some degree, but to say NO to everything is not an appropriate way to govern.

Don Jeter P.E.
- Susan Kraemer
  
  Well… just 12. The remainder of current 242 GOP House members have consistently shot down all clean energy and climate legislation.
  - Jerry Packard
    
    I’m largely conservative and I think its shameful how so many of us “right wingers” fail to recognize the potential of solar/off-grid technology to decentralize the power (of both monopolies and Big Government) in our energy industry/production!
    The way people in our country get so hung up on labels and partisanship is stupid. Its not ultimately about right vs left, its about right vs wrong!! (…and true vs false, good vs evil, etc.)
    - Jerry Packard
      
      …oh wait, I just realized how old this article is…oh well…