For the last forty-odd years, the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, has been a mainstay of the conservative movement and major force in shaping state laws. The organization brings together state lawmakers and corporate leaders to draft business-friendly policies that are then ferried to statehouses around the country.
Cradle to Cradle made industrial ecology and the circular economy a lot more mainstream than they had previously been. They’re both still niche notions, but without Cradle to Cradle they’d be a lot more obscure. And if you’re interested in sustainability, the book (or at a minimum this summary!) is required reading.
California Governor Jerry Brown signed two landmark companion pieces of legislation into law last week which serve to create a comprehensive consumer protection, underwriting, and regulatory framework for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Financing.
Close to 150,000 Californian homeowners have made energy and efficiency improvements through Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. For the most part they are success stories, but there are isolated reports of problems with “independent solar, plumbing and roofing contractors who pitch the loans and sign up consumers through online software.”
With the new Protecting Americans from Credit Exploitation (PACE) Act, three Republican senators push alternate facts on PACE financing.
The report makes it very clear that PACE is not a mortgage, and it needs to be considered with different metrics. Though major PACE programs collect FICO scores, their key consideration is the lien-to-value ratio. This is because “PACE lending is tied to the asset and not to the creditworthiness of the property owner.”
The state’s PACE programs didn’t really get started until 2016. Tommy Deavenport, Chief Operating Officer of Petros PACE Finance, explained how commercial PACE came to Michigan.
Following up on my initial “10 Cleantech Solutions Your City Should Implement” post, here are 10 more.
After months of review, the DOE’s new PACE Guidelines have finally been released. The USA’s largest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) providers do not anticipate any complications with the DOE’s new guidelines. Both Renovate America and Ygrene believe they are already in line with most of what the government is suggesting.
Last July, Leon County (home to Tallahassee) became the first Florida municipality to adopt the HERO PACE Program. Several other Florida counties and cities followed suit. The latest was Orlando, whose city council approved the program this week.
