PACE Update, April 2011 Webinar

Join ICLEI and partners to learn the latest updates on how local governments are currently administering and designing Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs, and what’s happening in the courts and on Capitol Hill. Tune in and submit your questions to a panel of national experts.

Date: Tuesday, April 26, 1:30-3:30pm Eastern
Cost: Free to ICLEI members, $30 for nonmembers (nonmembers: pay first via the paypal link, then return to this page to register)

Join ICLEI USA, Sonoma County, and PACE Now for this exclusive national update on the state of PACE

What We’ll Cover

Many are surprised to find out that PACE programs are still functioning today, despite the attempts by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their regulator the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to stop PACE financing. While the impact of this federal overreach into local government powers has halted many residential PACE programs, Sonoma County continues to implement PACE residential and commercial. Other PACE commercial programs around the country continue to move forward and are either in the implementation or development phases.

This webinar will cover what is happening on the ground to design and implement PACE programs, details on the legal challenges to the actions by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHFA, and will provide information on a well received recent bi-partisan briefing on Capitol Hill.

Webinar Presenters

David Gabrielson; Executive Director, PACENow and Councilman, Town of Bedford, NY David will provide a national overview, an update of the state of PACE commercial programs either currently in operation or design, and provide an update on the recent briefing on Capitol Hill.

Liz Yager; Energy & Sustainability Program Manager, Sonoma County
Liz will provide a detailed look at how PACE is working on the ground in Sonoma County, both for residential and commercial property upgrades. Liz will also explain what is happening at the state level in California to take PACE to scale.

PACE Background

Property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing is of the most innovative, powerful and promising financing mechanisms for deploying efficiency and renewables at scale across the nation. Last year, FHFA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae slowed the development of PACE programs from the federal level – and PACE went from being a hot topic in local sustainability circles to receiving national media attention.

PACE programs, built squarely on well established local government powers, are a way for localities to provide homeowners and local businesses with a financing option for building retrofits and renewable installations. The cost is assessed as a lien on the property and paid back over a fixed period. After the Obama administration invested $150 million into jumpstarting PACE programs, FHFA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae issued letters calling into question mortgages linked to properties that also have senior PACE liens. Given the size and importance of these entities, the letters dealt a real blow to localities on the verge of implementing PACE programs across the country and, thus slowed what promised to be the robust development of this clean energy financing mechanism.

However, PACE programs continue to be developed and implemented despite this dangerous federal overreach into traditional local powers, the courts are examining the legality of the actions taken by FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Congress continues to consider the situation.