Watch: John Farrell on This Week in Energy talking about PACE municipal energy financing
On episode 24 of This Week in Energy, John Farrell discusses PACE, oil spills and smart grids with hosts Bob Tregilus and Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield.… Read More
Watch: PACE Municipal Energy Financing: Designing State Policy
What lessons have we learned from early PACE programs and what does that mean for designing good state enabling legislation? Learn more from this webinar presentation by ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell to the NGA Center for Best Practices.
Report: Municipal Energy Financing – Lessons Learned
Twenty states now allow cities and counties to finance energy efficiency retrofits and on-site renewable energy generation and repay the loan with a property tax assessment. Five municipalities launched Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs in the past two years and these programs have spent $37.5 million to help enable close to 2,000 voluntary residential retrofits. Read on to see how these programs have performed and what upcoming municipal energy finance programs should consider.
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) makes partners of solar PV and energy efficiency
Property assessed clean energy (PACE) does not make energy efficiency the enemy of solar PV. Instead, it helps optimize the use of solar PV for participating property owners so that an optimally sized solar PV array that is partially paid for through the energy savings from efficiency improvements. … Read More
Should Renewable Energy Standards Be Met With In-State Resources?
A legislative proposal in Connecticut would cut their existing renewable portfolio standard nearly in half but prioritize in-state generation. Backers of the rollback say that renewable energy is mainly bought from outside the state to meet the current standard. The change in the RPS boosts financing tools for in-state power as part of the plan. One interesting quote, "we want projects, not simply percentages."
Report: Responding to Concerns with Municipal Financing of Energy Improvements
As municipal financing for energy improvements (commonly called Property Assessed Clean Energy – PACE) rises in popularity, criticism has also arisen. This short memo responds to the most common concerns with PACE financing. The memo is also provided as a 1-page pdf.
The State of the States: Power From the People
In the absence of federal action, states are leading the way toward renewable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and empowering local communities to be more energy self-reliant. This presentation to the Environmental Grantmakers Association highlights the model policies for moving forward.… Read More
Eastern States Resist Paying for Delivery of Midwest Wind Power
A coalition of utilities have announced their opposition to a series of 765-kilovolt transmission lines, more than double the capacity of the current 345-kilovolt lines. The lines are proposed as a way to send electricity from the Dakotas, Iowa and Minnesota to Chicago and points east. "If Iowa wants to build a transmission line for their energy, we have no objection. But Iowa or the Midwest should pay for it," said Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environmental affairs in Massachusetts. New England states want to produce their own wind energy from offshore farms.… Read More
New Wind Data Finds a Windier, More Self-Reliant Midwest
Five Midwest states (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) could get nearly all their electricity from wind, according to updated maps from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). New data from Wind Powering America mean that 32 states could get all of their electricity from in-state resources, even more than initially revealed in ILSR’s ground-breaking report last fall, Energy Self-Reliant States. The revised estimates come from the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Wind Powering America project and are the first nationwide update since the early 1990s.… Read More