Missouri the 21st State to Adopt Landmark PACE Program
Last Friday, Missouri became the 21st state to open the door to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. The innovative and wildly popular financing scheme, which allows homeowners to pay for solar power systems via municipal loans paid back through property taxes, has been spreading fast through states eager to ride the growing green energy wave.
PACE financing originated in Berkeley, California in 2007 and in less than three years has changed the face of renewable energy and energy efficiency financing. PACE is unique in two ways. One, it eliminates most or all of the up-front costs that hamper solar adoption for middle class homeowners. And two, it ties the loan to the property, not the individual. Subsequently, should the loan-approved homeowners decide to move, they do not have to continue paying for a solar power system they’re not using. Given that property is a reliable asset, risk is reduced for the lender as well, i.e. the municipality creating a bond to fund the program and the banks they often partner with to do so.
Missouri’s road to embracing PACE began in the small town of Ferguson. There, a city planner, Rosalind Williams, decided she wanted to implement a PACE program in her hometown. So, with the help of national solar advocacy group Vote Solar, a campaign was launched to pass enabling legislation in the Missouri state legislature. 
Last Friday, that campaign succeeded when House Bill 1692 was approved.
A big reason for the popularity of PACE programs is the wide support it receives from all sides — utilities, contractors, politicians, businesses and homeowners alike. In Missouri, supporters include Kansas City Power and Light, the Council for the Municipal League, Missouri Public Utilities Alliance and Missouri Energy Development Association. Cities that passed resolutions supporting HB 1692 included St. Louis, Ferguson, Kansas City and St. Louis County.
When it was conceived in Berkeley, PACE financing (locally known as Berkeley FIRST, or Financing Initiative for Renewable and Solar Technology) covered only renewable energy, primarily home solar power. The version that is spreading across the country, however, is typically expanded to include energy efficiency upgrades as well, including projects like insulation, efficient appliances, heating and cooling systems and window replacements.
Those will all soon be much more affordable options for residents of many Missouri cities, especially those of you in the supportive cities listed above. Furthermore, Missourians, new renewable energy tax credits and a state renewable energy credit (sREC) market are about to kick in as well.
