On Friday, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing passed the Missouri state legislature making it the 21st state to allow for this innovative land secured financing mechanism.
Once again our unstoppable friends at Renew Missouri led the charge to get PACE legislation (incorporated into House Bill 1692) from sponsor to majority floor votes. But the birth of the Missouri PACE bill began when city planner Rosalind Williams of Ferguson, Missouri called Vote Solar HQ in early November. This go-getter had heard of other cities implementing PACE programs and wanted to do the same in her hometown. With her combination of vision, drive and local know-how, Rosalind was clearly a strong in-state collaborator for our PACE efforts in Missouri.
The first step of course was passing enabling legislation at the state level to give Missouri’s municipalities the authority to do just that. Together we began to set about drafting a bill. Rosalind’s contacts at a local bond council firm helped draft strong PACE legislation (thanks Mark Spykerman) just in time for the start of the Missouri legislative session. From there we worked with the grassroots advocates at Renew Missouri who led the on the ground effort, coordinating city supporting resolutions, connecting with experts to answer all types of intricate finance questions and generally clearing the way for the bill’s success.
The PACE legislation garnered widespread, bipartisan support. Missouri’s PACE supporters include Kansas City Power and Light, The Council for the Municipal League, Missouri Public Utilities Alliance, Missouri Energy Development Association, and several cities that passed supporting resolutions including St. Louis, St Louis County, Kansas City, Ferguson, and Creve Coeur.
The new law gives Missouri municipalities the authority they need to start these innovative finance programs for green retrofits. Now it’s up to pioneering cities to get these PACE programs up and running. In addition to reducing their community’s environmental impact,PACE programs give cities a strong tool for driving green job growth. These efficiency and renewable energy retrofits mean boots on roofs and installers put to work. Missouri’s PACE passage is particularly timely as the state’s solar rebates and rooftop solar renewable energy credit (SREC) incentives programs are being rolled out as well – ready to help make solar even more accessible for Missourans. The final rules on those solar rebates and SREC purchases will be published within the month. Missouri is primed to go solar. And we couldn’t be happier to be part of that effort.
