Washington, DC – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet released the following statement on today’s bipartisan House bill to fix the impasse with federal regulators over Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs.
“PACE has helped spur renewable energy installations, made ke our homes more energy efficient, created jobs and lowered utility costs for Coloradans – it’s a winner across the board,” said Bennet. “But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are complicating the effort by introducing uncertainty that has all but brought the program to a halt. The House bill introduced today is a good path forward that would allow Colorado communities and homeowners to participate in PACE in the future and boost Colorado’s clean energy economy. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to introduce companion legislation that would ensure Coloradans can take advantage of these programs once again.”
The PACE financing concept was established by local communities to help homeowners overcome the high upfront costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades by allowing property owners to borrow funds from participating local and state governments. Those funds are then repaid over a multi-year period through an assessment attached to their property tax payments.
In Colorado, PACE financing has helped hundreds of Colorado homeowners install renewable energy systems and improve energy efficiency; and could potentially help hundreds more across the state. However, recent actions taken by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which currently back the vast majority of mortgages, have created uncertainty that has led many counties and municipalities to suspend PACE financing to homeowners.
Bennet led the push to keep PACE Programs going during the last Congress and plans to do so again this year.