Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is a local government program that allows property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to their property using low-interest bonds.  Property owners, residential and commercial, opt-in to this long-term financing program to pay the up front costs of these improvements and the loan is repaid through an assessment on their property taxes.  PACE spreads the cost of energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements, such as HVAC upgrades, insulation retrofits, window replacement, solar panel installation, etc., over the expected lifetime of the measure and allows the repayment for the improvement to automatically transfer to the new property owner when the property is sold.

High up front cost is one of the largest barriers to increased adoption of energy efficiency and distributed generation/small scale renewable energy projects.  PACE removes this barrier, and assures that subsequent buyers inherit the cost as well as the benefit of the property improvement.

• PACE provides benefits to lenders through lower default risk and a better loan-to-value ratio, and best practice frameworks developed by the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy are being incorporated into PACE programs to ensure the benefit to existing lenders. 
• It benefits property owners by eliminating upfront cost, improving cash flow, and lowering investment risk. 
• PACE also benefits municipalities by creating local jobs, affecting only property owners that opt-in, placing the financial obligation exclusively on the property owner, and helping to meet carbon reduction and energy independence goals.

In the Midwest, PACE financing has been adopted by legislatures in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

PACE Financing has Bipartisan Support

We produced this map to show the political makeup of US states when PACE financing was authorized. It shows the balance of power in the state House and Senate and the Governor's office and the year in which PACE was adopted in each state. Click the map to open a larger version in a popup window.

More Information on PACE

• For more information on PACE financing, and to learn about efforts to pass PACE-saving legislation at the federal level, please visit PaceNow.org
   
• The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) has a detailed PACE overview with links to resources and a bibliography: The Inception of PACE Financing, its Support, and its Potential

Status of PACE Legislation in Midwest

(as of 8/2/2010)

Key:
Orange Shading = PASSED
Yellow Shading = NOT PASSED

  *No PACE Legislation has been introduced in these states as of the compilation date.