The city council of St. Paul, Minn., approved the issuance of about $10 million of revenue bonds for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE).
The St. Paul Port Authority will issue the bonds to finance loans to cities throughout the state for projects to boost efficiency or install renewable energy systems, reports the Star Tribune.
With PACE financing, building owners can make energy efficiency improvements or install renewable energy systems and pay the loans through an assessment on their property tax bill.
The Star Tribune says Minnesota’s PACE program will work similarly to another state program – Trillion BTU – in which Xcel Energy and the nonprofit Center for Energy and Environment fund energy retrofits in commercial buildings for such things as heating and lighting. The Port Authority also administers the Trillion BTU program.
Although Minnesota approved PACE financing in 2010, it is only now seeing broad adoption. The PACE bonds must be repaid within 20 years.
In nearby Milwaukee, the city’s Economic Development Corporation is working with California-based Clean Fund to finance energy efficiency projects for commercial buildings via PACE.
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