If a developing Montgomery County loan program works as intended, this excuse will go permanently unplugged.
Property Assessed Clean Energy financing (PACE) has arrived in Maryland. And in April 2009, the Montgomery County Council began crafting its own version of the program. The Council started off by renaming it HELP -or- Home Energy Loan Program. Okay, so enough with the acronyms.
What is it?
It is a way for homeowners to finance renewable energy systems or energy efficiency retrofits.
How does it work?
You city or county gives you a loan. You pay it back as a property tax assessment amortized over a 15 or 20 year period.
Things you will like
- no cash up front and no dipping into your home equity
- when the home sells, the tax liability (and benefits of the improvements) convey to the new owner--so no worries about "pay back" on investment
- the financing is backed by the city or county
Back Story
The original PACE concept was hatched in he golden state of California, source of many progressive ideas. Specifically, the "Berkeley First Program" brokered a public + private partnership using municipal bonds to finance home solar energy and energy efficiency upgrades. In the two years since then, the concept has been picked up by 14 other states.
Resources
HELP fact sheet
PACE
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