York County commissioners last week approved the county’s participation in a program that offers specialized financing tools for clean-energy and energy-efficiency projects.
- The program, offered in partnership with Schnecksville-based Sustainable Energy Fund, is called the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or C-PACE.
How does it work: Commercial and nonprofit property owners tap the program to secure private-sector loans that are repaid through energy savings from the projects they finance.
- The repayments come from a special assessment placed on the property, hence the need for government approval of the program.
- The assessment is essentially a lien attached to the property.
What’s eligible: Energy efficiency upgrades, renewable energy installations, water conservation measures and indoor air quality improvements, among other projects.
- “This partnership with Sustainable Energy Fund provides another tool developers can use in renovating deteriorated properties, thus providing jobs in our local communities,” county president commissioner Julie Wheeler said in a statement.
The background: C-PACE financing is available in more than two dozen Pennsylvania counties, including Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster and Lebanon.
- The average interest rate last year was 7.31%, up from 5.35% in 2022, according to a March report from the Sustainable Energy Fund.
- More information on the new York County program is available here.
