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Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE)

C-PACE is an initiative of the Efficiency Maine Green Bank

In 2021, the Legislature enacted Maine’s C-PACE enabling legislation: L.D. 340 — An Act to Allow for the Establishment of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs, commonly known as “C-PACE”. The C-PACE Act authorizes Efficiency Maine Trust (the “Trust”), a third party contracted by the Trust, or a municipality that has adopting a C-PACE Ordinance to establish a C-PACE program.

The purpose of a C-PACE program is to accelerate installation of energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on commercial property by facilitating, and improving the terms of, financing for such energy improvements.

A C-PACE program allows qualifying commercial real property owners to access financing to undertake qualifying energy efficiency and clean energy improvements on their buildings and repay the investment over time. Like other project financing, C-PACE uses borrowed capital from a Capital Provider to pay for the upfront costs associated with energy efficiency or renewable energy improvements. Unlike other project financing, the borrowed capital is securitized by a property tax assessment with an associated lien on the subject property. The security provided by the tax assessment results in several compelling features, including longer-term financing and transferability of the repayment obligations to subsequent owners of the property. In turn, C-PACE strengthens the business case for investment in longer payback and deeper building retrofits beyond what may be possible with traditional financing.

C-PACE Program Design

Maine’s C-PACE Act provides for several program parameters on project eligibility (including a savings-to-investment ratio greater than 1.0) and underwriting criteria. Key details of the program design and rules must be established by the Trust. In preparation for the launch of its C-PACE program, the Trust has spent the past year researching program design options. To that end, the Trust has reviewed materials from other jurisdictions, met with national experts, interviewed Maine-based stakeholders, and held a public stakeholder workshop.

Rulemaking

At this time, the Trust is proposing a new rule governing the implementation of its C-PACE program. The proposed rule enumerates underwriting standards, quality assurance provisions, and how the program will be administered, whether administered by the Trust (or its agent) or by a municipality. The Trust is accepting written comments on the proposed rule through January 16, 2022. Click here for more information, including the proposed rule text.

The Trust anticipates launching its C-PACE Program once the final rule is adopted. (Target date: February 2023)

Program Participation & Interested Parties

For the following interested parties:

  • Developers, contractors, and property owners interested in pursuing a C-PACE project, or;
  • Municipalities interested in adopting an ordinance and participating in the Efficiency Maine C-PACE Program, or;
  • Organizations interested in becoming Registered Capital Providers

Please contact: C-PACE@efficiencymaine.com

Otherwise, to track updates with the program please subscribe to the “Green Bank News and Updates” list here.