Scarsdale – Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-88) is proud to announce that A.7394-A/S.5990-A, legislation she authored, was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday.

The legislation updates the municipal sustainable energy loan program, also known as property assessed clean energy or “PACE,” to enable municipalities to finance more renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects. Currently, PACE financing is only available for commercial properties.

The legislation addresses three barriers that have prevented the PACE program from growing and expanding into more areas of New York State. First, the current law requires that renewable energy must be "used primarily at such property," which has prevented the use of PACE for remote net-metered and community solar projects. This legislation would update the law to remove this requirement and enable commercially owned property to use PACE for remote net-metered and community solar projects.

Second, under current law, the municipality is required to use federal grants or federal credit support to fund the loan program. However, federal assistance is not always available, or often has restrictions attached to it, which has prevented additional municipalities from participating in the program. This legislation will allow money from New York State or a state authority to be used.

Third, the law currently requires that the amount of the loan shall not exceed ten percent of the appraised value of the real property. While this is not a problem in areas of the state with high property values, in many upstate communities, this ten percent cap prevents valuable projects from moving forward. The bill would create a more flexible standard to apply only for commercially-owned property, which would allow more projects to qualify. This would enable more upstate communities to participate in the program.

“Addressing these three barriers will enable the PACE program to expand, financing more renewable energy and energy efficiency projects,” Paulin said. “It is a valuable tool for helping the State reach its renewable energy goals, and with these modifications, more commercial properties will be able to use it.”

Joe Griffo (R-47) sponsored the bill in the Senate.