The Columbia County Board of Supervisors approved a local
law to join the state’s energy development corporation to provide special
financing options for commercial property owners to install energy-efficient
and renewable energy technology.
The Board of Supervisors passed local law No. 2 of 2018 at
its full board meeting Feb. 14. The second law of the year is a new version of
local law No. 6 of 2017, which the board passed last November.
The legislation provides local businesses access to special
financing options for high-efficiency and renewable energy projects through
Energize NY — the state’s energy development corporation.
Businesses could receive up to full financing of projects
from the Energy Improvement Corporation — a state non-profit local development
corporation — with eligibility being determined not by credit scores, but by
appraised value of the property and mortgage payment histories, also known as
Property Assessed Clean Energy.
The county was approved as members of the program Dec. 6.
“Columbia Economic Development Corporation, through its new
partnership with Energize NY, is excited to connect businesses in Columbia
County with energy cost-saving solutions,” said Columbia County Board of
Supervisors Chairman Matthew Murell, R-Stockport. “Affordable energy is
critical for growing businesses. By offering PACE financing, Columbia County is
also making renewable energy more accessible to its commercial properties,
thereby making the county’s energy infrastructure more competitive in the
modern economy.”
The loan terms can last between five and 20 years and
repayment is made through the owner’s property taxes.
The county is passing the law again, as are all other 40
counties participating in the program after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed amendments
to the law creating the program to expand access to loans and increase
potential benefits for businesses.
“Article 5-L, which allows for counties such as Columbia to
participate in the program, was amended in September,” said EIC Executive
Director Mark Thielking. “It had not been signed by the governor until after
Columbia County passed its local law. Every county participating in the program
is passing the amended local laws. It is house cleaning.”
Projects that qualify for financing through the program include
energy-efficient boilers and controls, chillers and controls, insulation and
air sealing, lighting, oil-to-gas conversions, pumps, windows, solar
photovoltaic systems, solar thermal systems and geothermal and wind turbines.
Community Solar/Remote Net Meter projects, such as the community solar field in
Clermont that opened in December, are also eligible for financing under the
amended law.
“The law has been amended to increase accessibility,”
Thielking said. “We now have access to other sources, both at the federal and
state level, for reserve funding. That is all flowing into Energize NY.”
One of the changes raised the cap on how much financing
businesses could get from 10 percent of appraised property value to 35 percent,
Thielking said.
Originally, projects could only be eligible if the savings
outweighed the costs of the project, but under the amended law, costs can
outweigh savings.
Energize NY also connects people to contractors who provide
initial services for projects such as energy assessments and feasibility
studies.
Columbia Economic Development Corporation will be helping
the county find projects to benefit from the PACE program, President and CEO F.
Michael Tucker said.
“CEDC is excited to serve as coordinator for the county,”
Tucker said. “We are working to identify potential projects that could benefit
from this program.”
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