Gov. Crist signs PACE bill

Good news for solar and other small scale renewable energy - Governor Crist signed the Property Assessed Clean Energy bill yesterday.  The issue wasn't really in doubt with significant bipartisan support from the Florida Legislature (as rare as a spotted owl nowadays) and with no notable opposition.  Repubs like it because its a "voluntary tax" - the only type they tend to support. And Dems like it because of the blue-collar job creation implications.

Everyone else likes it because it makes sense.

There's drips of news out there on this, but I found a News Release from the Florida CFO (running for Governor herself) on the matter:

CFO Sink Commends Governor Crist for Signing Energy Efficiency Legislation

Gov. Charlie Crist weighs bill to help cities go green

Gov. Crist is reviewing a bill passed by the Legislature last month that would help establish a `green corridor' PACE program among several South Florida cities. The measure would allow the communities to purchase clean energy systems for residents' homes

BY HOWARD COHEN

Going green could extend to consumers' wallets if Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman's plan passes muster with the governor.

The program Vrooman has championed, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), enables property owners to borrow money to buy solar panels, wind generators, insulation or shutters for their homes with little upfront expense.

The program would establish a municipal ``green corridor,'' consisting of Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami and Coral Gables. The five cities would lend money for a homeowner to install a proven energy-saving device -- say, $30,000 in solar panels or $3,000 for solar plumbing.
In return, the cities would place a lien on the home until the loan was paid off by the homeowner, who would be assessed a monthly fee for the loan's duration.

Link to the rest of the Miami Herald story

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Well, there's a bunch the Herald got right and a bunch they totally munched with this story.  I know there's a drive to make all stories have a local angle, and there's a good one with what the cities in the southern part of  Miami-Dade are trying to do, but it isn't everything.  PACE is an umbrella name for using tax-bill financing to get around tight credit markets and the uncertainty of investing in something that may take longer to "pay back" than the homeowner may actually live there.  With Floridians notorious for uprooting themselves every half-dozen years, it is exceedingly difficult to get the average joe-homeowner to invest in their property beyond the granite countertop or whatever Realtor friendly improvement will immediately bump resale value.  So PACE is a tool to get past that since you don't have to settle the debt like you would with a second mortgage or other "traditional" financing vehicle.

Where the Herald totally goofed was mixing the "green corridor" idea with PACE.  The former is a way for small cities like Cutler Bay and its neighbors to bring enough volunteers together for the issuance of debt to start the latter.  That's it.

The County is also pursuing this.  I think there's a report out from the Mayor in response to a Commission directive to come up with a set of options on how to pursue a PACE program for those of us living in the unincorporated area and maybe even the cities.  I'll see if I can find it and will post that here as well.

Update: here's the link to the report.  Summary: County administration thinks PACE is a great idea but they want to bring in a company to do most of the work because of they're cutting budgets and jobs and they don't have the people to manage the program.

  

 

South Florida Business Journal: Florida’s popular solar rebate program may fade into the sunset

One step forward and two steps back.  Florida was close to catching up with the rest of the States that have been competing for new green solar energy jobs through tax incentives and through a mash of local programs.  The most effective tool in Florida's kit was the creation of the solar energy rebate program four years ago.  The program provided rebates worth about half of the installed cost of solar photovoltaic systems for homes and businesses and a token $500 rebate for solar thermal heating systems.

But, as usual, the Florida Legislature wouldn't let a good program last, and they neglected to put any funds into the program this year, leaving thousands of Floridians who already installed systems and awaiting rebates in the lurch.  The program would have probably died last year if the Governor and the Florida Energy Office hadn't squirreled away $10 million in Federal stimulus funds for the program.

What's really needed is a public benefits fund - a trust fund of sorts (protected better than the State operated trust fund) - that would be used to fund PV and solar thermal rebates for residents and small business installations.  It could fund testing and permit streamlining efforts and more.  Instead we have a push for offshore oil drilling only on hold long enough for our collective memories of the Deepwater Horizon to fade, massive subsidies for nuclear power, and legislators inserting language calling synthetic gas made from coal ash "renewable."

The following piece about the loss of the rebate program and the budding businesses that will probably be crushed by its demise appeared in the South Florida Business Journal - and NOWHERE ELSE.  Thanks to our local papers for missing this story entirely.  I guess they were too busy running "Earth Day" advertising from FPL as "news."

After four years of successfully spurring investment in solar energy, Florida’s solar rebate program is facing its final sunset.
The popular program, which paid homeowners up to $20,000 and businesses up to $100,000 for installing electricity-producing solar photovoltaic systems, is another victim of Florida’s budget crunch.

Read the rest at South Florida Business Journal