Massachusetts PACE programs will pick up fast.
This year Massachusetts was rated 2nd behind only California by ACEEE for its commitment to building energy efficiency, measured in budget and policy initiatives. Budgets for utility programs are significant- The $2billion, 3year budget is 3x California’s per capita investment.
So with utility RCS energy efficiency programs achieving so much ‘cost effective’ energy efficiency, why the excitement about PACE in Massachusetts? PACE programs will fill a wide gap in the energy efficiency sector in MA. This is a huge development for advocates of a house-as-a-system model for building energy efficiency that delivers the most effective home performance improvements. PACE is going to provide municipalities with a tool to leverage greater investment in energy efficiency measures that target deep savings with relatively long paybacks. This is especially needed as Mass Save has been slow to adopt energy savings measures that deliver deeper energy savings, due to strict cost-effectiveness metrics regulated by DPU.
With the incentives of the Green Communities act nudging municipalities in Massachusetts to take the initiative to lower energy use, PACE programs may pick up fast.
Of course overcoming hurdles on the Federal level is key before PACE programs can take off.
Here are my favorite comments from Babylon, NY where a succesfull PACE program has been effectively shut down by the FHFA.
“This is an outrageous attack of open government by a federal bureaucracy that is completely out of touch,” said Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone. “What is most appalling is that it comes from the federal agency that helped facilitate the economic crisis that we are in today, leaving millions of Americans in foreclosure and tens of millions more on the unemployment line: Frannie and Freddie.”
PACE resources: http://pacenow.org/
