Op-Ed in ROI-NJ Calls for Gov. Murphy to Sign the C-PACE Bill (A2374/S1953)
Under the heading, “Climate change report is more evidence Murphy should sign C-PACE bill,” Emma Horst-Martz of NJPIRG and William Amann of M&E Engineers are urging Governor Phil Murphy to sign the new C-PACE bill. The authors say the bill “would allow business owners to take out a loan for clean energy improvements – but have the loan stay with the building should it be sold.”
(As noted previously, on June 24 the New Jersey Legislature approved A2374/S1953 with overwhelming, bipartisan majorities in both the Assembly and Senate.)
ROI-NJ is a business news journal, led by longtime industry leaders Tom Bergeron and Tom Hughes, which the publishers describe as providing “New Jersey’s diverse business community with a Return On Information, while creating dynamic engagements among influencers.”
The authors of the Op-Ed write:
The cleanest and cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use; this is the idea behind energy efficiency measures. Gov. Phil Murphy now has the opportunity to sign the new C-PACE bill (A2374/S1953) into law to help businesses and apartment building owners save energy, money by increasing energy efficiency investments.
Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) is an innovative financing tool with a simple premise: A property owner can take out a loan to help pay for a new construction project or a rehab that involves clean energy components or upgrades. The difference here is that the loan stays with the building, so if the owner moves away, they aren’t saddled with the burden of paying for a project that they’re not involved in anymore. On the flip side, the new owner also reaps the benefits of the energy upgrades done to the building as they help pay off the project.