California may kill $30M in energy grants

The California Energy Commission may cancel more than $30 million in proposed State Energy Program awards to four counties, as well as the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, as the federal government tries to work out the legalities of Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.

According to the commission’s business meeting agenda for July 28, the commission may cancel the grants under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy.

PACE was expected to create a groundswell of clean energy projects — and an estimated 20,000 jobs in the Bay Area — as homeowners would be able to finance solar and other energy-efficiency projects via their property tax bills.

For example, a pricy solar installation would become eminently more affordable because payments would be spread out across decades.

The PACE program was expected to launch in July in 14 Bay Area counties, including Santa Clara County and the city of San Jose. The city of San Francisco had already launched its program, and so had Sonoma County, but both programs were put on indefinite hold courtesy of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

In May, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said that FHFA lenders Fannie and Freddie wouldn’t issue mortgages on properties with PACE programs attached to them because it would amount to a first lien on the property. Fannie and Freddie guarantee more than half of the U.S. residential mortgages.

Read more the full story in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.