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Nov 20 2017
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Two Key Updates to California Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs

By Solar Loans: Financing Rates, Loan Terms, and More No Comments

In today’s post, we’ll go over two new pieces of solar legislation that were recently signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. The two new bills cover ways in which consumer protections will be increased for the California PACE financing programs.

Before jumping into each of these bills, let’s take a step back and remind ourselves why the PACE programs are important.

PACE Financing

Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, is a program that allows private investments to fund improvements to residential and commercial buildings. PACE financing focuses on energy efficiency, water efficiency and renewable energy projects and can cover up to 100% of the project’s cost.

The residential and commercial property owners who use PACE will opt in to pay their loans back as a voluntary property tax assessment through their existing property tax bill. The program is legislated at the municipal level and operates in 44 cities and counties across California as well as in 34 other states. Individuals in the appropriate districts can take advantage of this program to both reduce their carbon footprint and save money in the long-term.

The first commercial and residential PACE programs in California were established in 2008. Since then, over 150,000 California homeowners have used this program. Although PACE had been mainly successful, there were some issues in the ways that the program was implemented. These issues, among others, led to new rules and guidelines for the PACE program. The following two bills are the most recent examples of this.

1) Senate Bill 242

Senate Bill 242, authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), focuses on strengthening consumer protections for California’s PACE financing programs. The goal of this bill is to ensure that borrowers are fully aware of the terms of the loans that they are taking out.

Senator Nancy Skinner

In the past, Individuals had expressed concern over the ways that the PACE financing was represented to them. SB-242 addresses this by mandating PACE providers have calls with all homeowners before they take out their loans. These calls would allow the lenders to clearly represent the details of the loans while also gaining confirmation of the borrower’s understanding.

Lastly, SB-242 restricts the lender’s ability to offer kickbacks or other marketing incentives given to contractors. This is important because it forces lenders to adhere to strict regulations in the ways that they can lend. A lack of regulation in the past allowed lenders to offer these loans to individuals who may not have been qualified. In some cases, these loans didn’t even require underwriting or credit approval. SB-242 fills these gaps by focusing on transparency and consumer awareness.

2) Assembly Bill 1284

The second bill signed into law by Gov. Brown is Assembly Bill 1284. Introduced by Assemblymember Matthew M. Dababneh (D-Encino), AB-1284 relates to California financing laws and includes additional requirements to help guarantee that borrowers can repay their loans. The bill dictates that lenders must make a “reasonable good faith effort” to ensure this and must take into account the borrower’s income, assets, and current debt obligations.

AB-1284 additionally sets new standards for how contractors are trained about PACE, how they can market it, and establishes a three-day right to cancel. Similar to SB-242, the conditions of the Assembly bill will help prove that a borrower knows what they are getting into, and if they misunderstood something, they now have the ability to rescind their financing within 3 days.

The last stipulation in Dababneh’s bill gives the California Department of Business Oversight new regulatory authority over PACE providers. This department will now monitor and make sure that these new protections are being implemented for consumers.

PACE-pic-1.jpg

Regulation and Improvement

There is no denying that the PACE financing programs in California have been a success. As with any system, however, there are always areas for improvement. Senate Bill 242 and Assembly Bill 1284 are two ways that the PACE program’s flaws are being addressed.

California has been at the forefront of innovation in the effort to achieve its renewable energy and energy efficiency goals. PACE is an example of how it leads the nation in this endeavor.

Major steps have been made to increase protections for consumers this year in California. With these two new bills, CA has enabled PACE to continue to expand appropriately. SB-242 and AS-1284 should serve as examples for what other states can and should do moving forward.

Nov 16 2017
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Home Solar Rebates in California – 2017 Update

By Solar Incentives by State No Comments

Solar rebates save. They take the edge off the initial investment of going solar, which leads to even more savings on energy costs. In fact, more powerful panels and other advances are making solar energy more cost-effective than it’s ever been.  

California is one of the best states to take advantage of rebates and incentives, but they won’t be around forever. Some expire on a set date, and some when funds run out.

Here’s an updated list of some great rebates available to homeowners in California.

Federal Solar Rebates Available in California

The solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is a 30 percent tax credit for homeowners. How does it work? You’ll pay for the solar panel system in full, but then you can deduct 30 percent of what you paid for it when you file your federal income tax return. The ITC applies only to purchasing a solar system, not to leasing it or getting it with a PPA (Purchase Power Agreement).

The ITC offers 30 percent through 2019 but will reduce to 26 percent in 2020, and 22 percent in 2021. The rebate will end for residential customers after 2021.

How much you can save with solar panels depends on when you act. The sooner you take advantage of the solar Investment Tax Credit, the healthier your savings will be.

State Solar Rebates Available in California

  • The California Solar Initiative (CSI) cash–back rebates for PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company), SCE (Southern California Edison), and SDG&E (San Diego Gas & Electricity) have expired.
  • But you can still take advantage of the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP). If you’re looking to build a new home with a new solar panel system too.

The current incentive rate range for market-rate housing is from $0.50/Watt up to $1.25/Watt depending on the energy-efficiency tier of the residence. But, you’ll need to get your application in by April 1, 2018, as the program is set to close June 1, 2018.

  • The 15% increase of the incentive (up to $500) for west-facing arrays, however, did expire in March of 2017.
  • Another rebate of note is the Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for homeowners looking to buy battery storage. Customers of PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E are eligible for an incentive as high as $400 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for installing a home battery, which can offset or even cover the cost of a battery. Check this video to see what is a kilowatt hour. 

Battery storage has several advantages, especially as California switches over to time-of-use (TOU) rates and Net Metering 2.0 (NEM 2.0). With a backup battery at home, you can store energy and use it when it would cost more to pull it from the grid. If you’re interested, visit our battery page for more information. Find out more about NEM 2.0 in the video below.

The program sunsets at the end of 2020. But the incentives will decrease as more batteries are installed in California, so you’ll get more back as an early adopter.

Local Solar Rebates Available in California

  • The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has a solar incentive program that currently offers $0.25/Watt off to residential solar customers. The program expires when the remaining funds of $10 million are exhausted.
  • Glendale Water and Power offered an incentive program called Solar Solutions Incentive Program, but it is now closed.
  • Pasadena Water and Power offer $0.30/Watt on systems between 1 kW and 100 kW through their expected performance-based buydown option or $0.096/kWh with their performance-based incentive for systems larger than 100 kW. But the Pasadena solar rebate will expire on December 31, 2017. You will be eligible as long as you submit your application before the expiration date.
  • San Francisco Public Utilities Commission GoSolarSF rebate is still available. It varies by system size but is currently still offering $500 – $2,800. There’s no specific expiration date for this rebate, and it has enough funding to keep the program available for the foreseeable future.

While energy rates in California are some of the highest in the nation, switching to solar can make those rates manageable. Solar rebates make that smart move even easier.