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Want solar panels on your property? D.C. will help you pay for it.
Want solar panels on your property? D.C. will help you pay for it.Local
By Perry Stein August 20 at 6:47 PM
Sergey Nikolaev pays about $1,400 a month for electricity to power the BP gas station, repair shop and car wash he owns along Georgia Avenue NW in Brightwood. Through a new city government-backed program, Nikolaev will install solar panels on his roof next month in the hope of cutting his electric bill to just $300 each month,
Nikolaev pays no costs up front for the $157,000 project, and after he repays his loans for the panels over 20 years, he expects to save a total of $56,000.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s administration announced Friday that the city’s Property Assessed Clean Energy Act program is officially open for business — and Nikolaev’s soon-to-be retrofitted gas station is the program’s first client. The PACE program, which is tied to legislation the city passed in 2012, allows the city to finance energy upgrades through property tax bills.
....
Despite the program’s growing popularity, it hasn’t been without its controversy. ... Mega mortgage finance agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t like PACE because in the event the borrower defaults, taxing authorities get paid before the mortgage holder. For now, this is why the program in D.C. applies only to commercial properties, not residential ones.
By Perry Stein August 20 at 6:47 PM
Sergey Nikolaev pays about $1,400 a month for electricity to power the BP gas station, repair shop and car wash he owns along Georgia Avenue NW in Brightwood. Through a new city government-backed program, Nikolaev will install solar panels on his roof next month in the hope of cutting his electric bill to just $300 each month,
Nikolaev pays no costs up front for the $157,000 project, and after he repays his loans for the panels over 20 years, he expects to save a total of $56,000.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s administration announced Friday that the city’s Property Assessed Clean Energy Act program is officially open for business — and Nikolaev’s soon-to-be retrofitted gas station is the program’s first client. The PACE program, which is tied to legislation the city passed in 2012, allows the city to finance energy upgrades through property tax bills.
....
Despite the program’s growing popularity, it hasn’t been without its controversy. ... Mega mortgage finance agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t like PACE because in the event the borrower defaults, taxing authorities get paid before the mortgage holder. For now, this is why the program in D.C. applies only to commercial properties, not residential ones.
