Bill > H3812

This bill establishes the South Carolina Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resilience (C-PACE) Program, which allows local governments to voluntarily create programs that help owners of commercial, industrial, agricultural, and multi-family residential properties obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency, resiliency, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure improvements. The program enables property owners to finance qualifying improvements through a special assessment on their property, which can be repaid over up to 30 years. Key provisions include: defining eligible properties and improvements, establishing requirements for program administration, specifying the process for obtaining financing, creating a lien mechanism for repayment, and ensuring that the financing is provided directly by capital providers without using public funds. The bill requires local governments to adopt an ordinance to establish a C-PACE program, verify certain property and owner conditions before approving financing, and allows the assessment to run with the property if ownership changes. Importantly, the program is designed to be voluntary, with no obligation for local governments to participate, and provides a mechanism for property owners to invest in improvements that can reduce energy costs, increase property resilience, and support economic development.

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https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3812&session=126&summary=B