Bill > S1774

This bill establishes a Commercial Sustainable Energy Program, often referred to as PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), to encourage energy efficiency and renewable energy installations on commercial and industrial properties. The program allows for "betterment assessments," which are essentially special local taxes levied on properties that benefit from these energy improvements, to finance the projects. These assessments are collected by participating municipalities and used to repay "PACE bonds," which are revenue bonds issued by a financing entity, like the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (the "agency"), to fund the improvements. The program aims to reduce energy consumption and costs for businesses, with the energy savings expected to exceed the project costs over the improvements' useful life, which cannot exceed 20 years or the improvement's lifespan. Municipalities can participate by agreeing to assess and collect these betterment assessments, and energy reductions achieved through the program can count towards a municipality's "green community" goals. The bill also outlines the roles of the agency and the Department of Energy Resources (the "department") in developing program guidelines, approving projects, and overseeing the program's implementation, including provisions for liens on properties to secure repayment and the potential sale or assignment of these liens.