Bucks County C-PACE Program

To be eligible for CPACE financing, a project must be located in a county or municipality that has approved CPACE programs within a state that has passed PACE-enabling legislation. For more details on where CPACE is available, use the tools provided by PACENation. Note that residential PACE (RPACE) is also available in some jurisdictions, but only CPACE is covered in this fact sheet.

The parties involved in a CPACE deal usually include:

• A PACE administrator that manages the project and ensures adherence to program requirements;
• A local government that collects the property tax assessment and remits payment to the capital provider(s) if necessary;
• A contractor or energy services company (ESCO) that installs the equipment;
• The building owner (customer) receiving the upgrade or tenants working in concert with their landlord; and
• Private investors, bondholders, or a government to provide the capital.

The PACE administrator will typically conduct marketing and sales to originate potential customers. Before financing is disbursed, the project must be approved by the PACE administrator. For properties with a mortgage, consent from the mortgage lender is usually required. Depending on state statute, capital for CPACE projects may come from the government through reserve funds or bond issuances, from private investors, or a mix of the two.

Once the project is approved and financing is secured, the contractor installs the equipment and the customer begins to realize energy savings. The financing is then repaid in the form of an assessment on the building owner’s property tax bill over a period of typically 10-20 years. A PACE lien is also placed on the property. The lien is senior to most other debt on the property, which can encourage investors to provide capital over longer terms than with standard loans. If the building is sold during the PACE repayment period, the lien securing the assessments remains on the property and becomes an obligation of the new building owner (unless it is paid off in full by the original owner before sale). Nonpayment of a PACE assessment results in the same set of repercussions as the failure to pay any other portion of a property tax bill.