Orange County’s Huntington Beach is the latest city to approve and adopt Renew Financial’s CaliforniaFIRST program, bringing cost-saving financial options to Huntington Beach property owners for environmentally friendly upgrades. The vote by the City Council took place on January 20, 2016 and offers residential and commercial property owners the chance to take advantage of important financing options for renewable energy and energy efficiency upgrades, as well as water efficiency measures, and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing, which has been adopted by more than 200 cities and counties across the state, makes energy and water efficiency projects more accessible for California homeowners by providing project financing that is then paid back as a line item on their annual property tax bill. Now property owners throughout Orange County can immediately take advantage of it.
CaliforniaFIRST’s PACE financing program allows homeowners to choose a participating contractor in their area and install a variety of custom-tailored clean energy, water efficiency and EV charging projects.
“We are committed to providing California homeowners with a simple way to finance upgrades that improve properties while saving energy, water and money,” said Cisco DeVries, CEO of Renew Financial. “Homeowners in Orange County now have an important choice when it comes to lowering their bills and reducing their energy and water usage. By selecting PACE, they are joining over 80% of their fellow Californians in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save water at the same time. We are thrilled to expand into Huntington Beach and provide the entire region with options to save money and improve the value of their homes.”
The CaliforniaFIRST Program is a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program for residential and commercial properties. Administered by Renew Financial, a national clean energy finance company, CaliforniaFIRST allows property owners to finance the installation of energy and water improvements on homes or businesses through the issuance of a municipal bond, which can then be paid back as a line item on their property tax bill. CaliforniaFIRST financing doesn’t rely on a credit score and does not require any money down, opening the program to a wide range of Californians.
Renew Financial was founded in 2008 by Cisco DeVries, who originated the idea of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing model. Endorsed by President Obama and named by Scientific American as one of the top 20 ideas that can change the world, PACE enables property owners to finance the entire cost of energy and water efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to their homes and businesses, and then repay those costs on their property tax bill. Renew Financial has a partnership with SolarCitytargeted at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) utilizing PACE, and PACE is also a central component of a major White House clean energy and energy efficiency initiative unveiled in August 2015. Renew Financial recently acquired AFC First Financial Corporation, a residential energy efficiency lender based in Allentown, PA., and EcoCity Partners, which administers PACE programs in Florida. Renew Financial’s other financing products include the Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans (WHEEL), which opens the residential energy efficiency finance market to large institutional investors.
