On Thursday, January 9, 2020, over 90 attendees gathered at the IBEW Local 701 Hall for breakfast to hear about DuPage County’s new C-PACE financing program. C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) is a tremendous financial tool for commercial property owners and developers as it provides low-cost, long-term funding for energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation projects for commercial properties. The financing is repaid as an assessment on a commercial property’s tax bill over a set number of years not exceeding the useful life of the project.
Earlier this year, the DuPage County Board approved C-PACE, making DuPage one of the first counties in Illinois to launch the funding program. This action provides a win-win for the area’s commercial property and building owners, as well as for local government, as it incentivizes property renovation and reinvestment in aging commercial structures. Using C-PACE, owners can fund property improvement projects with little or no out-of-pocket costs and local municipalities benefit because it encourages new investment and creates jobs within their communities.
DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin brought greetings and remarks about the program as well as a reminder about Cool DuPage, the County’s signature sustainability initiative. Cool DuPage focuses on a reduction in greenhouse gases through many avenues including energy efficiency, renewable energy and decreasing vehicle miles traveled.
Other speakers included AnnaMaria Kowalik with the Illinois Energy Conservation Authority, DuPage County’s C-PACE Program Administrator. Ms. Kowalik discussed the types of properties eligible for C-PACE funding: office, retail, multi-family and industrial/manufacturing as well as C-PACE program eligible improvement projects, which include HVAC, roofing, building controls, solar/wind, LED, water and insulation projects. Mike King, Manager of Program Operations, Nicor Gas, along with Ed Krembuszewski, Energy Efficiency Manager, ComEd, each reviewed rebates and incentives currently in place with the utilities.
