Bill seeks to remove funding barriers for renewable energy projects

Although administered by the St. Paul Port Authority, the state’s C-PACE program is privately financed. The bill would broaden the program to allow for loans to projects that improve a property’s resilience — such as resistance to wind, fire and flooding, improvements to indoor air quality or mitigating stormwater runoff — conserve a property’s water use or improve its water quality.

Two proposed changes would make it so Minnesota is no longer “the state of the twenties,” said Rafi Golberstein, chief executive officer of Pace Loan Group.

Minnesota is the only state with a maximum financing term of 20 years for a C-PACE project and a maximum loan amount of 20% of a property’s assessed value. The bill would expand that to 30 years and 30% of the value.

“The 30-year amortization and the 30% loan-to-value would significantly increase volume,” Golberstein said. “You’re just going to see larger deals, in general. And we will see significantly more projects qualify for PACE than we currently do.”

Since lending began after enabling legislation in Minnesota was passed in 2010, 533 projects have received approximately $326 million in funding, according to Clean Energy Economy Minnesota.