December 1, 2016
A national program that provides homeowners financing for clean energy projects is now available in 14 municipalities in St. Louis County and all of Franklin County, becoming only the second Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) lender in the St. Louis region.
PACE is a public-private partnership program through the U.S. Department of Energy that provides financing for energy improvements and is fixed to the property instead of to the property owner.
HERO (Home Energy Renovation Opportunity) is a residential PACE program that first entered the Missouri market in September in Jackson County, and so far has financed over $1 million in energy and efficiency improvements for over 70 homes, according to a statement provided by the company.
HERO is available within any Missouri municipality that joins the state PACE program, the Missouri Clean Energy District. St. Louis County does not have its own PACE program, and municipalities must join the state PACE program in order to use the tool. In St. Louis County, 14 municipalities are MCED members: Ballwin, Berkeley, Black Jack, Crestwood, Charlack, Chesterfield, Ellisville, Eureka, Ferguson, Hazelwood, Olivette, Town & Country, University City and Valley Park.
“HERO overcomes challenges that have slowed the adoption of energy efficiency and related technologies in our state,” David Pickerill, executive director of Missouri Clean Energy District, said in a statement. “By financing only efficient solutions, HERO creates a golden opportunity to upgrade Missouri’s housing stock.”
HERO is the second PACE lender in the metro area: Anne Murphy Hill opened Rahill Capital in July that so far has closed on over $16 million in deals and is expected to close on another $30 million by the end of March. Her company focuses on commercial and multifamily residential developments worth over $500,000.
“St. Louis next year could easily be a $50 million PACE market,” Hill told the Business Journal earlier this month.
HERO, which is operated by Renovate America, launched in California in 2011 and has funded $2 billion in PACE financings nationwide. It employs 10 people in Missouri, most based in Kansas City, and has plans to add at least five more early next year, a spokesman said. One employee is in St. Louis. HERO charges a 4.99-percent fee.
The program projects it could serve 4,000 homes in the first five years if HERO were available throughout all of St. Louis County, which it estimates would pump more than $100 million in the local economy.
HERO funds up to 100 percent of the home improvement, and interest on payments may be tax-deductible, according to the release. It also has a network of HERO-registered contractors that are vetted.