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tweetLafayette, CO—Colorado C-PACE announced today that the River of Grace Baptist Church will use C-PACE financing to perform roof upgrades and install a 54 kW solar array that will materially offset the electrical use at their property located at 84 South Masters Drive in Pueblo. This is the first C-PACE-financed project in Pueblo County.
Larry Cole of River of Grace Church said, “We’ve been wanting to install a solar array for some time, but as a nonprofit organization that relies on a self-supporting local congregation, we couldn’t bear the upfront cost of this project. Early on in this project we discovered that traditional lending institutions did not know what to do with us. Most had never lent money for a solar project, let alone to a nonprofit church! Thanks to Colorado C-PACE program’s structure, which allowed us to finance 100% of the project cost, we can finally move forward with this project without any out-of-pocket expense from our church community. I would like to emphasize that working with the team at C-PACE was a very positive experience.”
Powered by Sunlight Solar, a Colorado Springs-based company, and Big Dog Renewable Energy, which is based in Idaho with offices in Colorado, Iowa, and Puerto Rico, will be installing the solar array. “There has never been a better time to consider switching to solar,” said Michelle Rodriguez of Powered by Sunlight Solar. “Colorado has several local and federal incentives that are helping many people make the switch with no out-of-pocket expense. What’s more, for most building owners in the state of Colorado, solar savings start in the first month of operation.”
PACE Conservation Solutions, a Pueblo Colorado-based capital provider, is providing the C-PACE financing for this project. Keith Willy, owner of PACE Conservation Solutions, said “Colorado’s C-PACE program converted an operating expense into a long-lived asset by allowing River of Grace to make payments toward a solar array rather than make utility payments. River of Grace will save $1,700 per month in utility expenses and now make investments in an enduring asset.” Willy added, “Colorado’s C-PACE program moves the dial for small and large businesses and NFPs in Southern Colorado. Here is another example of an organization that, without Colorado’s C-PACE program, would have just repaired an aging roof and left it at that, even though they were eager to install energy-efficient measures. But thanks to the C-PACE program we were able to provide River of Grace with long-term, 100%, low-rate financing so that they could make environmentally beneficial upgrades that will not constrain their mission.”
About Colorado C-PACE
A program of the New Energy Improvement District (NEID) administered by Sustainable Real Estate Solutions, Colorado C-PACE facilitates financing for energy and water improvements in new and existing commercial buildings, including new heating/cooling systems, lighting, water pumps, insulation, and renewable energy projects. C-PACE offers long-term financing that covers 100 percent of the project cost and is repaid over a period of up to 25 years. The payments are structured as a regular line item on the property tax bill. When a property is sold, the C-PACE assessment can stay with the property and transfer to the new owner, who enjoys the ongoing utility cost savings associated with the project.
About SRS
Sustainable Real Estate Solutions (SRS) partners with state and local governments to administer commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) programs. Founded in 2010 by experienced commercial real estate and energy efficiency professionals, the company’s proprietary technology-enabled PACEworx™ Platform streamlines the management of the data-intensive C-PACE technical and financial underwriting process. SRS’s Investor Confidence Project-credentialed quality assurance methodology has facilitated more than $200 million in C-PACE financing nationwide—a level unmatched in the industry. SRS empowers C-PACE public-private partnerships across the country. The company is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.