Bay Area / Sacramento California Solar Renewable Energy News – Fanny and Freddie are seriously standing in the way of Californias’ economic recovery and the good people of this state need to know about it. The San Jose Business Journal reports this morning that the California Energy Commission may cancel $30 million in Ca solar programs courtesy of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Balderdash!
Did you know that there are more Californians looking for work than the population of 7 states in this country? Where is the national news now? This is an opportunity to create thousands of good paying solar jobs in California. We need some public rallies like the ones we saw on TV when the city manager was laying off workers while he collected a $800k salary in a town with a population of 45,000.
Solar energy creates jobs. Solar on homes improves our national security. Solar on commercial property reduces our dependency on foreign oil. This is important stuff and Californians and the rest of the country need to be shouting at the top of their lungs. Read More
California may kill $30M in energy grants
The California Energy Commission may cancel more than $30 million in proposed State Energy Program awards to four counties, as well as the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, as the federal government tries to work out the legalities of Property Assessed Clean Energy solar financing.
According to the commission’s business meeting agenda for July 28, the commission may cancel the grants under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy.
PACE was expected to create a groundswell of clean energy projects and an estimated 20,000 jobs in the Bay Area as homeowners would be able to finance solar and other energy efficiency projects via their property tax bills.
For example, a pricy solar installation would become eminently more affordable because payments would be spread out across decades.
The PACE program was expected to launch in July in 14 Bay Area counties, including Santa Clara County and the city of San Jose. The city of San Francisco had already launched its program, and so had Sonoma County, but both solar financing programs were put on indefinite hold courtesy of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
In May, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said that FHFA lenders Fannie and Freddie wouldn’t issue mortgages on properties with PACE programs attached to them because it would amount to a first lien on the property. Fannie and Freddie guarantee more than half of the U.S. residential home mortgages.
According to the state Energy Commission website, the DOE is directing states to consider solar financing options other than PACE. The commission staff on July 28 will recommend canceling the grants because the solicitation only allowed for financing through the first-priority liens the FHFA opposes, according to the meeting agenda.
The proposed awards under the program were announced in February. Here’s who stands to lose, and how much:
• Sacramento County: $16.4 million for funding new clean energy jobs
• Humboldt County: $4.3 million
• City and County of San Francisco: $2 million
• Sonoma County: $2.5 million
• City of Los Angeles: $4.6 million
Santa Clara County had applied for $2 million under the solar financing program, but the commission said the county’s application didn’t meet the program’s technical requirements. Funding for the Santa Clara County under the SEP solar program was to come from the federal Recovery Act.