San Francisco's plan to help homeowners go green

[Neecy]

This is brilliant stuff...
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Under a "San Francisco Sustainable Financing Program," homeowners will have access to up to $50,000 apiece to install a variety of clean energy improvements. There is no limit on the amount commercial property owners can apply for. It's not free money, but the terms are agreeable: 20 years to pay, with bills attached to your property taxes.

Introduced legislatively last week by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Eric Mar, the program is modeled in part on those in other cities, including Berkeley, that finance home solar installations. San Francisco's program goes further, adding wind turbines and energy-efficiency measures such as insulation and low-flow toilets, plus a compulsory home "energy audit," to the mix.

...And, no, this is not another unfunded mandate imposed on overburdened taxpayers. The $150 million will be privately funded, courtesy of an 18-month-old Oakland startup, Renewable Funding LLC, that specializes in such programs, utilizing a financial instrument it developed called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds ( www.renewfund.com).

The legislation, now being looked at by the mayor's budget analyst, is scheduled to be taken up by the Board of Supervisors next month. Mar said he is looking to the program, in addition to being good for the environment and reducing our PG&E bills, to "create a boom in green jobs in San Francisco."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/23/BU0E1B7OVH.DTL&tsp=1

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. I cannot tell you how THRILLED I am about this!

I have been dying to get as off grid as I can for years but have never had the huge upfront $$$ that is needed to do it -- even with the available tax credits. This is an amazing opportunity I am going to take full advantage of. My neighborhood is windy as hell and I want an urban windmill in the worst way. And my house can handle at least three solar panels. Add in battery bank and I would be styin'!

I am doing the happy dance!

If only they took a program like this nationally -- low/no cost loans (tax credits are worthless for too many) to go off grid. Fuck coal, fuck heating oil -- they are dead as energy sources as the animals they come from.

[Neecy]

2. Congrats!

If I still lived in SF I'd be taking them up on this in the biggest damn way....

It would be interesting for all of us if you'd journal about the whole process - the application, the work you'll have done, the installation.

This is going to be a great job boom for the whole Bay Area.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. I will do that!

I think this is such an outstanding program. I even looked into leasing solar panels, which was doable financially, but still didn't lead me to the kind of real energy/finanicial independence I am looking for.

Programs like this could be a real game changer in the fight for energy independence. For me, this is a real no-brainer.

[Neecy]

4. Just think....

If a fraction of the money that had gone to the banks and investment houses had been made available to local governments for these no-interest loans that are tacked onto property taxes each year we'd be so much further ahead on energy independence - and the jobs created would be massive. I agree that tax credits are almost worthless - most people can't front the kind of money that a solar roof or wind turbine requires.

What part of the city are you in?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. I live in an obscure neighborhood --

in the southeast corner of the city called the Portola District -- right by Mclaren Park. I am up on a hill where the wind rocks the house regularly - fantastic for a wind turbine.

[Uncle Joe]

5. This seems like a good program.

Thanks for the thread, Neecy.:thumbsup: