Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Recently passed legislation to open up PACE financing in Illinois

Midwest Energy News: Illinois could get a PACE program for financing energy efficiency and renewable energy in commercial, industrial and multi-family buildings if the governor signs a bill passed overwhelmingly by the state legislature last month.

Advocates are hopeful that Illinois will become the 20th state with an active PACE program, but nothing is a given in a state with a governor and legislature so at odds that a budget has not been passed for three years.

David McEllis, governmental affairs representative for the Environmental Law & Policy Center, noted that Illinois municipalities technically could create their own PACE programs even without the law. “A single paragraph passed [in another bill] a few years back ostensibly authorized municipalities to create PACE programs, but no municipality ever took advantage of that,” he said.

Read article