How would you pay to make your home more energy- and water-efficient? Cash? Credit card? Home equity loan? The new Clean Energy Yolo program provides a better option for these costly improvements and is not based on personal credit.

The Yolo County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on November 5, 2013 to allow residential property owners to upgrade their homes using Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. The Cities of Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, and Woodland have all opted into the program.

Through PACE, property owners can finance 100% of the cost of improvements, paying them back over the long term – up to 20 years – as a small line item on their property tax bills. This means upgrades are affordable, and often pay for themselves over their lifetimes.

First developed in Berkeley in 2008, PACE financing is now offered to residents throughout the state. Thousands of homeowners have used PACE to upgrade their homes with energy- and water-saving improvements such as solar panels, heating and air conditioning systems, windows, cool roofs, water heaters, insulation, pool pumps, and water fixtures.

In addition to saving money and energy – providing a viable financing tool for homeowners looking to improve their properties creates jobs, helps the environment, and reduces our community’s reliance on PG&E. The program comes at absolutely no cost to taxpayers.

Additional benefits of PACE financing include:
• No up-front cost
• Low, bi-annual payments spread out over 10 or 20 years
• Repayment transfers to new owner in the event of sale
• No impact to credit, and approval is not credit-based
• Projects can pay for themselves with the money saved on utility bills

Go to www.cleanenergyyolo.com to learn more and see if your property qualifies. Use the promo code “UPGRADEYOLO” to waive the application fee.