Florida Supreme Court clears hurdle to PACE energy-finance program – Sun Sentinel

A Florida’s Supreme Court decision Thurday could clear the way for a program that would finance energy improvements at homes and businesses in Broward County .

The court rejected a challenge to the PACE program from the Florida Bankers Association, saying the group did not have standing to to fight it.

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. The program lets people borrow to cover the upfront costs of new roofs, hurricane windows or other energy upgrades and then pay back the loans with their property taxes, much like an assessment. Sometimes, the savings on electric bills from upgrades are big enough to pay back the full cost of the loans.

Florida bankers had concerns that PACE loans would be repaid before mortgages, but the Supreme Court did not address that issue in its ruling. The Obama administration has been working with federal agencies to address repayment questions and to encourage PACE lending nationwide.