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Impacts of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program on the economy of California

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  • Rose, Adam
  • Wei, Dan

Abstract

The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program is an innovative financing approach to meeting environmental goals. PACE financing is structured as an assessment to the property and paid along with the property tax bill. In addition to the direct environmental benefits, it also yields co-benefits of enhanced economic output and employment. This paper estimates the economic impacts of PACE in California by one of its major financing companies. These impacts include direct spending on structural improvements, reduction in spending on centralized power and water services, reallocation of spending from energy and water bills savings, and solar investment tax credits, among others. It also includes general equilibrium effects of these various factors. Our results indicate PACE financing yields sizable economic benefits. At the same time, the increased economic activity results in increased energy and water use that partially offsets some of the direct environmental gains. Furthermore, PACE has been subject to criticism because it gives financing companies the first lien on mortgages and because of anecdotal examples of some customers being lured by unscrupulous contractors. The direct environmental benefits and economic co-benefits of PACE should be factored into the policy debate over whether the Program should be further expanded or regulated.

Suggested Citation

  • Rose, Adam & Wei, Dan, 2020. "Impacts of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program on the economy of California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:137:y:2020:i:c:s0301421519306743
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111087
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kirkpatrick, A. Justin & Bennear, Lori S., 2014. "Promoting clean energy investment: An empirical analysis of property assessed clean energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 357-375.
    2. Farrow, Scott & Rose, Adam, 2018. "Welfare Analysis: Bridging the Partial and General Equilibrium Divide for Policy Analysis," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 67-83, April.
    3. Adam Rose & Dan Wei & Noah Dormady, 2011. "Regional macroeconomic assessment of the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(4), pages 357-379, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeff Deason & Sean Murphy & Charles A. Goldman, 2021. "Empirical Estimation of the Energy Impacts of Projects Installed through Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing Programs in California," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Marek Vochozka & Veronika Machová & Eliška Sedmíková, 2021. "Fixing a payout ratio by dividend policies: a case of the utility sector," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 9(2), pages 416-432, December.
    3. Renae Marshall & Matthew G. Burgess, 2022. "Advancing bipartisan decarbonization policies: lessons from state-level successes and failures," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 1-22, March.

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