PACE is our path to a resilient future

In the past 40 years, hurricanes have caused $1.9 trillion in damages across the U.S. The average destruction from a single hurricane is more than $19 billion. Here in Florida, every homeowner and small business owner knows that when storm season comes, so do the astronomical repair bills.

Despite this monumental threat — which increases each year — it’s nearly impossible for millions of Floridians to access the capital or financing options needed to make storm-hardening upgrades to our homes and businesses. In the midst of a decade with more consecutive years of Category 5 hurricanes than ever before, it is critical that lawmakers and communities alike support programs and companies that make resiliency and energy-efficiency upgrades available to as many property owners as possible.

We need to be able to protect ourselves and our investments. And that’s where PACE comes in.

The program, short for Property Assessed Clean Energy, uses an innovative public-private partnership model that allows property owners to invest in substantial resiliency and energy upgrades, ranging from impact windows and doors, to wind-resistant roofing, to rooftop solar panels and more.

PACE makes much-needed capital improvement available to millions of customers who otherwise couldn’t afford it. Rather than financing through traditional private loans, which often come with crippling interest rates and insurmountable up-front costs, PACE lets Floridian businesses and homeowners pay for the upgrades over time through their annual property tax bill.

Offering access to critical improvements that protect against damage and reduce insurance and energy costs is a lifeline for businesses that have been hit hard by COVID-19.

This isn’t a new concept, and we have years of data pointing to the value of the program. Created in the wake of the Great Recession, PACE played an instrumental role in Florida’s financial recovery by stimulating investment in clean energy projects for homes and businesses. This generated significant economic activity and created jobs for Florida communities struggling to bounce back from the downturn. More than a decade later, a University of South Florida study found the program creates nearly 22,000 jobs and has grown the state’s economic output by more than $2.1 billion.

And now, as our state once again struggles to pull itself out of an economic downturn, PACE represents a chance to continue growing jobs and economic activity, while simultaneously safeguarding our communities against the inevitable storms and natural disasters yet to come.

Companies that provide PACE financing are bridging an otherwise impassable gap for homeowners and business owners and building equity in historically underserved and underfunded communities that get hit hardest when severe weather strikes. The USF report found that PACE projects funded by Ygrene, the leading provider of PACE financing, are estimated to help Florida property owners avoid more than $1.2 billion in property damage and displacement costs in the event of hurricanes — not only saving property owners’ wallets, but lowering the cost of state disaster recovery efforts and helping preserve local economies in the wake of severe storms.

Florida’s business owners and communities deserve the chance to protect themselves against worsening storm seasons. PACE has already helped thousands upon thousands of our neighbors, often the most neglected communities in our state, to protect themselves and their properties. Our lawmakers, both at the local and state level, must not only defend the program but ensure that every Floridian who wants to use it has the ability to do so. Our state will be stronger, safer and more resilient for it.

Julio Fuentes