This is very exciting news. Tomorrow Austin is voting on pursuing the loan program established by HB 1937, the bill I passed earlier this year. Under the program, property owners would get help paying for the upfront costs of solar panels or energy efficiency investments and then pay off the loan over time through their property taxes. The key is that the loan would stay with the property instead of the owner, so if you move away, whoever moves in and benefits from the lower utility bills will continue to pay off the loan. Getting over this hurdle has worked to promote green homes in cities throughout the country.
The City Council agenda item reads "Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to study the possible implementation of a program under Chapter 376 of the Local Government Code to provide for the financing of private energy efficiency and renewable energy measures through the issuance of municipal bonds to be repaid by voluntary property assessments on the improved properties." It's online here.
The City of San Antonio and other stakeholders around town have been working to figure out how to implement the program in our community. Here's what Solar San Antonio had to say.
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Hi Mike. So as a Homeowner, how do I go about pursuing a loan package for solar installation?
ReplyDeletethx.
Todd Walker
Hi Todd,
ReplyDeleteThis program is not up and running yet in San Antonio or other Texas cities, although San Antonio is working to figure out the best way to implement it in our community. If you don't want to wait, you could check out what rebates CPS is currently offering:
http://www.cpsenergy.com/Residential/Residential_Rebates_2009/
Mike