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Southbury Launches Clean Energy Financing Program

New program designed to support businesses and promote job growth in Southbury.

Businesses in Southbury can now get 100 percent upfront, low-cost and long-term financing to make clean energy improvements to their buildings.

Southbury has opted into a state-wide program called Commercial and Industrial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), which allows commercial, industrial and multi-family property owners to access upfront funding for all energy improvement costs and to repay that investment through a benefit assessment charge on their property tax bill, according to Southbury First Selectman Ed Edelson.

Edelson said Southbury has nearly 100 buildings covering over 2.5 million square feet eligible for C-PACE.

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“This program is going to help our businesses lower their energy costs, improve their buildings, and attract and retain tenants right here in Southbury,” he said. “CEFIA has created an extremely low-risk product that will finally allow our business owners to catch up on deferred maintenance and access clean energy technologies like energy efficiency solar at no upfront cost.”

Edelson called the program a fantastic economic development tool and a tremendous opportunity for Southbury businesses.

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Benefit assessments are a tool used by municipalities to finance projects including street paving, water and sewer systems, and street lighting. The repayment obligation transfers automatically to the next owner if the property is sold. Similar to a sewer tax assessment, capital provided under the C-PACE program is secured by a lien on the property, so low-interest capital can be raised from the private sector, according to Edelson.

C-PACE is administered by the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) as part of the State’s Energize Connecticut initiative, which is intended to help consumers save money and use clean energy.

Southbury now joins several other municipalities that have already adopted C-PACE, including Stamford, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Hartford, Middletown, Durham, West Hartford, Beacon Falls, Windham, Simsbury, Old Saybrook, Wilton, and Westport, which are now eligible for this financing, according to Energize Connecticut.


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