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COLORADO SPRINGS — Businesses and property owners will soon be able to finance energy-efficient upgrades through a low-finance loan program called the Colorado Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Program.
On Tuesday, El Paso County Board of Commissioners approved the resolution and plans are in the works to get it up and running.
“It’s a tool to help either bring new buildings online with energy-efficient solutions or make upgrades in existing buildings for energy-efficient solutions,” said Cecilia Harry, the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC’s chief economic development officer.
El Paso County began the discussion about three years ago. Once the Colorado Springs Chamber was on board…that was when things really began to take shape.
“It has taken this long to really explore the program, figure out whether it was right for our community. How many interested businesses we had that would make it worth kind of the County getting involved,” said Cami Bremer, El Paso County Commissioner District. 5.
The loans through this program differ from others in that they have repayment terms of 25 years and can fully fund a project between 200-thousand to 1 million dollars.
The Colorado Springs Chamber said they were confident the money saved through energy costs will exceed the cost of the loan.
“It’s going to be a green light for lots of companies and property owners who have goals and interests in the El Paso County area that now finally have a tool to make their project make financial sense,” Harry said.
The Colorado Springs Chamber and El Paso County said they were excited they can offer this new program for property and business owners to create a more energy-efficient community and continue to maintain that they are a small business friendly region.
“Local business owners have this program to decide if it’s the right thing for them. If it’s the right way for them to do what they want to do to continue to create beautiful buildings, beautiful environment and a place that we can all be proud of… love, live and work in,” Bremer said.
The plan is still in the works. For more information, the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC is asking business owners to contact the economic development team.