Press Release

Contact:
Kimberly Johnston, Market Development Director
608.729.6900 or 608.516.5653
[email protected]

Wisconsin Senate Passes PACE Bill to Expand Access

​(Madison, WI)  The Wisconsin Senate passed Senate Bill 692 yesterday, sending it to the Assembly for concurrence before it may head to Governor Tony Evers’ desk. Senate Bill 692 will expand financeable projects under Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) to include energy reliability improvements, weather-related resiliency projects, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and stormwater control measures.

Wisconsin’s C-PACE programs have been a key tool for incentivizing building improvements that support energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation. The bill, introduced by Senator Robert Cowles and Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt, streamlines programming requirements and provides additional opportunities for commercial property owners to participate in PACE.

Senator Cowles shared, “Local governments are constantly trying to find ways to partner with local businesses to promote economic development in their region, but few ways can be as effective as PACE and even fewer ways can happen without putting the taxpayers at risk. With the changes in Senate Bill 692, we can help to attach private financing for more beneficial projects to the property, not the person, helping to close more financing gaps and promote more cost-saving energy efficiency and alternative energy improvements, better preparation for severe weather events, and more EV charging station infrastructure which can drive consumers to local establishments.”

The bill adds resiliency improvements to improve the durability of infrastructure (wind durability, fire suppression, flood mitigation), renewable resource applications (solar, digester, biomass system for natural gas production), electric vehicle infrastructure improvements, stormwater control measures to mitigate the negative impacts of stormwater runoff and heavy rainfall events, and energy efficiency or reliability improvements which could include energy storage and microgrid development.

“Today’s unanimous vote sends a strong message that C-PACE is a winning tool for Wisconsin property owners, businesses and communities large and small.  Adding eligible measures to the list of improvements that qualify for PACE financing will add value to new and existing building stock at no public cost while increasing energy efficiency,” noted Tim Mathison, General Counsel and Managing Director, Slipstream.