Innovative Form of Financing Now Available in Auburn After City Council Vote
AUBURN, Calif. – Homeowners in Auburn, the county seat of Placer County, can now access Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) home improvement financing through industry leader Home Run Financing (HRF), in accordance with a recent vote by the Auburn City Council. The Placer County Board of Supervisors voted in December to extend the program, originally approved in 2020, for another five years in unincorporated areas of the county, showing confidence in the program and an appreciation for its benefits for Placer County homeowners. The county’s largest city, Roseville, has also approved PACE financing for its residents.
PACE financing can be used to fund renewable energy, and energy and water efficiency upgrades, as well as earthquake resiliency. Auburn joins more than 340 other cities and towns in California in making PACE Funding available to homeowners.
“With the recent high temperatures in Auburn and Excessive Heat Warning through the region, Auburn homeowners need funding options to upgrade their homes to be more resilient and energy-efficient,” said Home Run Financing CEO, Robert Giles. “PACE can help build the community’s resiliency to such extreme weather events. It can also allow more homeowners to add solar panels, energy efficient HVAC, and other efficient and renewable energy systems to lower their utility bills and reduce the region’s carbon emissions.”
PACE Financing is available only through registered and trained contractors. State legislation and regulation by the state Department of Financing Protection and Innovation (DFPI) provides robust consumer protections for homeowners.
Drought remains a perennial problem in California and more and more homeowners are looking for additional ways to fund home upgrades to save water. California homeowners are also looking for ways to reduce utility bills in the face of rising energy costs, both by installing renewable energy systems like solar panels, and by installing more efficient (less leaky) windows and doors and roofs. PACE Financing is specifically designed to be used for such water and energy saving projects.
The PACE financing model provides the strongest consumer protections of any home improvement financing product, with homeowner identity verification measures; recorded confirmation of terms calls conducted in English or Spanish to ensure the homeowner understands the financing; a further recorded call in English or Spanish to verify the project is complete before the contractor gets paid; third-party inspection of completed projects; rigorous contractor oversight and training; and additional protections for the elderly and low-income homeowners, among several other stringent consumer protection measures.
In the eight years Home Run Financing (previously PACE Funding Group) has been operating in California, the company has provided more than $555 million in PACE financing for more than 18,000 home improvement projects across the state. These projects have set in place greenhouse gas reductions, over the lifetime of the upgrades, of 177,800 metric tons, equivalent to taking more than 42,000 cars off the road for a year or powering more than 23,000 homes for a year. The water efficiency upgrades have set in place the conservation of 191 million gallons of water, equivalent to filling 9,000 backyard pools or taking 9 million five-minute showers. HRF-financed projects have created 5,000 good-paying jobs across the state.