On March 8, 2013, the City of Cincinnati, OH passed a motion “that the administration establish a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program for renewable energy and energy efficiency investments in Cincinnati.” This was part of an initiative adopting a goal of “reducing the consumption of energy in the built environment by 15 percent by 2020, and having solar energy installed on 20 percent of rooftops (residential and commercial) by 2028.”

In order to achieve this goal, the city agreed to assist in establishing a solar rooftop program that “enables bundling of residential and commercial properties to facilitate power purchase and/or lease agreements for solar energy installations,” and to partner with Green Umbrella, a local nonprofit, and the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance to develop the program, and establish a solar working group of city staff and partners in this effort.

Citing PACENow‘s definition of PACE, the city’s motion states:

Major benefits of PACE are that it: saves consumers money on utility bills; is tax neutral, with no exposure on the general fund; promotes local jobs; conserves fossil fuels; improves air quality; and reduces C02 emissions.

It also notes that:

Third party financing tools are proven models for overcoming financial barriers to solar. Solar leases and power purchase agreements can offer residents new private-sector financing options.

The complete text of the motion is here: CinciSolar.pdf