New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is releasing draft guidelines for the new Garden State C-PACE program for a one-month public comment period, and hosting an information session on April 14.

The Authority posted this as a press release on its website:

TRENTON, N.J. (March 27, 2023) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will host a virtual public information session on the Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Program on Friday, April 14 at 10:00 a.m. The session will provide an overview of the draft C-PACE program guidelines, which will be made available prior to the session.

The draft C-PACE guidelines will be posted here.  Feedback can be sent to gardenstatecpace@njeda.com through May 15, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. The draft C-PACE guidelines will include eligibility criteria, responsibilities of participants, the application process, technical standards, fees, and local program requirements.

Members of the public, including media, can register for the April 14 information session here.

Read the complete press release here.

We understand that this initial set of guidelines will cover retrofit projects and include rules for the top one-third of NJ municipalities by population to establish their own parallel programs, should they choose to do so. Following the public comment period and whatever time is required for additions and revisions, the Authority will publish the official guidelines for retrofits to its website. Municipalities will need to adopt an ordinance (prepared by NJEDA) to opt into the program so that projects submitted by commercial property owners and developers can be administratively reviewed for eligibility.

Guidelines for new construction, and for the refinance of projects up to three years prior, will be issued later.