C-PACE Energy Efficiency Funding

Brunswick is a participating Efficiency Maine C-PACE community. A C-PACE program allows commercial property owners to access financing to undertake energy efficiency and clean energy improvements on their buildings and repay the investment over time. Like other project financing, a C-PACE mechanism uses borrowed capital from a capital provider to pay for the upfront costs associated with energy efficiency or renewable energy improvements. Unlike other project financing, the borrowed capital is secured by a property tax assessment with an associated lien on the subject property. The security provided by the tax assessment results in several compelling features, including longer-term financing and transferability of the repayment obligations to subsequent owners of the property. In turn, C-PACE financing strengthens the business case for investment in longer payback and deeper building retrofits beyond what may be possible with traditional financing.

Program Participation

All C-PACE projects within the Efficiency Maine C-PACE Program must be approved by Efficiency Maine. A project must be part of a commercial property located in a participating municipality (see section) in order to be eligible for C-PACE financing. Prior to seeking approval, all stakeholders involved in prospective projects are encouraged to review the Program Guidelines and Supporting Documents. An applicant may be the Property Owner, Registered Capital Provider, Technical Reviewer, associated improvement contractor, or any dedicated third party coordinating with the Property Owner, Registered Capital Provider, or Technical Reviewer. Before applying for the C-PACE Program, the applicant must ensure that it has a Qualifying Property and a Qualifying Project and has selected a Registered Capital Provider for C-PACE financing. Those seeking to submit an application for approval must follow the following process:  

Pay a Fee of $1,000 – The applicant must pay a non-refundable application fee of $1,000. This must be submitted by completing the following C-PACE Application Payment Form.    Submit an application on the Efficiency Maine C-PACE Application Portal – The applicant will be required to fill in several project details and upload all application documents listed in the Application Checklist (Article IV, section 7) of the Program Guidelines. The Trust reserves the right to request additional information as necessary in the review of any proposed project.Efficiency Maine may delay its review of the project until the Application Fee has been successfully deposited. If an application is incomplete or does not meet the standards defined within the program, the application will be denied. The applicant will have one additional opportunity to cure the application. If the application is denied a second time, the applicant would need to submit a new application and pay an additional application fee. All application fees are non-refundable.For assistance in completing the application on the C-PACE Application Portal, applicants should refer to the Project Application Guide.To track program updates, please subscribe to the Green Bank News and Updates list here on the Efficiency Maine website.

Contact the Economic and Community Development Department to learn more.