To: Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology
From: David Gibson, Sierra Club Maine
Date: February 25, 2021
Re: Testimony in Support of LD 340 An Act To Allow for the Establishment of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs
Senator Lawrence, Representative Berry, and members of the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology: my name is David Gibson, and I represent Sierra Club Maine and our 22,000 supporters and members across the state. We voice our support for this legislation: LD 340 An Act To Allow for the Establishment of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs.
This bill will help commercial buildings to implement efficiency and clean energy projects. The upfront cost of these projects is a significant barrier to their implementation. Buildings are a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Maine, and this bill will help to fund improvements that will reduce their carbon emissions.
Improving building efficiency decreases the rate of mortgage default. A 2013 study by the University of North Carolina Institute for Market Transformation looked at residential mortgage defaults (https://www.imt.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMT_UNC_HomeEEMortgageRisksfinal.pdf). They found that efficient buildings were less likely to go into default, and the more efficient a building is, the lower the risk of default becomes. This makes sense. If your building is inefficient, you will have higher and less predictable energy costs, which can affect your ability to pay the mortgage. While this study was only looking at residential buildings, it seems clear that the same would hold true for businesses. Investing in the efficiency of a building will reduce long-term energy expenses and can both improve cashflow for the business and increase the value of the building.
There are 24 other states with active Commercial PACE programs (https://pacenation.org/pace-programs/), with several others in development. We hope that Maine joins their ranks this year.
Thank you Senator Sanborn for bringing this forward.
We ask this committee to vote
LD 340 Ought to Pass.