Howell adopts clean energy program for property owners

Tess Ware, Livingston Daily
Updated ·2 min read
Howell City Council unanimously approved a resolution stating its intent to establish a PACE program in the city.
Howell City Council unanimously approved a resolution stating its intent to establish a PACE program in the city.

HOWELL — The city of Howell intends to establish a program aiming to encourage the use of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements by property owners.

In a meeting Monday, Aug. 14, the Howell City Council unanimously passed a resolution stating its intent to establish a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program in the city. The program would allow the older buildings in Howell to retain their historic charm, while still being upgraded and energy efficient.

It was brought to the attention of the city by the owner of the Howell Health Hub, 645 W. Grand River Ave., who faced unexpected issues during his renovation when he needed to invest in energy efficiency upgrades for the HVAC systems, windows, doors, among others.

“PACE is set up as a way to enable property owners to get private investment into their property and utilize that towards various number of things,” John Wylie of Lean and Green Michigan told the council. Lean and Green Michigan is a company that acts as a PACE administrator to help property owners finance renewable energy projects.

Ann Arbor SPARK Economic Development has also been involved in bringing the PACE program to Howell.

Marcia Gebarowski, director of business development in Livingston County, said she would like to see the program adopted county-wide eventually.

“Ultimately, the goal is to increase energy efficiency and for the encouragement of existing buildings to have that investment in upgrades,” Gebarowski told The Daily. “It's good for the business knowing that they do have that next generation of HVAC supporting the building, supporting the use of that building. For the municipality, I think it's good because it's keeping buildings actively in use in the community.”

Subscribe: Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage

According to the city council meeting packet, the city will have no out-of-pocket costs for the project and would only become involved if the PACE recipient doesn’t make their loan payments, at which time, the payments would be assessed to their property tax.

Howell will be the second area municipality to adopt the PACE program after Hartland. The resolution set by the council also set a public hearing regarding the PACE plans for 7 p.m. Monday, August 28, in the council chambers.

More information about the PACE program is available at energy.gov/scep/slsc/property-assessed-clean-energy-programs.

— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @tess_journalist.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Howell adopts clean energy program for property owners