C-PACE - A Tool to Help Pay for NYC Local Law 97

Audio Transcription

Click to go to the LL97 Audio Series Page - Episodes 1-5 

Jennifer Kearney (00:00):
I think C-PACE solves a lot of the biggest challenges for building owners in terms of "How am I going to pay for these improvements?"

Announcer (00:12):
In this episode of utiliVisor's In Conversation, Richard Angerame, president of utiliVisor, and special guest Jennifer Kearney, partner and energy procurement consultant at New York City's Gotham 360, discuss C-PACE and how it can help building owners offset costs associated with New York City's Local Law 97 Compliance.

Richard Angerame (00:36):
How do you feel about the new C-PACE program that was just approved in New York, and basically which allows you to pass back the energy reduction methodologies and implementations back through the tax base? How do you feel about that?

Jennifer Kearney (00:52):
I'm a huge fan of C-PACE. I think C-PACE solves a lot of the biggest challenges for building owners in terms of how am I going to pay for these improvements. I think we really need to work to educate the lending community because the C-PACE would be the first thing to get paid back, so the mortgage holder is going to have to become subordinate. There are not that many buildings in New York City that are just owned outright, almost everybody has a lender, but I think by educating the community of lenders on how making these improvements actually makes the asset more economically resilient, I think C-PACE has incredible potential.

Richard Angerame (01:46):
And do you think that, obviously C-PACE has not been in the marketplace, has been usually used for commercial office buildings, industrial applications, not in the state university and/or hospital market. Do you see that changing as a restriction? Why is C-PACE not being used in those applications? I think from a lending standpoint?

Jennifer Kearney (02:06):
I think that C-PACE has not taken off in the institutional community because it is delivered through the vehicle of the property tax bill. And to the extent that you're tax-exempt, you're not getting a property tax bill, but that does not preclude a not-for-profit organization, whose tax-exempt from participating. It just means that they would get a tax bill, but the only thing on it would be the C-PACE payment. It wouldn't trigger them to be subject to taxes.

Announcer (02:40):
You've been listening to utiliVisor's In Conversation, where we discuss topics such as sub-metering, energy efficiency, and energy plant optimization. Your host is Richard Angerame, president of utiliVisor, with special guest, Jennifer Kearney, partner and energy procurement consultant at Gotham 360. This program is a production of utiliVisor, a leader in submetering and energy plant optimization.

Announcer (03:07):
To contact us with comments or questions, email marketing@utilivisor.com. Our music is "Moments Like This" from Telestream's ScreenFlow library. Thanks for listening. Please note that this program should not be considered professional advice. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented here are for general information only. The opinions and views expressed in this episode are solely those of the individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of any agency, organization, or company. This program was recorded in 2021, copyright utiliVisor.