Property Assessed Clean Energy bonds would accelerate retrofitting

Hilo, Hawaii – video by David Corrigan

Governor Linda Lingle encouraged a Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce business crowd in Hilo to support a final effort to keep a clean energy loan program alive on Wednesday.

The governor says politics threaten to defeat HB2643, which “establishes a clean energy bond loan program for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements on residential and commercial properties.”

The bill would have allowed qualified Hawaii residents and businesses to retrofit their home or building with energy saving / creating equipment, like photovoltaic panels or insulation, without paying money up front. The projects would be financed with a state loan repaid through the annual property tax bills of the owner. The governor says the bill would have been an excellent “green” energy bill as well as an economic stimulus.

The governor says that although the program is a success in many other states, last minute “questions have been raised” that threaten to put the passage of the measure off for months. Lingle says and that all the supposed questions have already been satisfied, and she believes the sudden legislative stall is a matter of politics.

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