(Toledo, OH) The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority wants to expand its home energy-efficiency program statewide.
20 Northwest Ohio homeowners already have taken advantage of the Property-Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE program, to fund advanced energy and energy efficiency upgrades such as HVAC systems, windows, doors, and hot water heaters.
The program allows property owners to repay the costs of those home improvements through special assessments levied and collected on their property tax bills. The port authority put $300,000 in seed money into that pilot program, but the economic development agency now plans to take the program statewide through a partnership with Renovate America using bond financing.
Renovate America currently runs a similar program in California, Missouri and Florida. The port authority's expanded residential program will be known as the Ohio Home Energy Renovation Opportunity, or Ohio HERO program.