VPA announces new board members

The Virginia PACE Authority (VPA) is pleased to announce the addition of Sydney Covey and Sandi McNinch to its Board of Directors beginning this year.

Read the press release.

The new statewide C-PACE program is live

The new Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) state-wide program is now active and open to localities wishing to participate.

The Virginia PACE Authority (VPA) is administering the program for the Virginia Department of Energy (Virginia Energy). C-PACE will help grow Virginia’s energy efficiency, renewable energy and resiliency improvements in commercial properties.

See the press release.

VPA will assist Virginia Energy in creating and administering a state-wide PACE program

The Virginia Department of Energy has contracted Virginia PACE Authority to assist in creating and administering a state-wide C-PACE program.

Download the Virginia Department of Energy press release here.

City of Alexandria Launches C-PACE Energy Program

The City of Alexandria has launched a new Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program.

Read the press release here.

VPA Selected as Finalist of RISE 2020 Coastal Community Resiliency Challenge

RISE Announces Six Finalists of the 2020 Coastal Community Resilience Challenges

For Immediate Release
Paul Robinson
RISE Executive Director
(757) 258-0500
paulrobinson@riseresilience.org

Norfolk, Va., April 14, 2020 – RISE is pleased to announce six finalists of the 2020 Coastal Community Resilience Challenges. The Challenges sought small businesses with innovative solutions around major resilience issues that can be demonstrated in the Hampton Roads region of coastal Virginia, can be built into sustainable businesses, and are scalable to other communities.

The Resilience Challenges in need of innovation included Flood Management, Data Analytics, Protection of Buildings, Re-establishing Critical Utilities, and Reconnecting Neighborhoods. RISE sourced the Challenges from diverse entities operating in coastal environments and each Challenge has an actual occurrence in Hampton Roads.

The finalists will pitch to the $2 million RISE Resilience Innovation Fund. The winners will be announced in early May 2020. In addition to funding, teams will get access to resources from the Resilience Innovation Hub & Testbed. The 2020 cohort will join the six businesses from the RISE 2018 inaugural Challenge which are already using Hampton Roads as a testbed to refine their solutions and scale them into sustainable business opportunities.

“Through these competitions, and the establishment of a resilience hub, the region has become a hospitable real-world living laboratory for companies, where the products and services we need to adapt to the impacts of climate change can be demonstrated locally and applied globally. We provide essential support to nurture these entrepreneurs, from financial assistance to facilitating access to real-world demonstration spaces, data, and mentors,” said Dr. Paul Robinson, RISE’s Executive Director.

“By incentivizing entrepreneurs to set up shop in RISE’s resilience hub in Hampton Roads, Virginia, we can develop cutting-edge solutions to resilience challenges and scale these solutions into thriving businesses, helping communities tackle the threats of climate change while creating jobs and bolstering local economies,” said Dr. Katerina Oskarsson, RISE’s Chief Strategy Officer.

RISE will continue to provide more opportunities for small businesses in the coastal adaptation and resilience sector. Applications to the RISE Urban Mobility Resilience Challenge offering up to $500,000 in funding are open until June 1^st, 2020, with more Challenges launching in the fall of 2020.

Meet the Finalists
Inundata proposes to demonstrate a data driven approach to resilience that would provide flood tracking, early warning system, and an analytics platform for decision makers.

Natrx proposes to advance mobile manufacturing units to efficiently produce nature-based, custom shoreline protection structures to reduce coastal flooding and overall project costs while enhancing ecological outcomes.

Re:Public proposes to pilot a mapping platform for the non-mapping professionals to access and communicate community risk information, quantify impacts to infrastructure & population, and provide end-to-end analysis of flood impacts with benefit analysis of resilience investments.

StormSensor proposes to advance its “Google traffic maps for sewer & stormwater” systems to provide real-time stormwater flow monitoring, tidal backflow alerts, and cost effective storm event analysis.

Virginia PACE Authority proposes to pilot a platform which will accelerate and incentivize the retrofit of buildings with resilient improvements by creating a funding marketplace.

WeatherCheck proposes to expand an artificial intelligence-powered tool to monitor properties for severe weather-related damages and loss, facilitating a faster claim resolution and next-generation risk analysis for homeowners and the insurance industry.

About RISE
RISE is a non-profit, economic development organization with a mission to accelerate innovation and business growth around solutions to coastal communities’ resilience challenges. RISE provides businesses resources to develop, test and scale the next generation resilience solutions for coastal communities.

Virginia PACE Authority, with Support from PACE Financial Servicing and Slipstream, Designated Program Administrator of Fairfax County, VA

11/18/2019

Fairfax County Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 18, 2019

Virginia PACE Authority, with support from PACE Financial Servicing and Slipstream, designated Program Administrator of Fairfax County, VA.

Fairfax County, Va. – Fairfax County has become the fifth jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia to initiate a C-PACE program through the passage of a C-PACE enabling ordinance and selection of a program administrator. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved its enabling ordinance on March 19, 2019. The County issued RFP2000002866-2 to procure a third-party program administrator, to which the Virginia PACE Authority responded and was subsequently awarded a contract on November 14, 2019.

The Virginia PACE Authority (VPA) provides Commercial PACE (C-PACE) program administration services exclusively for Virginia cities and counties. VPA is currently the program administrator for Loudoun County and the City of Petersburg. VPA is committed to implementing an open market C-PACE program model known as “VA-PACE” as a cost-effective, streamlined alternative for financing energy efficiency, renewable energy and resiliency projects. Abby Johnson is the founder and Executive Director of VPA. She is recognized nationally as a C-PACE expert and has worked since 2014 to implement C-PACE in Virginia. Abby was instrumental in getting C-PACE legislation passed in Virginia in 2015 and 2019 and is supported by her Board of Directors consisting of C-PACE experts from the lending, legal, and energy contracting fields.

Both PACE Financial Servicing (PFS) and Slipstream support Ms. Johnson’s efforts in Virginia. PFS designs, implements, and administers C-PACE programs throughout the country and will assist with marketing and loan servicing for the Fairfax C-PACE program. Slipstream is also a nationally recognized program administrator and will support VPA in application management and technical review through their C-PACE technology platform.

In accordance with the terms of their proposal to administer the Fairfax County C-PACE Program, VPA is the lead contractor while PFS and Slipstream will support its efforts in marketing and implementing the program.