Service Offering

PACE Administration

VPA’s core service offering is the provision of PACE administration for cities and counties in Virginia. We are committed to serving Virginia, and believe that there is a significant benefit to firms with local roots and experience providing such service. While we are dedicated to customizing each program based on the needs of the locality we are working with, there are several core tenets of program administration that we always try to maintain:

  • Low program administration fees
  • An open market for all qualified service providers
  • Transparency in operation and conduct
  • Standardization of core processes
  • An overarching public benefit orientation

Abby Johnson presenting at the Virginia Economic Development Association in late March 2019

If you represent a city or county in Virginia interested in learning more about PACE and how it can benefit your community at no cost to your taxpayers, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Our Approach to PACE

VPA’s “Open Source” model follows an approach adopted in some of the most successful PACE states:

  • The Program Administrator sets minimum professional qualifications for project design firms, energy audit firms and private lenders. Property owners may choose a pre-qualified service provider or they may propose their own. The working group was inspired by C-PACE Program Administrators that rely – whenever possible – on local firms for the services that can be procured in the private sector. Competition keeps the cost low for property owners, and cultivates a local industry knowledgeable in energy efficiency. The administrator’s role is to ensure that the project meets the eligibility criteria set by the local government, and to assisting in servicing the PACE assessment loan over the term, as required.
  • Local governments handle the enforcement of the C-PACE assessment in the normal course of their tax administration, as they do for the numerous public bonds and special assessments already in place. This increases legal certainty for PACE lenders and building owners and decreases costs.