HUD PowerSaver Pilot Loan Program

by Shana Fong on January 14, 2011
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The Lawrence Berkley National Lab (LBNL) has just released a financing Policy brief on the creation of a pilot loan program for home energy improvements put together by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), planned for introduction in early 2011.The PowerSaver loan program is a new, energy-focused variant of the Title I Property Improvement Loan Insurance Program (Title I Program). The PowerSaver pilot will provide lender insurance for secured and unsecured loans up to $25,000 to single family homeowners. These loans will specifically target residential energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements. HUD estimates the two-year pilot will fund approximately 24,000 loans worth up to $300 million; the program is not capped. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), HUD’s mortgage insurance unit, will provide up to $25 million in grants as incentives to participating lenders. FHA is seeking lenders in communities with existing programs for promoting residential energy upgrades.

More info on the program is available through HUD: FHA PowerSaver

Recurve Software Approved for Northern Virginia Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Pilot

by Shana Fong on January 11, 2011
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Recurve Software has been approved for use in North Virginia’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR pilot program. This program represents a new approach by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to work directly with home performance contractors, cutting down on program implementation and administrative costs.

For more information on the NoVa Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, check out their website.

Important Updates to Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficient Upgrades

by Shana Fong on January 10, 2011
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The tax credits known as 25C are extended through 2011, but at a significantly reduced value and with changes made to some of the qualifying equipment standards. The new tax credits begin on January 1, 2011 and last through December 31, 2011. The main difference is an eligible homeowner can claim 10% of the costs for the installation of qualified energy efficient improvements, capped at $500.

Under the new law the max a homeowner could claim on equipment is:

  • $300 for a qualified central air conditioner and heat pump (HVAC and hot water equipments)
  • $150 for a qualified furnace or hot water boiler
  • $50 for any advanced main air circulating fan.
  • $300 for Qualified hot water heaters

The new law will also increase the qualifying standards for hot water boilers, including natural gas, propane, oil furnaces, and oil boilers to 95% AFUE. The qualifying standards for natural gas furnaces and propane furnace remain at 95% AFUE.

The qualifying standard for central air conditioners and heat pumps, which were modified by the Stimulus bill in 2009, are not changed.

The major difference is the new law reinstates the lifetime credit caps of 2005. This means any homeowner who has claimed more than $500 in 25C tax credits since January 1, 2005, is disqualified from any further credits.

Another major question is whether someone can still get the $1,500 tax credit who signs a contract for work before Dec 31,2010 even if the actual work isn’t done until 2011. The work must be completed by December 31, 2010 in order to qualify for the $1,500 cap. If the qualifying improvements are completed before January 1, 2011, then you may still claim the $1,500 cap.

To read the Tax Provision of 2009 ending Dec 31, 2010, click here to be redirected to the IRS page.

To read the Original Tax Provision of 2005, click here to be redirected to the IRS page.

“This information is provided to you as a courtesy by Recurve and should not be considered tax or accounting advice. You are urged to consult an accountant or tax attorney if you wish to have certainty about your tax claims.”

Energy efficient federal tax credits extended for a year

by Shana Fong on December 21, 2010
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A few days ago, Congress and President Obama passed legislation that extends federal tax credits for energy-saving upgrades another year. The tax credits were set to expire at the end of 2010 but have been extended until December 31, 2011. However, the incentive has been reduced to 10%, up to $500.

Included are provisions limiting window incentives to $200, oil and gas furnace and boiler incentives to $150-200, and water heater and wood heating system incentives to $300. As part of the legislation, Congress tightening the specifications for oil furnaces and boilers and gas boilers to 95% efficiency, up from the 90% efficiency in current credit.

VP Biden Announces Home Energy Score Program

by Shana Fong on November 12, 2010
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With the new Home Energy Score, consumers will find out how their home compares with others and how much money they could save by adding insulation, sealing air leaks or doing other upgrades. Ten U.S. communities will test the score, similar to a miles-per-gallon label for cars, before it’s rolled out nationally next summer.

“Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy,” says Vice President Biden

The program is designed to encourage homeowners to make energy-saving upgrades and to jump-start the industry for home energy retrofits, Biden said in a statement. It will also include financing for homeowners (up to $25,000) and software that will let energy contractors give consumers the home efficiency equivalent of miles per gallon for cars.

Sources:
CNET
USA Today

SF Offering More Efficiency Rebates

by Shana Fong on September 7, 2010
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The city of San Francisco has started to offer up to $2,000 in incentives for energy efficiency improvements. According to the San Francisco Business Times, the program is funded by a $3.2 billion program from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. California was awarded $49.6 million from that for its Energy Efficiency Conservation and Block Grant Program. San Francisco got $7.7 million, which is enough to fund 400 energy efficiency upgrades, said Raymond Manion, energy specialist at the San Francisco Department of the Environment.

These rebates can be used on top of the latest incentives from PG&E (up to $3,500). And combined with federal rebates and the Cash for Appliances program, homeowners can get a total of up to $8,000 for making their home more energy-wise. Sounds like a win-win situation for everyone!

Contact Recurve today at 877.303.0979 to get started. Hurry though – these funds are extremely limited. Cash for Appliances is 60% gone and tax credits expire this year.

HOME STAR Legislation Idled Until Fall as Energy Bill Stalls in the Senate

by Shana Fong on August 6, 2010
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on Tuesday that he will postpone a vote on the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010 until after the August recess. Reid told reporters that the scaled-down energy bill, which includes the proposed HOME STAR retrofit incentive and financing program, lacks enough votes to pass this week. Here’s how Politico summed up the situation:

It initially appeared that the slender offshore drilling package was a “must-pass” bill with political momentum, but it became evident during the past week that Reid lacked the votes within his own caucus to force the issue as the Republicans held firm against it.

Central to the offshore drilling reform bill was a title to eliminate the $75 million liability cap on damages oil companies must pay in the case of spills and other disasters. Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), both close allies of the oil industry, made clear they opposed that provision.

The deeply partisan atmosphere in the Senate ensured that there would be no opportunity to amend the bill with a scaled-down compromise liability title. Reid’s staff had made clear that if the bill were to come to the floor, it would be subject to a only straight up or down vote.

Supporters of the HOME STAR legislation are now focusing their efforts on a renewed push to get the law enacted in the fall when Congress is back in session.

Read the full Politico report here: www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40597.html.

Policy Updates

by Matt Golden on July 19, 2010
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HOME STAR endorsements continue to grow, now includes U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Support continues to grow for the bipartisan Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, which passed the House of Representatives in May and now has 25 co-sponsors in the Senate. Meanwhile, the United States Chamber of Commerce has added its highly influential voice to the growing call for swift passage of the HOME STAR legislation; in a letter to Senate leaders on June 22, R. Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s Executive Vice President for Government Affairs, said:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, supports S. 3434, the “Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010,” which would provide a solid framework for a worthwhile, incentive-based program that would create American jobs while saving energy.

The home retrofit industry is a uniquely American industry: the vast majority of windows, doors, and insulation for these retrofits are manufactured in the United States. Since 2006, this industry has been decimated, with more than 650,000 jobs lost. The incentives provided by S. 3434 would create good, living-wage jobs for American workers, while providing homeowners the ability to make a substantial dent in their overall energy costs.

The Chamber supports S. 3434 and hopes this important legislation is considered by the full Senate in the near term.

Visit www.efficiencyfirst.org/home-star to learn more about the proposed HOME STAR incentive program, and about how you can join the trade association Efficiency First and other national organizations in supporting this important legislation.

A free Webinar recording at www.utilityexchange.org/webinar/20100701 will help your shop get ready for HOME STAR’s performance-based GOLD STAR incentive with a road map to BPI accreditation.

PACE programs stalled by federal mortgage regulators
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs across the country have been suspended following recent actions by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored corporations that back most home mortgages in the United States. The problem is that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie and Freddie, doesn’t like the idea of PACE liens taking precedence over mortgages in foreclosure proceedings—despite the fact that energy improvements typically increase the value of a home, and the potential financial impact on the mortgage industry is comparatively small.

PACE programs, which allow property owners to pay for a wide range of energy improvements with loans attached to their property tax assessments, have been lauded as an innovative, transformative financing model for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. But in May, Fannie and Freddie started spreading the word among commercial lenders that properties with energy improvement liens that are senior to mortgage debt would not meet FHFA underwriting standards. The FHFA confirmed the new policy on July 6 when it issued guidelines that have effectively made it impossible for homeowners to get approval for mortgages on homes with pace liens attached. (A grandfather cause exempts PACE loans issued before July 6.)
That leaves homeowners and contractors caught in the crossfire as most PACE programs have stopped making loans, projects are being suspended, and $150 million in federal stimulus funding allocated to PACE financing is being diverted to other programs. However, at least one prominent PACE program—the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) in Northern California—has announced that it will continue to issue energy improvement loans in defiance of federal mortgage regulators, “predicated on the SCEIP providing full and complete disclosure about program participation to any potential applicants and ensuring the public fully understands the consequences of participation.”

PACE advocates around the country are pushing for a judicial or legislative solution to the impasse. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed suit in United States District Court seeking reversal of the FHFA ruling, and on July 15, Rep. Mike Thompson and 29 other members of Congress introduced the PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010, which would force Fannie and Freddie to adopt underwriting guidelines that support PACE lending. But for now at least, most homeowners will have to find other ways to finance energy improvement projects.

PACE Programs Shut Down by Loan Giants

by Shana Fong on July 7, 2010
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Discouraging news on the status of PACE financing began to leak out of Washington this holiday weekend with reports that the Obama administration has failed to persuade the Federal Housing Finance Agency to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to accept mortgages on properties with PACE liens attached. Late Friday, PACE financing pioneer Cisco DeVries of California-based Renewable Funding circulated an e-mail message to PACE advocates stating that:

Unfortunately, the discussions between the Obama Administration and the FHFA have not been successful. DOE and the White House have informed us that the senior lien — regardless of how structured, accelerated, or insured — is not acceptable to the regulators. New guidance from Fannie and Freddie to this effect is due out soon. DOE has begun notifying ARRA grant recipients that they probably want to start moving their grant funds away from residential PACE.

A subsequent report in the New York Times confirmed that Cathy Zoi, the DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, had contacted DeVries to say that “the administration needed to begin contingency planning on what to do with stimulus funding for PACE.” The Times also quoted Ben Pearlman, a county commissioner in Boulder, Colorado, who received a similar call from Secretary Zoi saying that “in light of the circumstances we should look at other ways of financing energy efficiency with the stimulus money.”

Although Fannie, Freddie and the FHFA have yet to issue formal guidelines regarding PACE liens, local governments across the country are freezing their property-assessed lending programs pending government action that would clear the way for PACE lending to resume.

Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman, head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have sent a letter urging administration officials to “quickly identify, agree on and publish guidelines that would allow PACE financing programs to continue while ensuring that both taxpayer and private mortgage investments are protected.” And the Washington Post has cited an anonymous source within the Department of Energy saying that the DOE is “seeking protection for homeowners who have already taken on PACE financing.”

Minimal financial impact: Earlier on Friday, before these latest reports began to surface, the Times‘ Todd Woody posted a thought-provoking analysis suggesting that the potential liability related to PACE liens would be tiny:

Putting aside whether such liens are any different from the property tax assessments commonly used to finance municipal improvements, how big a potential liability would Fannie and Freddie face?

Not very big, according to an analysis by the California attorney general’s office.

In a June 22 letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, Ken Alex, a senior assistant attorney general, cited the example of a homeowner who obtains $15,000 in financing from a PACE program to pay for a solar array and energy efficiency upgrades.

With a 7 percent interest rate and a 20-year payback term, the annual assessment on the homeowner’s property tax bill would be about $1,500.

“At the time of foreclosure for failing to pay the mortgage, it is likely that at most, one PACE assessment of $1,500 would have achieved priority lien status,” Mr. Alex wrote.

“This exercise suggests that with a portfolio of Fannie/Freddie mortgages that have PACE liens, assuming a high foreclosure rate of 10 percent, PACE seniority would average $150 per home,” he added. “Using a more reasonable foreclosure rate of 5 percent, average PACE seniority per home would be a mere $75.”

More on this topic:

Berkeley Residents: New Program Gives You Money to Upgrade Your Home’s Efficiency

by Shana Fong on June 30, 2010
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Berkeley’s ME2 Program (Money for Energy Efficiency) program provides up to $5,000 in rebates to qualifying homeowners in single-family residences and duplexes. Rebates go up to $8,500 in conjunction with a PG&E program (PG&E’s Comprehensive Residential Retrofit Pilot Program).

How Does the ME2 Program Work?

  • You must get a home energy audit to qualify for the rebates
  • Since the program is sponsored by the city of Berkeley, you must own a single-family home or duplex in the city and meet certain income guidelines. You must be up-to-date on your taxes and liens.
  • Recurve will help you apply for the ME2 rebate program which is available based on a lottery system based on applications received during a 2 week period (July 6- 20). People who will get the rebates will be selected at random from the pool of applicants after July 20th at midnight
  • Special financing is available through Recurve – if you want to finance the net (after rebate) cost of your home improvements

When is the ME2 Program Available?
Sign up for a home energy audit now. The ME2 Program is taking applications for the lottery July 6 – 20, 2010. It’s likely the money will run out during these 2 weeks, but if it doesn’t, they’ll accept applications on a first come, first serve basis after the 20th. The PG&E Pilot Program will have money available for a longer timeframe.

Full details here: http://www.recurve.com/what-we-do/financing/berkeley1/

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