Commission approves Tennessee PACE as third‑party administrator for CPACE program

The commission accepted staff’s recommendation to designate Tennessee PACE as the third‑party administrator for the county’s commercial PACE (CPACE) program.

County staff explained CPACE is a financing mechanism that helps property owners pay for energy-efficiency and conservation improvements; the financing is provided by private lenders, and County involvement is limited to placing a special assessment on a property that gives the lender priority in repayment under state law. Staff said the selected third‑party administrator will manage program operations; the county will not loan money and will incur minimal review costs because the program’s fees are paid by project participants.

Staff said two proposals were evaluated and both had positive references, but Tennessee PACE showed more experience implementing CPACE projects. Commissioners asked about costs to the county; staff replied the third‑party administrator’s work is paid by the project and that the county would only incur minimal review time.

Commissioners moved, seconded and approved the staff recommendation; a roll-call vote at committee recorded all in favor.

"PACE is a program that allows financing to help do improvements to efficiency, and conservation in construction," staff said on the record. "It stays with the property... the county doesn't loan the money, doesn't pay back the money... it is all done with private lenders."

Next steps: staff will finalize the administrator agreement and return to the commission if additional formal approvals are required.