Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy Financing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senators debate CPACE financing bill S256 and carry it over for further review
Summary
Senator Finn Buford introduced S256, the South Carolina Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resilience Act (CPACE). Senators debated lien mechanics and government involvement; sponsor said administrative costs fall on property owners and lenders and the bill was carried over for additional questions.
Senator Finn Buford described S256 as legislation to authorize local governments to adopt a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resilience (CPACE) program by ordinance, allowing lenders to finance resiliency and energy-efficiency improvements secured by an assessment recorded as a property-tax-style statutory lien.
Buford told the Senate the assessment would be paid annually and failure to make the assessment could trigger a property-tax sale. He said the perfection of a CPACE lien would require the consent of an existing mortgage holder in order to be perfected. Senator Bright questioned whether the government would effectively act as a collections agent for private green-energy lenders; Buford replied that administration expenses would be borne by the property owner and the lender, not by government, though lien perfection and foreclosure would rely on existing property-tax statutory mechanisms.
Following the discussion, senators asked to carry the bill over to allow additional questions and time for amendments; the bill was carried over by unanimous consent to a future calendar. Sponsor and opponents agreed to return with clarifying language and answers on lien perfection, mortgage-holder consent, and foreclosure procedures.
Next steps: S256 will be carried over for further work and potential amendments before a subsequent reading or vote.
