Lawrence committee hears PACE presentation as city weighs opting into commercial clean‑energy financing

Connor Glenn, a member of the Green Finance team at MassDevelopment, told the Lawrence City Intergovernmental Relations Committee on May 12 that the Property Assessed Clean Energy program — commonly called PACE or CPACE for commercial properties — allows commercial property owners to finance energy-efficiency upgrades and qualifying new construction with repayment attached to the property tax bill.

"PACE stands for property assessed clean energy," Glenn said, explaining that the program covers measures from HVAC and insulation to solar and geothermal and can be used retroactively within an 18‑month window after a project is completed. He said financing is privately provided, recorded as a betterment assessment on the property tax bill, and repaid on the city's billing cycle; MassDevelopment handles application review with the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and prepares closing documents.

Frank Serillo, Lawrence's economic development director, introduced the item (Item 18826), saying MassDevelopment staff would present materials to the committee and the full council. Glenn said the maximum financing term allowed is 20 years under state statute, DOER reviews technical guidelines and a "savings to investment" ratio is required for existing properties to show projected energy-cost savings exceed project costs.

MassDevelopment presented statewide context: dozens of states run PACE programs, and Glenn cited roughly $9.7 billion financed across some 3,500 CPACE projects nationally (figures presented by the presenter). In Massachusetts, Glenn said 83 municipalities had authorized CPACE as of this month and MassDevelopment has registered a roster of capital providers; he named Zions Bank as the current paying agent that receives municipal remittances and passes payments to the capital provider.

Glenn described eligible property types (commercial, industrial, hotels, offices, restaurants; multifamily properties of five units or more qualify as commercial) and said nonprofit properties can access PACE where the city can generate a property tax billing record even if the tax amount is zero. He gave examples of past Massachusetts projects — a historic redevelopment in Greenfield, industrial projects in Boston and a seafood processing facility in New Bedford — and said MassDevelopment's Massachusetts portfolio had not exceeded $1.1 million on any single deal to date, though larger transactions exist nationally.

Committee members probed who would benefit. Chair Conor de Rosario said he feared the program would favor large incoming developments and not smaller, existing properties in neighborhoods he represents. "To me, this is basically what's coming," Rosario said, urging clarity on whether the program would help longtime local owners. He raised concerns that assessments tied to a property could be an extra expense for owners with credit or income challenges and contrasted PACE with Mass Energy programs that he said are tied to the person rather than the property.

Glenn and Serillo said the opt-in requires a one-time vote by the full city council and that the presentation and sample resolution would be provided to the council for that action; MassDevelopment emphasized that PACE financing is private capital and that mortgage-holder consent is required where a mortgage exists.

The committee approved routine minutes by voice vote earlier in the meeting; no formal council vote on Item 18826 occurred during this session. Committee members requested additional community education and clarification about how the program would affect small property owners and neighborhoods before forwarding a resolution to the full council.

Next steps: MassDevelopment will provide the full PowerPoint to the full council and the council must take a one-time vote to opt Lawrence into the PACE program before any projects could enroll.