RIDLEY-THOMAS APPLAUDS BOARD'S SUPPORT FOR PROGRAM MAKING IT EASIER FOR COUNTY HOMEOWNERS TO FINANCE RENEWABLE ENERGY UPGRADES

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 25, 2010                                                                                                                Contact:    Ed Maddox 213-974-2222

                                                                                                                                                            James Bolden 213-200-5314

 

RIDLEY-THOMAS APPLAUDS BOARD’S SUPPORT FOR PROGRAM MAKING IT EASIER FOR COUNTY HOMEOWNERS TO FINANCE RENEWABLE ENERGY UPGRADES

 

Program allows property-owners to finance renewable energy upgrades through property tax assessments, resulting in long-term cost savings

 

LOS ANGELES – Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas applauded the Board’s vote today authorizing the establishment of the proposed Los Angeles County Energy Program (LACEP), a program that will allow qualified property-owners to finance renewable energy upgrades through property tax assessments, resulting in long-term cost savings.

 

At the April 6, 2010 Board the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution of intention to implement the LACEP to provide financing to qualified County property owners for the installation of distributed generation renewable projects and energy and water efficiency improvements to their respective properties.

 

By approving the implementation of the LACEP, the Board of Supervisors authorized the County’s Internal Services Department Director to enter into an agreement with property owners on behalf of the County and to establish a special fund to be used for the purpose of administering the program.

 

Supervisor Ridley-Thomas thanked the Board for approving the development of the LACEP and for embracing his plan in April 2009 allowing property owners to finance renewable energy upgrades through property tax assessments.

 

"The oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico should remind all of us that energy that we conserve is the cheapest and most available of all,” Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said.  In this time of economic crises, our green strategies must also be cost-effective.” 

 

The goal of the LACEP is to achieve 15,000 energy retrofits to single family homes in unincorporated areas of the County by the end 2012, with the potential to add $150 million to the local economy.

 

The benefits of the LACEP include the creation of an estimated 1,600 home energy retrofit jobs and as many as 1,000 ancillary jobs in other fields such as workforce development, local manufacturing, product distribution, and development.

 

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