he and other cop21 attendees, including fellow guest speaker des moines, iowa, mayor frank cownie, gathered on jan. 19 to debrief at holland & knight’s washington, d.c., offices.

diringer said the delegates drew on lessons and experiences of the past 20 years, and represented a “hybrid approach” to the problem, drawing on national and local governments and well as “non-state actors.” while he hesitated to call the agreement “historic,” as time will tell, he did say the signatories  “emerged with a genuine sense of accomplishment.”

the first planet forward salon of the year focused on the agreement’s next steps: how will it affect us and the future of our cities, worldwide?

diringer pointed out three major takeaways that he felt would affect both cities and local governments.

first, the agreement establishes a “multilateral structure” to taking on climate change.

“the major factor that will drive the overall process is a new level of transparency,” he said, through data, evaluation and meetings every five years. this will instill a greater confidence that everyone is pitching in their fair share. he referred to this as a “cycle of ambition,” which will drive processes and accomplishments — because agreements aren’t enough.

second, “cop21 resulted in a commitment for a ‘nationally determined contribution’” that will drive countries to put policies into place that will help them achieve their goals.

third, is the signal that the success at cop21 clearly sent, worldwide.

“it is a signal, a message, that these targets are now accepted, agreed upon and should drive decision-making,” he said. the question now, diringer said, is “does it affect how prepared we are to act? and how will it shape politics from a national level to city councils?”

as someone leading on the local level — and a signatory on the 2014 compact of mayors — mayor cownie reinforced the goals and ambitions he has stated for des moines. the city’s aiming for a 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and 50% by 2050 — though cownie said he’s “hoping to be net zero by 2050.”

“we have to do something,” cownie said. “and we’ve got to respond right now.”

cownie also addressed concerns over the politicization of the terms “sustainability” and “climate change.”

“one of my fears is, at the local level, we try to operate as nonpartisan,” said cownie, a democrat. but what happens when we elect the next president, or our next mayor — and their vision doesn’t align with the efforts of the current leader, he said.

“as voters, we need to elect those who will support these (environmental) initiatives,” cownie said.

public discourse is also conducted with that nonpartisan angle. “it’s an education process; i talk about our local initiatives,” he said. “i don’t use ‘sustainability’ exactly,” but climate events, such as floods, and water quality are things that will get people to listen, cownie said.

“it’s interesting how we need to run away from the issue to run toward it,” said frank sesno, the chief executive for planet forward and director of george washington university’s school of media and public affairs, referring to how the use of particular language needs to be limited in order to achieve positive environmental outcomes.

while several other issues were discussed at this salon, the representatives agreed that one of the biggest takeaways from cop21 was that environmental concerns should be handled from the bottom-up rather than top-down. this means that these concerns should be initially addressed by local citizens and governments, rather than the federal government.

the paris agreement was a major moment, diringer said. “it is a huge step forward.”

but “we need to stop making this a partisan issue and do what we need to do. especially for young people,” said beth viola, the board chair at planet forward and senior policy advisor at holland & knight. “it’s up to you guys.”

planet forward staff contributed to this report.

(mayor frank cownie of des moines, iowa, speaks at the salon on tuesday, jan. 19. fellow guest speaker elliot diringer, the executive vice president of the center for climate and energy solutions, sits on cownie’s right. / photo by devin greene)

municipal property tax assessment financing
removing key barriers to residential solar
jd polk
february 2009

abstract: this paper outlines a new residential solar financing option, and provides a policy primer on how to replicate the model in cities and towns across america. the financing mechanism, known as the berkeley financing initiative for renewable and solar technology(first) model, allows property owners to roll the price of a residential solar installation into a 20-year increased property tax assessment. in this model a city or county authorizes municipal bonds to cover the capital costs of the renewable energy projects.

the first model represents a breakthrough in residential solar deployment by removing a key barrier to solar adoption: high upfront capital costs. this voluntary, opt-in property tax assessment model has the potential to dramatically increase the penetration of residential solar systems, helping municipalities achieve renewable energy generation and climate change goals. in this paper the benefits and challenges of the model, both to property owners and to municipalities, are explained. the paper concludes with a policy discussion of the steps needed to implement this financing tool in other jurisdictions.

introduction
innovations in the financing of solar systems are as important to market adoption of solar
installations as innovations in solar technology. in this paper we explore a new financing
method currently being deployed in berkeley, california that will allow consumers to purchase solar for their homes and businesses with very little, if any, up-front capital cost. the financing initiative for renewable and solar technology (first) model has the potential to spur widespread adoption of small-scale solar systems (as well as energy efficiency retrofits) in u.s. homes and small businesses. the purpose of this paper is to describe this new finance tool, noting its benefits and potential pitfalls, and to provide policy makers with a primer for implementing this option in additional communities across america.

the berkeley first model
in 2007, residential solar energy systems in berkeley, california were selling for roughly
$12,000 – $40,000 for a 2 -5kw system, and throughout the city approximately 400 solar
photovoltaic (pv) systems, averaging 2.6 kw, had been installed on homes. adoption of solar was progressing, but not at a pace fast enough to help berkeley meet its voter-adopted climate change goal. city officials, led by cisco devries, the then-chief of staff to mayor tom bates, decided that the local government should intervene to speed up the shift to renewable sources of energy. what emerged was the berkeley first program.

“we needed to find a way to help people finance solar and energy efficiency programs in a way that eliminated the high upfront cost,” said devries. 2 the first program is a property-tax assessment program that allows property owners – both residential and commercial- to pay for the installation of solar systems (electric or thermal) and energy efficiency improvements to their buildings through their property tax bills, spanning a twenty-year duration. under the program, individuals wishing to install solar will still contract directly with qualified private solar installers. rather than paying the up-front cost of the solar system, the customer will instead opt-in to the city’s first financing program and pay a bi-annual assessment bundled into their local property taxes that covers the project’s costs, including fixed interest rates and administrative fees. berkeley’s analysis shows that for many residents, the yearly assessment will be less or equal to the electricity savings throughout the year.

the city of berkeley will be able to provide the upfront funds for the solar and energy efficiency projects by issuing taxable municipal bonds, which will be reimbursed as participating property owners, pay their tax bills for the subsequent 20 years. the basic principal of the program is that solar should be financed like most capital-intensive purchases these days – a new car, a major
home repair – through long-term payment plans that alleviate much, if not all, of the up-front capital expense.