Rep. Hayworth Talks Energy in Bedford Hills

BEDFORD HILLS, NY-- Congresswoman Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y) visited Bedford Hills Tuesday morning to hold a press conference on the importance of the PACE Protection Act, a clean energy program which is in the first step of the legislative process.

PACE, which stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy, is a voluntary program regarding local government initiatives, allowing home and property owners to assess energy-wasting problems by using local contractors. The contractors evaluate the property and then suggest efforts to reduce energy costs, along with improving the quality of living.

“It’s a great way of helping our homeowners and property owners save on energy costs, it helps our environment, and it creates jobs,” Hayworth said.

While PACE could be seen as a “win-win-win” as Hayworth describes, the federal government placed a bump in the road for the program as it declared that property owners could not participate if they held mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

That is a “big problem,” Hayworth said, “because 90 percent of mortgages are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Bedford Councilman David Gabrielson said that the Federal Housing Finance Agency did not want to get behind PACE assessment payments in the event of a foreclosure.

But Gabrielson, who is the executive director of PACE Now, said, “We’ve calculated that risk to being very, very small.”

If passed, the Protection Act would reverse the federal housing finance agency’s position, which in turn would increase the availability of the PACE program to all homeowners, since the program does not include government subsidies.

The PACE program is currently being supported across the country in 27 states, along with the District of Columbia.

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