The MD-PACE program is pleased to share that in the first week of October, Dorchester County, Maryland passed Bill No. 2019-6, enabling C-PACE financing in the county. This makes Dorchester County the 18th jurisdiction in Maryland to pass C-PACE enabling legislation and the 16th jurisdiction in the MD-PACE program. (The MD-PACE program consists of fifteen counties and the City of Baltimore; Montgomery County and Prince George’s County offer C-PACE financing but neither is part of the MD-PACE program).

C-PACE financing is a mechanism that improves the value of commercial property through energy efficiency and clean energy-related building improvements. Financing is provided by private capital providers. The result is an improved building stock and therefore an increased assessable tax base without any cost to the county.

C-PACE financing was enacted in the state of Maryland through the passage of Senate Bill 186 in 2014 and revised in 2016 through House Bill 105. The MD-PACE program joins 35 other states and the District of Columbia in offering C-PACE. The MD-PACE program is sponsored by the Maryland Clean Energy Center.