CA Governor Recognizes HERO Program with California's Highest Environmental & Economic Honor

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- California Gov. Jerry Brown presented the HERO Program with the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award.

The state presented this award to recognize the success of the HERO Program, which is a public-private partnership between cities and counties and the private sector that empowers property owners to become more energy efficient.  In less than two years, the HERO Program has become the largest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program in the nation.

The Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) is California's highest environmental honor.  The program recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made notable, voluntary contributions in conserving California's precious resources, protecting and enhancing our environment, building public-private partnerships and strengthening the state's economy.  The GEELA program is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency. 

"The HERO Program is honored to accept this award on behalf of all the cities and counties that are participating in the HERO Program," Renovate America CEO JP McNeill said.  "In the past two years, the HERO Program has helped over 6,000 property owners to make energy efficient upgrades to their homes which will reduce their annual energy consumption by over 67 Gigawatts and reduce annual CO₂ emissions by 17,000 tons.  The work associated with these projects has helped create more than 1,000 new jobs and more than $208 million in economic stimulus in the State of California.  The award acknowledges both the economic and environmental benefits it brings to cities and counties in California."

HERO is now available to nearly 10 million California residents who reside in 13 counties including Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Sacramento, Merced, Kern, Solano, Stanislaus, Imperial, Fresno and Santa Clara County.

More than 150,000 types of improvements are available to property owners with financing through HERO.  Among the most popular upgrades are whole-home heating and cooling (HVAC), solar power, energy-saving windows, solar thermal (pools and water heating), and insulation, among others. 

"Our partnership with the HERO Program has been a win for everyone involved," said Rick Bishop, Executive Director of WRCOG.  "Homeowners win by lowering their utility bills, the environment wins with reduced greenhouse gases and our community wins through the creation of new jobs and increased economic stimulus."

For more information on the HERO Program, go online to www.HEROProgram.com, or call 855-HERO-411 (855-437-6411). 

About The HERO Program: The HERO Program is a private-public partnership that enables any city or county to offer PACE financing to property owners within their community.  The Program is privately funded and requires no cost outlays by the participating communities.  HERO has received many awards, including the State of California Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) President's Award for Excellence and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) California Top 10 Green Building Policies for Municipalities.  To learn more about HERO, visit www.HEROProgram.com.

About The Governor's Environmental & Economic Leadership Award: The Governor's Environmental & Economic Leadership Award program is an acknowledgment of the efforts of individuals, organizations and businesses that demonstrate exceptional leadership and have made notable voluntary efforts to protect California's environment, conserve resources, stimulate the economy, build public-private partnerships and strengthen the state's economy.  Winners are determined by examining eight criteria: results, transferability/scalability, environmental/resource conservation impact, economic progress, innovation/uniqueness, pollution prevention, public health, and environmental justice.  For more on the awards program, visit http://www.calepa.ca.gov/Awards/GEELA.

SOURCE The HERO Program