Renew Financial's CaliforniaFIRST PACE Program Expands Into 14 New Cities in Western Riverside, Offering Homeowners More Choices on Energy Efficiency Upgrades

OAKLAND, Calif., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Renew Financial, a leading clean energy finance company, announced today that, through a new partnership with the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG), it will be offering its CaliforniaFIRST Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program to 14 new WRCOG member jurisdictions in Riverside County, allowing even more homeowners to make affordable home efficiency and renewable energy upgrades. As a result of this new partnership, Renew Financial's CaliforniaFIRST program now offers competitive, customer-friendly financing to homeowners in an area of the state that previously only had one PACE program option.  

"Now Western Riverside homeowners can join nearly 90 percent of Californians in taking advantage of our affordable, consumer-friendly financing options for energy efficiency upgrades, rooftop solar, water conservation and other home improvement projects," said Cisco DeVries, CEO of Renew Financial. "This expansion will help more homeowners live comfortably, create new business opportunities for local contractors, produce more jobs in the area and increase environmental and public health benefits for Riverside County. We're thrilled to be part of all of that."

"Renew Financial's entry into the Western Riverside territory means one thing: more competition," said Ben Benoit, Executive Committee Chair of WRCOG. "And more competition means more choices for homeowners to fund their home efficiency upgrade projects and save money, while helping drive local economic activity. That's why we're excited about Renew Financial providing this additional financing option for our communities."

Under the new partnership, the CaliforniaFIRST financing program is now available to homeowners in 14 Western Riverside cities: Banning, Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Corona, Eastvale, Hemet, Jurupa Valley, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Norco, Perris, Temecula and Wildomar.

With the expansion of CaliforniaFIRST into these 14 cities, the financing program now offers the opportunity for efficiency upgrades to more than 300,000 homes in WRCOG territory and more than six million homes statewide.

Already Renew Financial estimates that its financing products have:

• Created more than 15,000 jobs across 15 states
• Conserved 877,176,637 gallons of water – enough water for 48 million showers¹
• Realized over $1.5 billion in energy savings over the life of its projects
• Cut total greenhouse gas emissions by 2.3 million metric tons – equivalent to the yearly emissions of 485,000 cars²
• And funded nearly 83,600 projects through the end of 2016

For more information about the partnership, visit www.renewfinancial.com.

About Renew Financial

Renew Financial is one of the nation's leading clean energy financing companies. Founded in 2008 by former White House appointee and U.S. Department of Energy official Cisco DeVries, who originated the concept of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), Renew Financial now provides multiple financing products across the country. PACE enables property owners to finance the entire cost of efficiency, resilience and renewable energy upgrades to their homes and businesses, and then repay those costs on their property tax bill. Named by Scientific American as one of the "top 20 ideas that can change the world," PACE received favorable regulatory guidance from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in July 2016. Renew Financial's other financing products include residential unsecured loans (ReHome) utility on-bill financing, and others. Renew Financial partners with Rainforest Trust to preserve endangered rainforests with a donation made for every completed project.

Renew Financial is a pending trademark of Renew Financial Holdings Inc. The Renew Financial CaliforniaFIRST financing program is sponsored by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, Los Angeles County and Western Riverside Council of Governments and is administered by Renew Financial Group LLC. 

Additional information may be found at:

renewfinancial.com | @RenewFinancial | LinkedIn | Facebook | Blog

About WRCOG

The purpose of WRCOG is to unify Western Riverside County so that it can speak with a collective voice on important issues that affect its members. Representatives from 17 cities, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, the Eastern and Western Municipal Water Districts, and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians have seats on the WRCOG Executive Committee, the group that sets policy for the organization. The Riverside County Superintendent of Schools is an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee. Recognizing that many issues related to growth are not constrained by political boundaries, WRCOG focuses on a number of regional matters important to our future. By working together through its committee structure and utilizing resources, WRCOG is cost-effective by reducing duplication of effort and sharing information, enabling strong advocacy and strengthening Western Riverside's standing in the region and the State. Today, WRCOG's program areas are varied and include transportation, environment, energy, economy, and health.

¹ 18 gallons per shower, source:
https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/docs/ws_shower_better_learning_resource_508.pdf

² 4.7 metrics tons per car per year, source: 
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle-0

SOURCE Renew Financial

Related Links

http://www.renewfinancial.com