Nova Scotia sets the PACE

Nova Scotia is a national leader in Property Assessed Clean Energy.

Solar City

Halifax’s Solar City was the first PACE program in the country – and is still the largest. It reduces carbon emissions by around 4,400 tonnes each year.

Solar Colchester

A solar PACE program that uses the power of the sun to save money and reduce GHG gas emissions.

Clean Energy Financing

An energy efficiency & solar PACE program that is currently active in: the Towns of Bridgewater, Amherst, and New Glasgow, and the Municipalities of Digby, Lunenburg, Barrington, Yarmouth, Cumberland, and Victoria.

Switch Municipality of Pictou County

The Municipaity of Pictou County, in partnership with SwitchPACE, offers a PACE program to property owners, providing financial and administrative supports so you can complete important home energy efficiency upgrades.

Cozy Colchester

Whether you are looking to get off oil with a heat pump, insulate your attic, or complete other renovations to increase the energy efficiency of your home – Cozy Colchester can help you every step of the way.

Switch West Hants

West Hants, in partnership with SwitchPACE, offers a PACE program to property owners, providing financial and administrative supports so you can complete important home energy efficiency upgrades.

Switch Wolfville

The Town of Wolfville, in partnership with SwitchPACE, offers Switch Wolfville to property owners, providing financial and administrative supports so you can complete important home energy efficiency upgrades.

Creating or joining a PACE program

Municipalities can create their own PACE program, or join an existing turn-key program such as Clean Energy Financing or SwitchPACE. And since a PACE program is designed for cost-recovery, it won’t affect your municipality’s bottom line.

Whether you join an existing program or start your own, Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables is there to support you. In year one of PACE, the Dept. offers a grant to cover start-up costs including design, initial marketing, and administration. They offer advice on creating a PACE by-law, and answer any questions you may have about how to borrow funds for homeowner loans. You can also find out why PACE loans don’t affect your debt-to-service ratio. Contact us and we’ll get you the answers you need.

And the Federation of Canadian Municipalities administers the Community Efficiency Financing program that offers loans and grants to help municipalities across Canada deliver energy efficiency and solar power financing programs for residential properties, including PACE.

Why offer PACE in your community?

PACE programs are designed to help with the high upfront costs of energy efficiency upgrades and solar photovoltaic installations. Even with energy efficiency and solar rebates in Nova Scotia, access to the money needed to invest in a home can be a barrier. 

You can help homeowners at a PACE they can afford, while reducing your municipality’s overall carbon footprint. Low-cost upfront financing and expert cost-benefit analysis helps those homeowners who:

  • Are unaware of their own energy consumption and how it could be reduced
  • Are unsure what the most cost-effective clean energy measures are 
  • Don’t know who to trust or where to seek objective advice 
  • Have trouble getting the money to make an investment in their homes

We believe in the power of PACE to improve housing affordability over the long-term, minimize impact on home finances by linking retrofits to energy savings, enhance quality of life through comfort and less stress, and decrease energy poverty.