LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County board of supervisors has voted to allow residential homeowners access financing for water- and energy-efficient renovations. The Property Assessed Clean Energy program will be available to homeowners living within 42 L.A. County cities that have already passed resolutions to authorize the program.

The financing will be available through city-approved HERO programs, private partnerships that provide the funding. The long-term financing will be added through a assessment onto the homeowner's property tax bill. “This program will help our communities save energy and water, create local jobs, and enjoy immediate improvements in our homes," says Dan Medina, South Bay Cities Council of Government chairman and Gardena City councilman. “It's one of those rare win-win-win programs; we're excited to get started with HERO.”

To date, HERO has financed over $200 million in PACE projects, making it the largest PACE program in the state. It has financed 95% of all residential PACE programs. The most popular upgrades to receive financing through the program are HVAC systems, solar panel installation and energy-efficient windows, doors and roofing. These renovations are said to save homeowners $1 billion. In addition to energy savings, the program will also benefit the economy by creating 5,200 jobs.

This is not the first green program the city has supported. The rooftop feed-in tariff program, which allows commercial property owners to install solar panels on the rooftops of their properties and sell the energy back to the city, has been very successful. A recent GlobeSt.com story reported that the program is meeting the city's expectations and will generate 100 megawatts of power by the year 2015.