KBH Energy Center Research and Publications
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2152/27517
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Browsing KBH Energy Center Research and Publications by Author "Brown, Jeremy"
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Item Financing Conservation: Texas’ Water Infrastructure Bank and the 20 Percent Set-Aside(The Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, 2014-04) Brown, JeremyThis report examines the key issues that the Texas Water Development Board will face as it implements the conservation and reuse set-aside included in the state’s new water infrastructure financing scheme. The set-aside was one of the features that helped Proposition 6 to win widespread support and passage in November 2013.Item PACE in Texas: The Future of Contractual Assessment Financing for Conservation Improvements(The Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, 2013-04) Brown, JeremyTwenty-eight states have passed Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) enabling legislation but most – including Texas – do not have fully operational PACE programs. In some instances, this failure of PACE law to translate into concrete action may be due to drafting defects or to evolving PACE best practices that have rendered early-adopted laws obsolescent. In other instances, it may stem from the chilling effect of actions by mortgage regulators. In March 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals resolved the last of a series of legal challenges against mortgage regulators, establishing a period of at least temporary regulatory stability. Meanwhile, PACE supporters have continued to trumpet the investment and environmental opportunities in commercial, industrial and multifamily real estate retrofits. Several states have tried to capture these tailwinds by adopting or amending PACE statutes in ways that facilitate non-residential PACE and incorporate lessons learned from pilot programs and recent policy debates. Texas is such a state. Bills introduced this legislative session – S.B. 385 and H.B. 1094 – would reconfigure PACE statutes first enacted in 2009 by expanding PACE to encompass water conservation and steering financing toward commercial, industrial and multifamily properties. If they pass, the bills could serve as a blueprint for other states that either have not passed PACE legislation or have PACE laws on the books that have yet to spawn actual PACE programs.Item Paying for Water: The 83rd Legislative Session and the $2 Billion Water Infrastructure Bank(The Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, 2013-10) Brown, JeremyAmong Texas leaders, there is a general consensus that the state must act now to ensure its long-term water security, and as the legislature convened for its 2013 session, many observers predicted water would emerge as a marquee issue. And it did, with lawmakers introducing numerous water-related bills. Three of these bills are aimed at financing enough water infrastructure projects to assure long-term water supplies for the state: H.B. 4, H.B. 1025 and S.J.R. 1. These bills could have a profound and long-lasting impact on Texas water law and water resources. In anticipation of the November 5 special election, when voters will whether to approve through a proposition certain key legislative provisions, and of the extensive rulemaking processes that will follow if the proposition succeeds, the Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration and Environmental Law has prepared this white paper. It explains the key provisions in H.B. 4 and explores the contours and inflection points in complex legislation that –aside from a salient few details – remains relatively unfamiliar to the general public and even to those who work regularly on water policy issues.