Boulder City Tax Helps Fund Energy Efficiency Programs

Boulder’s City Council will discuss several proposed ballot measures when it meets on Thursday evening. Among them is a proposal to renew a climate action tax that is set to expire early next year.

One of the programs the climate tax has helped to fund is the Partners for a Clean Environment – or PACE program. Additional funding for PACE comes from Boulder County.

One of the ways the PACE program has been using tax revenues to implement sustainability goals is by helping small businesses to replace outdated refrigeration and restaurant equipment with energy-efficient models. PACE offers grants that cover up to 70 percent of the new equipment costs and 100 percent of the costs of delivery and installation.

Since the start of the pandemic, the program has helped over 80 businesses replace the old and inefficient restaurant and grocery equipment.

KGNU’s Rossana Longo-Better spoke with Partners for a Clean Environment’s Bilingual Business Sustainability Advisor Norma King how small businesses can access support to become more energy efficient.