The San Diego City Council voted to make the Home Energy Renovation Opportunities (HERO) Program available to residents of San Diego. The HERO Program is a local government-approved program that provides private financing to enable property owners to make energy- and water-efficient upgrades to their properties.

Payment is made through property taxes as part of this Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) model. In addition to helping homeowners save on energy bills, HERO spurs local job creation through creating demand for contractor services. The HERO Program has helped create more than 2,100 jobs in California.

HERO will join FigTree Financing and California First, also approved providers of PACE financing in the City of San Diego.

"We are excited to make HERO available to residents in communities throughout San Diego," said Dustin Reilich, HERO Director of Municipal Development. "This program will help to create local jobs while providing energy and water savings for San Diego residents. It's a win-win for the whole community."

More than 150,000 products are available to property owners through the HERO Program. Some of the most popular products available through the program include whole-home heating and cooling (HVAC), solar power panel installations, energy-saving windows, doors, roofing and insulation, among other types of energy and water saving improvements. Property owners are able to borrow up to 10 percent of their property value and repay the loans over 5, 10, 15 or 20 years through an assessment on their property tax bills. Interest payments on loans are tax deductible.

HERO is the largest and most successful Property Assessed Clean Energy program in the nation. The program will be available in more than 130 communities in California this year and has helped fund more than 10,000 residential projects for efficiency upgrades with access to more than $180 million in financing.

San Diego joins other San Diego County cities Carlsbad, Lemon Grove, Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista and Solana Beach in adopting the program. The County of San Diego Board of Supervisors is scheduled to decide next week whether to adopt HERO countywide.

The HERO Program is different from traditional consumer financing because it is based primarily on home equity. Approval decisions are not made based on household income or FICO scores. HERO is 100-percent voluntary for both local government agencies and property owners.