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Ely

Dining in energy-efficient comfort at Insula restaurant

PACE financing with a side of local funding

By Peter Lindstrom
Northeast, MN

When you visit Insula restaurant in Ely, you can now enjoy your locally-sourced fusion American dining experience in comfort thanks to energy-efficient building upgrades.

Insula leases its space from Alley A Realty who purchased the historic building in 2014. The building had been vacant since 2006 until Insula opened in 2015. Still in need of funds for upgrades, Alley A Realty heard about Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. “It was a perfect fit,” said Tanner Ott, co-owner of Alley A Realty. “The funds allowed us to put on an insulated roof suitable for our northern Minnesota climate, upgrade our mechanical and HVAC systems, and put in large, energy-efficient picture windows.”

PACE financing with a side of local funding

  1. Financing: PACE financing, like that used by Insula, is available to businesses, multi-housing providers, and nonprofits to fund energy efficiency, on-site renewable energy, and electric vehicle infrastructure improvements. PACE has been used to finance over 160 projects across Minnesota totaling $50 million in improvements.
  2. Funding: Ott received good news from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board when they approved his application to receive funding from the agency’s Business Energy Retrofit program.

PACE works very well with other incentives such as utility rebates, tax credits, and more. If a project qualifies for a utility rebate, it’s going to be a great fit for PACE as well.

Peter Klein, VP of Finance at Saint Paul Port Authority

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