Fairfield leaders discuss C-PACE financing tool that could help businesses, proposed data center
Fairfield City Council discussed adopting a C-PACE financing program that could help fund upgrades at the proposed Patmos data center, but tabled the issue for now. Members of the Fairfield Environmental Justice Alliance protested outside City Hall, calling for greater transparency about the project's potential community impacts.
Fairfield City Council is considering a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, program that would allow property owners to obtain private financing for building improvements. Mayor Herman Carnes Jr. said the program would not place debt or financial liability on the city and emphasized that it is not a city loan for the proposed Patmos data center. The council tabled the matter and may hold a work session and town hall before a final vote.
Patmos is proposing a colocation data center and technology campus in the former Walmart supercenter. Before the council meeting, the Fairfield Environmental Justice Alliance protested and urged officials to release project documents so residents can assess the development's effects. Patmos spokesperson Kyler Schmitz said the C-PACE program would be available to a broad range of property owners and that Patmos is only one of several potential users.