Clay County has formally joined the Show Me PACE Clean Energy Development Board, opening the door for commercial property owners across the county to use a state-authorized financing tool to pay for solar panels and other energy efficiency upgrades through property-based assessments rather than traditional loans.The Clay County Commission recently voted to approve Ordinance 2025-ORD-28, which opts the county into Missouri’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program and allows qualifying commercial, agricultural and nonprofit properties to participate in the financing structure anywhere in the county.The vote followed weeks of questions from commissioners and county staff about the way the program works, how it would be administered and what role, if any, the county would play in collecting payments or enforcing liens.Under Missouri law, local governments must affirmatively join a Clean Energy Development District before property owners within ...