I saw this at docudharma.com; apparently the Working Familes Party wrote the bill in 2009, and they've been trying to get it funded, and now have.  This is a fantastic piece of news, and a model for how states can be innovative about energy efficiency and create jobs, given that the federal government is offering so little help.

"Lawmakers this afternoon passed historic on-bill financing legislation to dramatically expand the state’s new energy efficiency retrofitting program, Green Jobs/Green NY. The new law will finally enable moderate-income property owners to access safe loans for retrofits, and use energy savings to repay the loan via their utility bills.

On-bill financing will open the door for NYSERDA, the state’s energy authority, to raise an estimated $5 billion in private investment in the state’s energy economy. Utility bills’ low default rates and strong collections leverage provide unprecedented security for green capital investing in building retrofits.

Green Jobs/Green NY was passed into law in 2009 with the goal of creating 60,000 job years (14,250 full time jobs), substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and making one million homes and buildings more energy efficient – but it did not establish a financing mechanism to pay for the projects. On-bill financing will allow Green Jobs-Green NY to realize these goals." [snip]

"Dave Palmer, Executive Director of the Center for Working Families which designed both Green Jobs/Green NY and the on-bill financing program, said, “This is a simple and innovative solution to intertwined problems of climate change, joblessness and economic stagnation. It puts New York at the forefront of national efforts for a green economic recovery: We are the first state to implement on-bill financing on a statewide basis, and the first state to find the missing piece: ensuring that households can buy energy efficiency on the same safe terms as energy, and making deep, cost-saving energy upgrades widely available to working people. The Center for Working Families is proud to have led a bipartisan, multi-sector coalition of leaders and advocates to make Green Jobs/Green NY with on-bill financing a reality.”

(The link at the bottom of the LIP page buzzzes you to a piece about Lady Gaga's penis shoes...is pretty hilarious, but the photo doesn't show what the hell a penis shoe is.)  ;o)