Section 1 [Grant Agreements] makes the contract administration in Minnesota Statutes, section 16B.97, inapplicable to general obligation grants.  Most of the provisions in section 16B.97 are duplicative of requirements for general obligation grants in chapter 16C.

Section 2 [Limitation] makes the contract administration section 16B.98 inapplicable to general obligation grants and capital project grants to political subdivisions.  Most of the provisions in section 16B.98 are duplicative of requirements for these grants in chapter 16C. 

Section 3 [Guaranteed Energy-Savings Program] makes changes to the Guaranteed Energy-Savings Program that permits the Commissioner of Administration to enter into an agreement for the installation of utility cost-savings measures that are backed by guarantee of the vendor, as follows:

• replaces the term “lease purchase agreement” with “project financing;”
• expands the types of project financing that may be used to pay for a guaranteed energy savings project, including a mix of leasing and bonding;
• eliminates the specification that utility cost-savings measures become the sole property of the state after final obligated payment;
• changes the calculation that sets the threshold that determines whether the commissioner is authorized to enter into an agreement for the utility cost-savings measures;
• replaces the commissioner’s authority to enter into a lease purchase agreement to implement utility cost-savings measures with authority to enter into project financing for the same purpose; and
• eliminates a restriction that the implementation costs of the utility cost-savings measures cannot exceed the amount to be saved in utility and operation and maintenance costs over the term of a lease purchase agreement.