ENROLLED
Committee Substitute
for
H. B. 2709
(By Delegates Canterbury, Hamilton, Perry,
Shaver,
Walker and Hartman)
[Passed March 1, 2011; in effect from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §18-5-9a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to lease purchase contracts for
energy saving measures and energy-saving contracts entered
into by county boards; and allowing these contracts to have a
term of up to fifteen years.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-9a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-9a. Energy-savings contracts.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Energy-conservation measures" means goods or services, or
both, to reduce energy consumption operating costs of school
facilities. These include, but are not limited to, installation of
two or more of the following:
(A) Insulation of a building structure and systems within a building;
(B) Storm windows or doors, caulking or weather stripping,
multi-glazed windows or doors, heat-absorbing or heat-reflective
glazed and coated window or door systems or other window or door
modifications that reduce energy consumption;
(C) Automatic energy control systems;
(D) Heating, ventilating or air conditioning systems,
including modifications or replacements;
(E) Replacement or modification of lighting fixtures to
increase energy efficiency;
(F) Energy recovery systems;
(G) Co-generation systems that produce steam or another form
of energy for use by the county board of education in a building or
complex of buildings owned by the Board of Education; or
(H) Energy-conservation maintenance measures that provide
long-term operating cost reductions of the building's present cost
of operation.
(2) "Energy-savings contract" means a contract for the
evaluation and recommendation of energy operations conservation
measures and for implementation of one or more such measures. The
contract shall provide that payments, except obligations upon
termination of the contract before its expiration, are to be made
over time. A county board of education may supplement these
payments with federal, state or local funds to reduce the annual
cost or to lower the initial amount to be financed.
(3) "Qualified provider" means a person, firm or corporation
experienced in the design, implementation and installation of
energy-conservation measures.
(b) County boards of education are hereby authorized to enter
into performance-based contracts with qualified providers of
energy-conservation measures for the purpose of reducing energy
operating costs of school buildings.
(c) A board of education may enter into an energy-savings
contract with a qualified provider to significantly reduce energy
operating costs. Before entering into such a contract or before
the installation of equipment, modifications or remodeling to be
furnished under such a contract, the qualified provider shall first
issue a proposal summarizing the scope of work to be performed.
Such a proposal shall contain estimates of all costs of
installation, modifications or remodeling including the costs of
design, engineering, installation, maintenance, repairs or debt
service as well as estimates of the amounts by which energy
operating costs will be reduced. If the board finds, after
receiving the proposal, that the proposal includes more than one
energy-conservation measure designed to save energy operating
costs, the board may enter into a contract with the provider
pursuant to this section.
(d) An energy-savings contract shall include the following:
(1) A guarantee of a specific minimum amount of money that the
board will save in energy operating costs each year during the term of the contract; and
(2) A statement of all costs of energy-conservation measures
including the costs of design, engineering, installation,
maintenance, repairs and operations.
(e) An energy-savings contract which is performance-based and
includes a guarantee of savings and a comprehensive approach of
energy-conservation measures for improving comfort is subject to
competitive bidding requirements. The requirements of article
five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code as to prevailing wage rates
shall apply to the construction and installation work performed
under such a contract.
(f) A board may enter into a "lease with an option to
purchase" contract for the purchase and installation of
energy-conservation measures if the term of the lease does not
exceed fifteen years and the lease contract includes the provisions
hereinafter contained in subsection (g) and meets federal tax
requirements for tax-exempt municipal leasing or long-term
financing.
(g) An energy-savings contract may extend beyond the fiscal
year in which it first becomes effective except that such a
contract may not exceed a fifteen-year term and shall be void
unless such agreement provides the board the option to terminate
the agreement during each fiscal year of the contract. The board
may include in its annual budget for each fiscal year any amounts
payable under long-term energy-savings contracts during that fiscal year.
(h) Nothing contained in this section requires or permits the
replacement of jobs performed by service personnel employed by the
local school board pursuant to sections eight and eight-a, article
four, chapter eighteen-a of the code, as amended.