An Act To Expand Competitive Bidding for Energy Service Contracts with Schools
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0782
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: WINTLE, RECTOR, DAMON, DAVIS, DION, JOHNSON, PRESCOTT, McCORMICK
Amends: 20-A MRSA §15915

Legislative Document 
No. 782 
H.P. 589 
House of Representatives, March 1, 2011 
An Act To Expand Competitive Bidding for Energy Service 
Contracts with Schools 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative WINTLE of Garland. 
Cosponsored by Senator RECTOR of Knox and 
Representatives: DAMON of Bangor, DAVIS of Sangerville, DION of Portland, JOHNSON of 
Eddington, JOHNSON of Greenville, McKANE of Newcastle, PRESCOTT of Topsham, 
Senator: McCORMICK of Kennebec. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §15915, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 499, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
1.  Initial agreement. Any school administrative unit may enter into an agreement of 
up to 15 years with a private party, such as an energy service or 3rd-party financing 
company, for the design, installation, operation, maintenance and financing of energy 
conservation or combined energy conservation and air quality improvements at existing 
school administrative unit facilities.  The school administrative unit's costs to enter into 
such an agreement are not applicable to the unit's school construction project costs, the 
debt service on which is eligible for subsidy purposes under section 15907.  Such an 
agreement is deemed to be a professional service, which is not subject to the competitive 
bidding requirements of Title 5, section 1743-A, if the agreement:. 
A.    Provides for operation or maintenance of the improvement for at least 5 years or 
the entire term of the financing agreement if longer than 5 years; 
B.    Requires a guaranty by the contractor that the improvement will meet 
performance criteria set forth in the agreement for at least 5 years or for the entire 
term of the financing agreement if longer than 5 years; and 
C.    Has a total contract cost, excluding interest and operating and maintenance costs, 
of less than $2,000,000 for any school building. 
A school administrative unit may select contractors for these professional services on the 
basis of a request for qualifications or a request for proposals and it is not required to use 
a competitive method set forth in this chapter and Title 5, section 1743-A and Private and 
Special Law 1999, chapter 79.  The selection process must include at a minimum a 
request for qualifications or a request for proposals that is advertised in a newspaper of 
general circulation in the school administrative unit and a newspaper of general 
circulation in the City of Augusta.  The school administrative unit shall interview not 
fewer than 3 service providers unless a smaller number of service providers responds to 
the request for qualifications or requests for proposals.  The performance criteria in the 
agreement is subject to approval by the Department of Administrative and Financial 
Services, Bureau of General Services.  A request for qualifications or proposals may not 
contain terms that require service providers to have more than 3 years of experience in 
the energy conservation field or the use of equipment that is not generally available to 
service providers or terms that are otherwise included for the purpose of bias or 
favoritism toward a particular service provider.  Objections to the terms of a request for 
qualifications or proposals under this subsection are deemed waived if not delivered in 
writing to the office of the superintendent of schools in that school administrative unit 
within 21 days of the last publication of the newspaper advertisement. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides that school projects for the design, installation, operation, 
maintenance and financing of energy conservation or combined energy conservation and 
air quality improvements at existing school administrative unit facilities are subject to 
competitive bidding requirements.