Develop

In this stage a State Energy Office should create program documents, develop communication strategies, and put resources into place to help administer their RLF. While each state is unique, examples from Minnesota, Tennessee, and Texas can serve as starting points for creating program documents, including announcements and RFPs.

The specific documents a State Energy Office should develop depend on whether the office has chosen to self-administer the RLF or outsource its administration to a third party.

If a State Energy Office chooses to self-administer their RLF, it should develop the following forms:

  • Loan application form;
  • Loan agreement form (which may require attorney review to ensure compliance with federal/state lending regulations); and
  • Other required forms and processes determined by the state.

If a State Energy Office chooses to partner with another state agency, it may need to develop a loan program agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the State Energy Office and the other state agency.

To view the MOU the Minnesota Department of Commerce has with the Saint Paul Port Authority, please click here.

If a State Energy Office chooses to hire a third party to administer their RLF, it may be required to design and release a Request for Proposals (RFP).

What components should the RFP include?

  • An overview of the proposed fund, its objectives, and its scope;
  • Specifics on the contract award size and term length;
  • Services required from the third party;
  • Demonstration of prior experience and information on their proposed project team;
  • Proposed loan terms and loan underwriting criteria (unless these have already been established by the State Energy Office in the design stage);
  • The third party’s anticipated costs for providing the requested services;
  • The proposed RFP evaluation/scoring process; and
  • Other disclosures as necessary.

To view LoanSTAR’s technical guidebooks, please click here.

To view the vendor agreement for Minnesota's RLF program, please click here.

How would a state select a third party to operate the RLF?

  • The State Energy Office could develop a scoring rubric to grade responses to the RFP to solicit administrators.
  • The State Energy Office should include the scoring rubric in the RFP so candidate administrators would be aware of the scoring criteria.

Integration with State Systems

Each state has its own procurement and fiscal management protocols, procedures, and IT systems, as well as requirements for legal review of program design. Examples from other states are unlikely to be valuable, so this task is included without links simply as a reminder to fully integrate the RLF with existing systems, especially if a State Energy Office is self-administering their RLF.