The following definitions apply to subparts A and B of this part and must have the following meanings for purposes of the Rural Energy Savings Program:
Administrator means the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service, an agency under the Rural Development mission area of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Applicant means an Eligible entity interested in applying for a RESP loan that is planning to submit a Letter of Intent.
Commercial technology means equipment, devices, applications, or systems that have a proven, reliable performance and replicable operating history specific to the proposed application. The equipment, device, application or system is based on established patented design or has been certified by an industry-recognized organization and subject to installation, operating, and maintenance procedures generally accepted by industry practices and standards. Service and replacement parts for the equipment, device, application or system must be readily available in the marketplace with established warranty applicable to parts, labor and performance.
Completed loan application means an application containing all information required by RUS to approve a loan and that is materially complete in form and substance satisfactory to RUS within the specified time.
Conditional commitment letter means the notification issued by the Administrator to a RESP Applicant advising it of the total loan amount approved for it as a RESP borrower, the acceptable security arrangement, and such controls and conditions on the RESP borrower's financial, investment, operational and managerial activities deemed necessary by the Administrator to adequately secure the Government's interest. This notification will also describe the accounting standards and audit requirements applicable to the transaction.
Conflict of interest means a situation or situations, event or series of events, that taken together or separately undermine an individual's judgement, ability, or commitment to providing an accurate, unbiased, fair and reliable assessment, or determination about the cost effectiveness of the Energy efficiency measures, due to self-interest or if such judgement, ability, commitment or determination cannot be justified by the prevailing and sound application of the generally accepted standards and principles of the industry.
Deemed savings means the per-unit energy savings values that can be claimed from installing specific measures under specific operating situations. Savings are based on stipulated values stemming from historical and verified data, derived from research of historical savings values from typical projects.
Deemed savings calculations means standardized algorithms to calculate energy savings applicable to well-defined energy efficiency measures that have documented and consistent savings values.
Eligible entity means an entity described in § 1719.4.
Energy audit means an analysis of the current energy usage or costs of a Qualified consumer with the goal of identifying opportunities to enhance energy efficiency. The activity should result in an objective standard-based technical report containing recommendations on the Energy efficiency measures to reduce energy costs or consumption of the Qualified consumer and an analysis of the estimated benefits and costs of pursuing each recommendation in a payback period not to exceed the loan term to the Qualified consumer. The analysis must meet professional and industry standards and be commensurate to the complexity of the project.
Energy efficiency measures (EE measures) means for or at property served by an Eligible entity, structural improvements and investments in cost-effective, commercial technologies to increase energy efficiency (including cost-effective on- or off-grid renewable energy or energy storage systems).
Energy efficiency program (EE Program) means a program set up by an Eligible entity to provide financing to Qualified consumers so that they can implement durable cost-effective Energy efficiency measures.
Financial feasibility means an Eligible entity's capacity to generate enough revenues to cover its expenses, sufficient cash flow to service its debts and obligations as they come due, and meet the financial ratios set forth in the applicable loan documents.
Government means the Federal Government.
GAAP means the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC).
Implementation Work Plan or EE Program Implementation Work Plan (IWP) means an Implementation work plan that meets the requirements listed in § 1719.5(b)(3)(i)(F).
Invitation to proceed means the written notification issued by RUS to the Eligible entity acknowledging that the Letter of Intent was received and reviewed, describing the next steps in the application process, and inviting the Eligible entity to submit a complete loan application.
Key performance indicators mean the set of measures that help an entity to determine if it is reaching its performance and operational goals. These indicators can be both financial and non-financial.
Letter of Intent means a signed letter issued by an Applicant notifying RUS of its intent to apply for a RESP loan and addressing all the elements identified in § 1719.5(b)(2).
Loan to a Qualified consumer means a transaction by which an RUS borrower makes RESP funds available to a Qualified consumer for the purpose of implementing Energy efficiency measures at a property or for the property of a Qualified consumer to increase energy efficiency on the condition that the RUS borrower will be able to collect the funds made available to the Qualified consumer.
Manufactured home means a structure that is transportable, built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling that meets the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development definition set forth in 24 CFR 3280.2 or a successor rule.
Measurement and Verification (M&V) means the process of quantifying the energy and cost savings resulting from the improvements in an energy-consuming system or systems.
Multi-tier Agreement means an agreement entered into by the RESP applicant that complies with the Rural Development's Environmental Policies and Procedures, pursuant to 7 CFR part 1970 or its successor regulation.
Qualified consumer means a consumer served by an Eligible entity that has the ability to repay a loan made by a RESP borrower under the RESP program, as determined by the Eligible entity.
RESP applicant means an Eligible entity that has received a written Invitation to proceed from RUS to apply for a RESP loan.
RESP borrower means an Eligible entity with an approved RESP loan as evidenced by duly executed RESP loan documents.
Rural, for purposes of 7 U.S.C. 8107a(a), means any area that has a population of 50,000 or less inhabitants or any other area designated eligible by statute.
Small business means an entity that is in accordance with the Small Business Administration's (SBA) small business size standards found in 13 CFR part 121.
Special advance means an advance, not to exceed 4 percent of the total approved loan amount, that a RESP borrower may request to defray the startup costs of establishing a new EE Program.
Start-up costs mean amounts paid or incurred for:
(1) Creating or implementing an active EE program; or
(2) Investing in the integration of an active EE Program. Start-up costs may include, but are not limited to, amounts paid or incurred in the analysis or survey of potential markets, products such as software and hardware, labor supply, consultants, salaries and other working capital directly related to the creation or enhancement of an EE Program consistent with RESP.
Technical Resource Manual (TRM) means a resource document that includes information used in program planning and reporting of EE Programs. A TRM may include savings values for measures, engineering algorithms to calculate savings, impact factors to be applied to calculated savings, foundational documentation, specified assumptions, and such other pertinent information to support the calculation of measure and program savings and the application of such values and algorithms in appropriate applications.
(a) Eligible entities (see § 1719.2 and § 1719.4) are permitted to participate in the Rural Energy Saving Program on the condition that loan funds will be used to make loans to Qualified consumers for the purpose of implementing EE measures.
(b) The Agency will issue annual Federal Register notices each year specifying the amount of funds available under this Part. Notices may also include program priorities and loan application periods. The Administrator in setting funding priorities and application periods may consider the amount of available funds, the nature and amount of unfunded loan applications, prior commitments, Agency resources, Agency priorities and policy goals, and any other pertinent information.
(c) In making loans under this Part, the Administrator may consider a proposed EE Program's effect on existing RUS borrowers and the integrity of the RUS portfolio and deny or limit approval of a specific RESP loan application on that basis if it is determined that such requested loan would have a negative effect on existing RUS or RESP borrowers or the RUS loan portfolio.
(d) The Administrator may, on a case-by-case basis, grant an exception to any requirement or provision of this subpart provided that such an exception is in the best financial interests of the Federal government. Exercise of this authority cannot be in conflict with applicable law.
(e) With regard to the rules of grammatical construction, unless the context otherwise indicates, “includes” and “including” are not limiting, and “or” is not exclusive.