The reimbursable loan program is designed for Community Mental Health or Community Intellectual Disability Centers established by authority of Texas Health and Safety Code Section 534.001 (“Community Centers”). A county, municipality, hospital district, or school district, or an organizational combination of two or more of those local agencies, may establish and operate a Community Center. Community Centers may submit multiple applications to this NOLFA. Loan funding will be prioritized for eligible facilities physically located within Disadvantaged Communities as designated by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool provided by the Department of Energy (“DACs”). Applicants are strongly encouraged to group applications by facilities located within DACs. SECO is required to provide a minimum of 60% of available loan funds to eligible facilities located within DACs. This program enables Community Centers to complete energy retrofit projects that may be implemented using Design-Build, Design-Bid-Build, energy savings performance contracts (“ESPCs”) or Commissioning approaches. Each utility cost reduction measure (“UCRM”) must have a simple payback that does not exceed the estimated useful life of the UCRM. Utility dollar savings are the primary criterion for determining if the measure can be considered an eligible UCRM. UCRMs are not limited to activities that save units of energy. A UCRM could conceivably call for actions which save no energy or consume additional BTUs, but save utility budget dollars. Examples of such UCRMs include demand reduction, increased power factor, load shifting, switching utility rate structures, and thermal storage projects. All improvements must meet minimum efficiency standards as prescribed by applicable building energy codes.
