HB1777 – Modifying contracting for energy services and equipment by agencies and school districts.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Doglio (D; 22nd District; Olympia)
Current status –  Had a hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology March 14th. Replaced by a striker and passed out of committee March 28th. Had a hearing in Ways and Means March 30th. Amended and passed out of committee April 4th; referred to Rules. Replaced by a striker on the floor and passed by the Senate April 11th. House concurred in Senate amendments.
Next step would be – To the Governor.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Changes in the Senate –
The striker would protect certain state jobs and make various other changes which are summarized by staff at the end of it. The amendment in Ways and Means would require performance based contracts to be more cost-effective than alternative available financing and service mechanisms; would no longer transfer equipment back to agencies and schools at no residual value; would require financing terms to end within the manufacturer’s life expectancy for the equipment; and makes a minor adjustment in the scope of required maintenance training. The changes made by the floor striker are summarized by staff at the end of it.

In the House – Passed
Had a hearing in the House Committee on the Capital Budget February 22th; passed out of committee February 21st, and was referred to Rules. Passed by the House March 1st.

Summary –
The bill would make some minor adjustments to the current laws about state agencies and school districts contracting for energy efficiency services and equipment. It would allow including service payments in these contracts. It would allow the value of energy equipment or services when entering into a contract to exceed the fair market value of property leased or owned by an agency or district, and require that to be considered cost-effective. It would authorize agencies and districts to enter into these contracts independently, not just through the Department of Enterprise Services.

The bill specifies that contracts would have to make the other party responsible for cost-savings and performance guarantees through the terms of the contract, as well as including terms transferring ownership of the equipment to the other party and requiring ownership to be transferred back to the agency or district at no residual value when the contract ended.

The bill would no longer allow school districts to sell energy savings to local utilities or Bonneville directly, though they could still do that through third parties. It would allow them to use financing contracts as well as performance based contracts to do conservation projects, as agencies currently can.