Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings,:

''Agency'', the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency as established in chapter 23G.

''Benefitted property owner'', an owner of qualifying commercial or industrial property who desires to install commercial energy improvements and who provides free and willing consent to the betterment assessment against the qualifying commercial or industrial property.

''Betterment assessment'', an assessment of a betterment on qualified commercial or industrial property in relation to commercial energy improvements established under the commercial sustainable energy program that has been duly assessed in accordance with chapter 80.

''Commercial energy improvements'', (1) any renovation or retrofitting of a qualifying commercial or industrial real property to reduce energy consumption or installation of renewable energy systems to serve qualifying commercial or industrial property, provided such renovation, retrofit or installation is permanently fixed to such qualifying commercial or industrial property, or (2) the construction of an extension of an existing natural gas distribution company line to qualifying commercial or industrial property to enable the qualifying commercial or industrial property to obtain natural gas distribution service to displace utilization of fuel oil, electricity or other conventional energy sources.

''Commercial or industrial property'', any real property other than a residential dwelling containing fewer than five dwelling units.

''Commercial PACE project'', with respect to a parcel of qualifying commercial or industrial property, (1) design, procurement, construction, installation and implementation of commercial energy improvements; (2) related energy audits; (3) renewable energy system feasibility studies; and (4) measurement and verification reports of the installation and effectiveness of such energy improvements.

''Commercial sustainable energy program'', a program that facilitates commercial PACE projects and utilizes the betterment assessments authorized by section 3 as the source of both the repayment of and collateral for the financing of commercial PACE projects.

''Department'', the department of energy resources as established in chapter 25A.

''Municipality'' a city, town, county, the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone created by chapter 498 of acts of 1993 or the Southfield Redevelopment Authority created by chapter 301 of the acts of 1998.

''PACE'', Property assessed clean energy.

''PACE bonds'', bonds, notes or other evidence of indebtedness, in the form of revenue bonds and not general obligation bonds of the commonwealth or the agency, issued by the agency or the special purpose entity, related to the commercial sustainable energy program established by this chapter.

''Participating municipality'', a municipality that has determined to participate in a commercial sustainable energy program.

''Qualifying commercial or industrial property'', any commercial or industrial property owned by any person or entity other than a municipality or other governmental entity, that meets the qualifications established for the commercial sustainable energy program in accordance with the program guidelines as established in subsection (c) of section 3 and in subsection (13) of section 6 of chapter 25A.

''Special purpose entity'', a partnership, limited partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company or other entity established and authorized by the agency to issue PACE bonds, subject to approval by the agency as provided by the agency in its resolution authorizing the special purpose entity to issue PACE bonds.