A governmental unit shall not enter into a guaranteed utility savings contract unless a performance guarantee that meets the requirements of this section is delivered by the qualified provider to the governmental unit and that guarantee becomes binding on the parties upon the execution of the guaranteed utility savings contract. The qualified provider shall provide a performance guarantee in the form of a performance bond, a cash bond, a letter of credit issued by a bank with a Moody's or Standard and Poor's rating of "A" or better or any other surety, including insurance, satisfactory to the governmental unit and its approving agency. The guarantee for each year shall be in an amount equal to the amount of the annual guarantee given by the qualified provider in the guaranteed utility savings contract.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 231, § 4; 1997, ch. 42, § 4; 2005, ch. 178, § 1.

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, changed "bond" to "guarantee"; provides that the provider must provide a performance guarantee in the form of a performance bond, a cash bond, a corporate guarantee or any other surety satisfactory to the governmental units and its approving agency; and deletes the former language that required bonds to be issued by a surety company authorized to do business in New Mexico and approved in federal circular 570 or approved by the state board of finance.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, substituted "utility" for "energy" throughout the section and in the section heading, and in the first sentence, substituted "A governmental unit shall not" for "No governmental unit shall" and inserted "guaranteed utility savings".