Completed GEPs with larger System Capacity

than described in the Reservation Agreement will receive the Total Incentive Amount as stated in the Reservation Agreement, unadjusted. 3.13 Completed GEPs with significant variations other than as described above will have the option to, within twenty (20) Business Days, either: 3.13.1. Modify the GEP in accordance with the Reservation Agreement and reapply for a final inspection determination. 37 3.13.2. Withdraw the application and notify PREAA as instructed in the Reservation Agreement or in the inspection determination. 3.14 Reservations for GEPs that reflect significant variations will be cancelled if Applicant does not act within twenty (20) Business Days from receipt of the inspection determination. 3.15 Within thirty (30) calendar days from issuance of a final inspection determination showing full compliance with all terms and conditions of the Reservation Agreement or from the date of issuance of final inspection determination after modification of the GEP, PREAA will disburse incentive payment to Customer or its assignee. Incentive payments may be disbursed to third parties (including System Owners and Authorized Representatives) when such third party has partially or completely paid for the cost of the GEP, and evidence thereof is available to PREAA, provided a payment release or assignment notice is submitted by Customer (incentive reservation holder) to PREAA. IV. Application Documents 4.1 Minimum documentation required to apply for an incentive under this program is listed below: 4.1.1. Site drawing and Layout - A single page document in PDF format and prepared using computer aided design 38 software, indicating at a minimum the locations of major components, layout, positioning, true north orientation symbol, and property lines; 4.1.2. Project price quote - containing the following components: 1. Equipment costs; 2. Engineering design and permitting cost; 3. Construction, installation and mounting cost; 4. Interest Expense; 4.1.3. If applicable, an executed Authorization Letter (refer to the website stated in Section 6.2.1 of Chapter One of this Regulation). 4.1.4. When applicable, a corporate resolution indicating the names of individuals authorized to act and sign documents on behalf of a corporation; 4.1.5. Any other document required by PREAA as part of the application process. 39 V. Final Determination 5.1 Applicants may present the Executive Director of PREAA a reconsideration request in connection with an unfavorable final inspection determination within fifteen (15) calendar days from the delivery to the Applicant of such determination. The Applicant shall explain in writing the reasons for which the inspection determination should be reconsidered. The Executive Director shall make a final determination within fifteen (15) calendar days from receipt of the reconsideration request. The Executive Director's decision shall be final. 40 Chapter Three TIER 2 PROGRAM I. Type of Awards Pursuant to Act 83, incentives under the Tier 2 Program will be awarded by PREAA through a competitive tendering process. This Regulation elaborates on such process. Incentives will be paid in the form of payment to awarded Completed GEPs in accordance with this Regulation, the Reservation Agreement and the applicable Reference Guide. Under no circumstances, shall the Total Incentive Amount exceed 50% of Total Project Costs nor will Total Project Cost per installed Watt (System Capacity) exceed the Reference Cost. II. Application and Award Timeline 2.1 Every quarter, PREAA shall open a new tendering process for Tier 2 GEPs. The quarters shall be the following for each fiscal year: Quarter Funding Cycles Q1 July 1 through September 30 Q2 October 1 through December 31 Q3 January 1 through March 31 Q4 April 1 through June 30 41 Funds not allocated during a given quarter will be made available for distribution in the following quarter of the same Fiscal Year. 2.2 Proposals shall be submitted not later than the fifth day of each quarter, namely: Quarter Deadline Q1 July 5 of the fiscal year in progress. Q2 October 5 of the fiscal year in progress. Q3 January 5 of the fiscal year in progress. Q4 April 5 of the fiscal year in progress. 2.3 Final determination notifications shall be issued by electronic mail, followed by certified mail, within 40 calendar days from the application deadline, namely: Quarter Deadlines Q1 August 14 of the fiscal year in progress. Q2 November 14 of the fiscal year in progress. Q3 February 14 of the fiscal year in progress. Q4 May 15 of the fiscal year in progress. If the deadline falls on a non-business day, notifications will be issued on the following business day. 42 III. Eligibility 3.1 Any Proposal that consists of multiple projects with separate Points of Interconnection with the Electrical Utility, shall be eligible as a Tier 2 GEP only if each one of those projects has a minimum System Capacity greater than one hundred kilowatts. 3.2 A Controlled Group may apply and submit proposals for more than one GEP per funding quarter. However, the aggregated System Capacity of all the proposals presented by the Applicant for the same Controlled Group for that funding quarter shall be considered as a single project for purposes of determining its eligibility as a Tier 2 GEP. Same rules will apply when the Customer is a Government entity. 3.3 The maximum amount that a successful GEP may be eligible to receive shall be determined by multiplying the applicable reimbursement percentage indicated in the Tier 2 Reference Guide by the Total Project Cost; however, the Total Project Cost per installed Watt (System Capacity) shall be capped by the applicable Reference Cost (refer to Tier 2 Reference Guide). 3.4 Applicants may request funding up to the maximum levels as stated in the Reference 43 Guide; however incentives are limited and awarded on a competitive basis. 3.5 Awards shall be based on the evaluation of the Applicant's GEP Proposal, compliance with this Regulation, the Reservation Agreement and the Tier 2 Reference Guide applicable to such quarter. 3.6 Teaming arrangements, joint ventures and other forms of partnerships are eligible and encouraged when necessary to meet project goals. Teams may consist of commercial firms, government organizations, universities, and/or other entities. Preference will be given to teams that can demonstrate green energy project development and operational knowledge and experience. IV. Application Procedure 4.1 Applicants shall apply for Tier 2 incentives under the PR Green Energy Fund through the webpage indicated in Section 6.2.1 of Chapter One of this Regulation. 4.2 After an Applicant has duly submitted the general description and the required Proposal for the GEP, in accordance with Section VI of this Chapter, the system will issue a notification with an application number and a GEP summary. Applications will only be accepted if submitted within the first five (5) days of each quarter as described above. 44 4.3 A submitted application, including the required Proposal, will then be subject to a Technical Evaluation Process to be completed by the Technical Committee within (30) calendar days from the issuance of the notification. Technical Evaluation Process shall include a site visit. 4.4 All Proposals shall be complete and in compliance with all requirements included in this Regulation. Incomplete or non-compliant applications and Proposals may be disqualified. Notwithstanding, PREAA may in its discretion and without granting a competitive advantage to one Applicant over another, require further clarifications in order to complete the Technical Evaluation Process. In such cases, an information request notice shall be issued to Applicant stating the deadline and instructions for submittal. Information requests may include submittal of landlord acknowledgment and consent from landlord for tenant to install the GEP, shading analysis, resource studies, among others, as identified in the site visit and/or review of submitted application. Failure to submit the information by the deadline stated in the information request notice shall result in the cancellation of the application. 4.5 PREAA will notify the evaluation results to Applicants upon final recommendation of the 45 Technical Committee, and approval of the Evaluation Committee (where required as provided in Section VI), within the timeframe indicated in Section 2.3 of this Chapter. 4.6 For awarded GEPs, Customer and Authorized Representative, if any, will be required to present evidence of payment of Reservation Guarantee, insurance policies and sign a Reservation Agreement with PREAA no later than fifteen (15) Business Days from the date on which the notification was issued. Reservation Agreements shall be executed in accordance to terms and conditions defined by PREAA and in accordance with this Regulation and the Reference Guide. If no agreement is executed by the Applicant or evidence of payment of the Reservation Guarantee and of insurance policies is not presented within the fifteen (15) days period, the application will be cancelled. 4.7 Funds will be reserved for a twelve (12) month period, but may be extended at PREAA's discretion and on a project by project basis to take into account particular circumstances and project contingencies anticipated in the application. Other unanticipated delays caused by Force Majeure events may also be considered to extend the reservation period, during which time the GEP must be Completed. In no case shall the time granted for project completion 46 exceed a total of twenty four (24) months, as stated in the Act. If the GEP is not Completed within this period, the reservation will be cancelled. Applicants could begin permitting activities before applying or signing the Reservation Agreement to advance processes and ensure that the GEP be Completed within the reservation period. 4.8 Once the GEP is Completed, the Applicant shall submit a reservation claim, including all documents indicated in the Reservation Agreement. Required documents to be submitted with the reservation claim include, but shall not be limited to, the following: 4.8.1. Evidence of payment of GEP Total Project Costs; 4.8.2. Documents required under Section 6.21 of Chapter One of this Regulation; 4.8.3. Signed Interconnection Agreement with, and interconnection permit from, PREPA (or evidence of filing of application to interconnect with PREPA and in accordance with Section 6.14 of Chapter 1) ; 4.8.4. Renewable Energy System Installation Certificate in accordance with OGPe Joint Regulation, Title XII, Chapter 55, Rule 55.6; and 47 4.8.5. Any other documentation specified in the Reservation Agreement. 4.9 Once the Applicant notifies PREAA of project completion, and submits all required documentation, PREAA will send an inspector to verify GEP compliance with terms and conditions stated in the Reservation Agreement. 4.10 An inspection will be completed within thirty (30) Business Days from the date of receipt of the Applicant's reservation claim with all required documentation. An inspection showing full compliance with all terms and conditions of the Reservation Agreement will become a final inspection determination. 4.11 In the case that the inspection shows that the Completed GEP has a smaller System Capacity than described in the Reservation Agreement, the inspection determination will become final but shall reflect an adjustment in the Total Incentive Amount proportional to the reduction in the GEP System Capacity. However, a modification in System Capacity that reduces the project to a 100kW or less GEP will be considered a significant variation under Section 4.14 below. 4.12 An inspection showing that the Customer or the location or site of the GEP is different from those specified in the Reservation Agreement, 48 shall constitute a failed inspection and will result in the cancelation of the reservation. 4.13 Completed GEPs with larger System Capacity than described in the Reservation Agreement will receive the Total Incentive Amount as stated in the Reservation Agreement, unadjusted. 4.14 Completed GEPs with significant variations other than as described above will have the option to, within thirty (30) Business Days either: 4.14.1. Modify the GEP in accordance with the Reservation Agreement and reapply for a final inspection determination. 4.14.2. Withdraw the application and notify PREAA as instructed in the Reservation Agreement or in the inspection determination. 4.15 Reservations for GEPs that reflect significant variations will be cancelled if Applicant does not act within thirty (30) Business Days from receipt of the inspection determination. 4.16 Within thirty (30) calendar days from issuance of a final inspection determination showing full compliance with all terms and conditions of the Reservation Agreement or from the date of issuance of final inspection determination after modification of the GEP, PREAA will 49 disburse incentive payment to Customer or its assignee. Incentive payments may be disbursed to third parties (including System Owners and Authorized Representatives) when such third party has partially or completely paid for the cost of the GEP, provided a payment release or assignment notice is submitted by Customer (incentive reservation holder) to PREAA. V. Application Requirements 5.1 Minimum documentation required to apply for an incentive under this program is listed below: 5.1.1. Site drawing and Layout - A single page document in PDF format and prepared in a computer aided design software, indicating at a minimum the locations of major components, layout, positioning, true north orientation symbol, and property lines; 5.1.2. Project price quote - containing the following components: 1. Equipment costs; 2. Engineering design and permitting cost; 3. Construction, installation and mounting cost; 4. Interest Expense; 50 5.1.3. If applicable, an executed Authorization Letter (refer to Green Energy fund webpage or PREAA website as stated in Section 6.2.1 of Chapter One of this Regulation). 5.1.4. If applicable, a corporate resolution indicating the names of individuals authorized to act and sign documents on behalf of a corporation; 5.1.5. Payment of Application Fee as per section 6.3 of Chapter one of this Regulation; 5.1.6. Any other document required by PREAA as part of the application process; and 5.1.7. The Proposal for project funding containing the information stated below. VI. Proposal Submittal - Proposals must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered for funding. To facilitate the submission of similarly formatted proposals that enable ready comparison by evaluators, applicants should organize proposals as follows: 6.1 Project Description - Applicants should demonstrate within the relevant sections of their project descriptions how their proposal meets or exceeds the criteria set forth 51 herein, in the Tier 2 Reference Guide and in any additional tendering process details that PREAA may publish through the Green Energy Fund webpage indicated in Section 6.2.1 of Chapter One of this Regulation. Applicants must provide the following information with the associated descriptive headings in bold below: 6.1.1. Equipment - Applicants must indicate the major types of equipment that will be installed or, if not yet selected, the candidate technologies. For actual construction and upon showing a good cause, successful candidates are permitted to replace or update equipment identified in the proposal with more technologically advanced equipment that is equal to or better than the equipment identified in the proposal. For each candidate technology, Applicants may be required to provide the manufacturer's specification sheets, and if not available, describe the renewable resource characteristics applicable to the proposed equipment; estimate the expected capacity of the resource and provide the methodology and data 52 sources that corroborate this estimate. 6.1.2. Relevant Experience & Knowledge - The proposal must list all senior team members and external consultants participating in the GEP and include evidence of their relevant expertise and appropriate technical knowledge regarding GEPs. Applicants will be required to certify that its proposed senior project team will remain the project team for the duration of the project, subject to any changes notified, and thus approved by PREAA. 6.1.3. Schedule of Project Related Milestones - For each distinct project component proposed, the Applicant must identify the expected duration of the permitting, design and construction phases. This should also include the expected useful economic life for any major equipment and/or component. In addition, a project timeline will be required. 6.1.4. Site Location and Description - The applicant must describe and document all distinct individual project site locations and basis for selection including the location(s), the construction staging area(s), and the 53 location (s) of transmission lines and all points of interconnection to the distribution system. Applicants must include a map or satellite image with the location of the site (s) clearly marked. Describe any current uses, conflicts, or characteristics of the land areas under consideration; specify whether the project is located at one site, or divided among several sites; define the attributes which make the site attractive and list any potential problems, constraints or limitations with locating an energy facility at that site including but not limited to environmental, economic, or energy production characteristics. 6.1.5. Land Acquisition and Access to Facility - For each candidate area, applicants must prove they have land access rights for all portions of the project including all required interconnection areas; describe progress in securing land access rights, and propose a plan for accomplishing remaining steps toward acquiring rights; and indicate the type and number of entities securing leases or owning land, if applicable. For rooftop projects, Applicant must 54 submit consent letters from every rooftop owner that is included in the GEP. Applicants are required to demonstrate adequate financial resources to acquire any necessary land or leases needed to undertake this project. 6.1.6. Permits - For each candidate area, applicants must identify all municipal, Puerto Rico, and/or federal permits and/or approvals required to develop, install/construct and operate the GEP. 6.1.7. Construction/Installation- Applicants must describe in detail a construction plan with the proposed time frame. Identify all the necessary construction code requirements with the names of the agencies to contact for compliance. Installations must be performed by a PREAA Certified Renewable Energy Systems Installer. 6.1.8. Electric Interconnection - For each candidate area, Applicants must document tasks required and discuss issues associated with electrical interconnection, including the distance between the project and a suitable point to interconnect with the 55 electrical grid; new equipment to be installed, upgrades to existing equipment required, and any feasibility studies required and the timeframe for review. Applicants shall provide with a timeframe regarding the interconnection process and permitting. 6.1.9. Environmental, Energy and Economic Impacts and Benefits - Applicants are required to comply with all relevant environmental statutes and regulations. Applicants should address in their proposal all anticipated or likely environmental, energy or economic issues. 6.1.10. Financial Ability- Applicant must provide evidence that it has the financial ability to undertake the proposed project. Applicant shall include information about selffunding and/or signed commitment letters from sources of financing collectively representing at least fifty percent (50%) of your expected development costs. The letters must include an agreement in principle to provide the necessary financing. The commitment (s) may be conditional on issuance of the notice to proceed. 56 Applicants shall provide audited financial statements from the previous two (2) years. 6.1.11. Sworn Statement - In compliance with Article 2.8 (a) (2) (H) of the Act, applicants shall present a Sworn Statement disclosing whether or not at the time of submittal, the GEP object of the application is covered by, or receives other state and/or federal incentives, in the form of tax or production credits, accelerated depreciation, rebates, grants, industrial incentives or otherwise, and under what laws. 6.1.12. Operation and Maintenance - Include a complete operation and maintenance plan for the life of the GEP, including any estimated increases resulting from additional fuel costs. Applicant is required to demonstrate that it has the capacity to perform all necessary upkeep/maintenance over the life of the project. 6.1.13. Proposal Information and Signatures - The Proposal should include the full business address of the Applicant or lead team member and the names and phone numbers of authoritative and technical contact persons. A 57 principal of the lead firm must sign a statement of verification of proposal information (to be posted in the webpage indicated in Section 6.2.1 of Chapter One). Satisfactory evidence of authority of each person signing the proposal shall be included. VII. Evaluation Process 7.1 Evaluation Committee: The Evaluation Committee shall be required to approve any incentive requests and disbursements that equal or exceed $500,000. 7.2 Technical Committee: PREAA shall create a Technical Committee to review and provide recommendations on submitted proposals. 7.3 The Technical Committee may include external independent consultants and/or subject matter experts and may include PREAA staff. 7.4 Based upon the recommendations of the Technical Committee, and the Evaluation Committee's approval when applicable, PREAA will issue a final determination. VIII. Evaluation Criteria 8.1 The following criteria, not necessarily listed in order of significance, will be used to evaluate proposals. These criteria will be 58 used to develop a project application scoring system with input from the Technical Committee and PREAA. Tier 2 Reference Guide and additional tendering process details published from time to time will elaborate on the scoring system, as PREAA may deem necessary. The criteria used in this scoring system shall include but not be limited to: 8.1.1. Incentive amount requested per kWh of green energy produced (costeffectiveness measure) ; 8.1.2. Project development experience; 8.1.3. Project equipment and technology; 8.1.4. Project related benefits, including green energy production, avoided greenhouse gases emissions, green jobs created and economic development benefits, as would be the case for GEPs established pursuant to Act No. 153 of August 10, 2002, "Act to Create the Special Vieques-Culebra Economic Development Zone" ; 59 8.1.5. Project location and sitting, including potential interconnection issues; 8.1.6. Project's Finance, including ability to provide, through self- funding or through third party financing, expected development costs; 8.1.7. Project completion schedule; and 8.1.8. Other incentives available to the project. IX. Appeal 9.1 Unsuccessful Applicants will have ten (10) calendar days from the date of the notice of award rejection to request reconsideration of the determination to the Executive Director of PREAA. Presentation of the request for reconsideration will constitute a jurisdictional requirement to eventually solicit judicial review. 9.2 PREAA will make a determination and issue a final notification stating its decision with respect to the request for reconsideration within fifteen (15) calendar days after a request for reconsideration is filed. If PREAA rejects, accepts or fails to take action 60 within such fifteen (15) calendar days, the term to request judicial review shall start running when said decision is notified or upon expiration of the fifteen (15) calendar days provided to consider it, depending on the case. 9.3 Applicants who receive a final adverse notification may seek judicial review by filing an appeal for judicial review with the Court of Appeals within a jurisdictional term of ten (10) calendar days from the final adverse notification. The mere filing of an appeal for judicial review with the Court of Appeals shall not automatically stay processes before PREAA. Therefore, any awards at the time granted shall not be automatically reversed or their notifications stayed. Instead, a request for a relief to stay PREAA's processes must be presented through a motion to that effect and must be justified in compliance with all the requirements for an order in aid of jurisdiction. 9.4 Any order issued by the Court of Appeals to stay procedures before PREAA must be issued within five (5) calendar days of the request. If such order is issued within these five (5) calendar days, it shall only affect and be limited to the amount in controversy, thus PREAA may proceed to award incentives to other selected projects up to the available amounts 61 after subtracting the incentives that would be applicable to the project or projects under judicial review. If the Court of Appeals does not issue an order to stay PREAA's proceedings within five (5) calendar days of the filing of a motion seeking such relief, PREAA must proceed with the competitive tendering process as if no appeal for judicial review had been filed. On the other hand, if the Court of Appeals issues a stay order within five (5) calendar days of filing the appeal for judicial review, the provisions stated in the second sentence of this section shall apply. 62 Chapter Four OTHER PROVISIONS AND EFFECTIVENESS I. Interpretation 1.1 This Regulation shall be interpreted as a whole and in the most flexible way to permit granting rebates to the extent fund are available. 1.2 In case any one or more of the provisions of this Regulation shall for any reason be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or contrary to any superseding law or regulation, such invalid provision shall be deemed not included and the Regulation as a whole shall be construed and enforced as if such invalid provision had not been contained herein. 1.3 This Regulation shall not be deemed to waive or modify any applicable provisions of laws or regulations regulating renewable energy systems, equipment, designers, and installers in Puerto Rico. Any applicable certifications and permits shall also be obtained or requested for the application to be submitted. II. Ethical Considerations 2.1 PREAA employees and external independent technical consultants and/or subject matter 63 experts that are members of the Technical Committee (s) and the Evaluation Committee reviewing, verifying or approving Tier 1 or Tier 2 applications and the immediate families of those individuals listed above may not participate in any of the programs under this Regulation nor may they have any direct or indirect ownership over Applicants submitting applications for their programs. Any other Government employees or person may participate provided the conditions set forth in Section 1823 (e) (3) of the Ethics in Government Act are complied with. III. Effectiveness 3.1 The Executive Director of PREAA approved this Regulation on June 28, 2011. 64