Awarding Energy Efficiency Contracts

In 1994, state legislators created a law that allows Ohio's public colleges and universities to hire companies to improve energy efficiency based on the amount of money the company promised to save, instead of relying on the typical threshold of giving the job to the lowest and best bidder.

Because the law leaves a lot of room for interpretation, it's up to the colleges how extensive they want the work to be.

Companies have to promise that the work they do will pay for itself within five or 10 years.