General and Pre-Loan Policies and Procedures Common to Insured and Guaranteed Loans

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is amending its regulations to allow flexibility in determining whether a borrower needs to solicit bids from all sources for new or replacement generation. It is also deleting the requirement that borrowers seek bids if RUS financial assistance is requested from all sources for generation projects of 10 megawatts or more or for modifications to existing plants if it results in an increase in capacity of 10 percent. RUS will review each project on a case by case basis and determine whether there is a need for a borrower to seek bids from all sources for the project.