CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cities like Cleveland are increasingly turning to a wonky-sounding tool called energy savings performance contracts to fix aging buildings without, in theory, blowing up their budgets. So, what are these deals, and how do they work in Ohio?

At the simplest level, these contracts are a way for a city, school district or university to hire a company to overhaul old buildings — think new HVAC systems, windows, lighting — and pay for the work with the savings those upgrades are supposed to generate.

In these types of contracts construction is paid upfront, often with a loan, and then the payments are made overtime with savings that the upgrades create.

The contractor overseeing the construction also guarantees a certain amount of savings on things like utility bills and

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