1803 LTRFP 2019

Bidder/Stakeholder Questions and Responses*:

1. Q: Are all questions submitted going to be posted anonymously?

   A: Yes

2. Q: Where will the questions be posted on the RFP Administrator Website?

   A: All questions and responses will posted under the FAQ section on https://www.acespower.com/1803ltrfp2019/

3. Q: What is the response time by the RFP Administrator for questions submitted?

   A: Responses to questions will be provided as soon as practical. Response times will vary depending upon the complexity of the question.

4. Q: Section 3.3.2. states “Energy supply must be physical” – please explain what is meant by “physical”.

   A: “Physical” means “Non-Financial”.  The energy supply is intended to be physically delivered and scheduled within the MISO market. 

5. Q: Please clarify the binding Phase 2 pricing and concept of “consistent with, and align with, market fluctuations”. What metrics will be used by 1803 and the RFP Administrator to quantify market fluctuations?

   A: We will use forward pricing for relevant commodities including, but not limited to MISO South forward power prices, MISO South forward capacity prices, natural gas forward prices, and renewable energy forward prices at the time of the bidder’s first phase proposal in comparison to forward pricing at the time of the bidder’s second phase proposal. The magnitude and direction of pricing changes will be reviewed.

6. Q: Is 1803 considered a wholesale power provider for purposes of establishing market-based rate authority under FERC?

   A: No.

7. Q: Is there a scenario in which less than all 5 Members of 1803 would contract for a portion of supply? For example, 3 of the 5 members contract for Capacity. Or 4 of the 5 members contract for a PPA.

   A: The RFP is being conducted on behalf of 1803, which is the supplier for all of its members. 

8. Q: How will information be communicated regarding the Technical and Bidders Conference?

   A: The Notice of Technical Bidders Conference is posted on https://www.acespower.com/1803ltrfp2019/

9. Q: Is registration required in order to attend the Technical and Bidders Conference in Person?

   A: There is no registration for the Technical and Bidders Conference; all are welcome to attend.

10. Q: Can you provide three years of audited financial statements for each of 1803’s members?

    A: 1803 will provide three years of audited financial statements for each of the five members upon execution of the final version of the Confidentiality Agreement, Appendix C. The final version shall be posted to https://www.acespower.com/1803ltrfp2019/ on or around January 31, 2020.

11. Q: May changes be proposed to the Confidentiality Agreement? If so, how should those changes be proposed?

    A: 1803 will consider proposed changes to the Confidentiality Agreement, Appendix C. Please submit proposed changes in redline form to the RFP email address by 5:00 PM CPT on January 22, 2020. After review and consultation with LPSC Staff, a final version of the Confidentiality Agreement, Appendix C, will be posted to the RFP website.

12. Q: Will a representative from each of the individual 1803 cooperatives be present at the January 16 Technical and Bidders Conference?

    A: Representatives of each of the individual 1803 Member Cooperatives are anticipated to be present at the January 16 Technical and Bidders’ Conference.

13. Q:The RFP suggests on Page 5 that “winning proposals” will be selected. It indicates on Page 8 that “1803 will likely enter into a variety of power purchase agreements (PPA) to fulfill the energy and capacity obligations of its Member Cooperatives.” On Page 9, it mentions that 1803 “intends to purchase a […] diverse power supply portfolio to meet its long-term load-serving obligations.” Please identify and explain: (a) whether the RFP predetermines and assumes an outcome that will include a “variety of purchase power agreements” and/or a “portfolio” of resources, (b) whether the RFP precludes bids that propose a single power purchase agreement that meets the full requirements of 1803 and its member cooperatives, and (c) whether the RFP predetermines and assumes that capacity and energy alone will be sufficient for 1803 to serve the full requirements of its member cooperatives?

    A: The RFP does not predetermine or assume any outcome, and provides for a wide variety of responses, including load following PPAs from 5-100% of the load. A single proposal could be selected if that proposal meets all of 1803’s needs. (b) A bid proposing a single PPA is welcome and would be provided using appendix B-3, noting any additional products or services provided with the response. (c) The analysis will include a full comparison of all costs for 1803 to serve the full requirements of its member cooperatives. The PPA Evaluation Team will evaluate all costs that 1803 will incur under any offer(s), primarily composed of energy and capacity but also ancillary services, MISO market charges, energy management and other costs. However, it is assumed transmission costs would be directly charged to 1803 or passed to 1803 at cost, if a proposal offers to fix transmission costs at set rates for 1803 this should be clearly indicated for proper evaluation.

14. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) the RFP requirements to provide transmission arrangements and deliverability for bid proposals, (b) how the transmission costs will be quantified, and (c) how the transmission costs will be included in the bid evaluations.

    A: (a) The RFP indicates the desired locations and deliverability for all products as indicated in each description in the document. (b-c) The proposals should cover all interconnection costs in the offered price or indicate any costs that would be passed through. Any pass through costs will be included in the evaluation and any basis costs (congestion and losses) and risk will be evaluated based upon historical and future congestion and loss forecasts as discussed in Section 4.13 of the RFP.

15. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) the RFP requirements to assess risk differences among bid proposals in terms of cost, availability, reliability and deliverability, (b) how the risk differences will be quantified, (c) how the quantifications of risk difference will be included in the bid evaluations and (d) whether the risk assessment process will be subject to LPSC oversight or 1803 input.

    A: (a-c) Please see section 4.13 of the RFP which discusses risk differences and stochastic modeling. (d) 1803 will be working with Commission staff and their consultants on the risk and cost evaluations. 1803 is the requestor of these proposals. RFP preferences, including risk, are entirely 1803’s preferences as described in section 4.13.

16. Q: The RFP mentions on Page 30 that 1803’s “risk tolerance” will be taken into account when evaluating proposals. On Page 4, it mentions that 1803 member cooperatives currently receive power pursuant to “full-requirements” contracts, which mitigates many of their primary risk exposures. Given the RFP indicates it is for capacity and energy only, (a) how does 1803 intend to manage the risks associated with day-to-day energy management, e.g. load forecast risk, day-ahead vs. real-time energy market exposure, basis risk between energy supply and load obligation, etc. and (b) how will such risks be accounted for when conducting levelized cost analysis?

    A: The RFP seeks a variety of potential supply types, including load following products that could include full requirements offers. The selected responses may or may not leave risk for 1803. If risk remains, 1803 has plans to manage any such exposures. (b) The PPA Evaluation Team will evaluate all costs and risks that 1803 will incur under any offer(s), primarily composed of energy and capacity but also ancillary services, MISO market charges, energy management and other costs. 1803 does not consider pass-through charges in an offer as risk reducing.

17. Q: Please identify the “1803 personnel” for which unsolicited contact regarding the RFP is prohibited during the RFP process.

    A: “1803 personnel” includes all employees, management and board members of 1803 and the five member distribution cooperatives, as well any consultants retained by 1803 or its members in conjunction with this RFP.

18. Q: Please identify and explain the procedures that will be used for bids that are determined to be “non-conforming”, including: (a) the notification procedure, (b) the timing of the notification, (c) opportunity and timing for cure by the bidder and (d) whether the LPSC will have oversight into the rejection of any such non-conforming bids.

    A: (a) The RFP Process Control Team will contact bidders who submit inaccurate or incomplete data to inform them of the omissions/errors and ask them to correct the data and resubmit their proposals by no later than 5pm CPT on 2/28/20.

    (b) As soon as practical after receipt of the proposal.

    (c) See (a) above.

    (d) Per Section 4.11 of the RFP, 1803 and the RFP Process Control Team will notify the LPSC of the disqualification of any proposal on the basis it is non-conforming and shall identify the manner in which it is non-conforming.

19. Q: Please supply the hourly shaped load forecast for the 1803 entity to be served by resources procured through this RFP for the period 2025 through 2044.

    A: The data will be provided to respondents who have a signed NDA when the final version of the RFP is released. Appendix A contains annual peak demand and energy projections as well.

20. Q: Does ACES have commodity projections to provide to bidders so all bids are based on a single set of commodity projections?

    A: 1803 recognizes that different bidders may have different suppliers and cost structures and should use those in their responses to provide 1803 the most accurate information.

21. Q: Please identify and explain whether all information from the stakeholder portion of the RFP process shall be filed into the LPSC docket and record in X-35283 for use in certification proceedings as needed, including in particular: (a) all stakeholder questions and responses thereto, and (b) all stakeholder comments.

    A: 1803 does not intend to file any of the bidder questions and responses or comments into LPSC Docket No. X-35283. 1803 will maintain this webpage for public review, with bidder questions and responses included, throughout the subsequent and separate certification proceedings. 1803 will share all comments received with LPSC Staff and, upon specific request by a bidder/stakeholder, will consider posting the comments of the requesting bidder/stakeholder to this webpage.

22. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) whether the RFP predetermines and assumes an outcome that contract terms cannot begin until 2025, (b) whether the RFP precludes bids that propose contract terms that entail savings to members as soon as 2020, and (c) if not, how the RFP intends to treat bids that propose contract terms that entail savings to members as soon as 2020?

    A: (a) The RFP is intended to provide supply at the end of the current contract, however a respondent may offer credit(s) or cash payment(s) prior to the start of the contract.

    (b) The RFP does not preclude such bids. If a respondent wishes to offer credit(s) or cash payment(s) prior to the start of the contract, that should be indicated as part of the appropriate product offering with the timing and amount of such credit(s) or payment(s).

    (c) The RFP evaluation will calculate a net future value as of 2025 for any credits or payments made prior to the start of the contract and include such value in the evaluation.

23. Q: When will the 1803 members provide access to hourly load shape data?

    A: See question #19.

24. Q: Please identify and explain how the RFP evaluation will take into account and compare bid proposals that are different in terms of providing a full requirements solution versus providing a slice of portfolio option.

    A: All proposals will be evaluated on the total costs to 1803, equivalent to the full requirements cost. Refer to section 4.13 and Question #13.

25. Q: Please identify and explain how the RFP evaluation will take into account and compare bid proposals that are different in terms of the start date for providing savings to members (i.e., beginning in 2020 versus not until 2025).

    A: The RFP evaluation will calculate a net future value as of 2025 for any credits or payments made prior to the start of the contract and include such value in the evaluation. See also Question #22.

26. Q: If there is an interest in energy storage resources being bid into the RFP process, would it be possible to create a specific PPA Evaluation Form for an energy storage resource?

    A: Energy storage resources are part of Appendix B-2. A separate Appendix for evaluation of energy storage resources can be created.

27. Q: What materials and/or information, if any, are anticipated to be designated as Highly Sensitive Protected Material?

    A: Information and documents which may be subject to such designation could potentially include certain cooperative information related to financial issues, pending/future litigation, and matters related to utility competition as well as specific information regarding distribution cooperative members/customers.

28. Q: The bidder registration form requests identification of the “Credit Support Provider (if applicable).” How do you define “Credit Support Provider,” (i.e., is it asking a proponent to identify the entity that will post credit, such as a parent or a guarantor, or is it asking for identification of a financial institution that may provide a letter of credit)?

    A: Credit Support Provider is a guarantor, which is an entity issuing or providing a guaranty in respect of obligations of the bidder.

29. Q: When will 1803 respond to NDA comments?

    A: There is only a single NDA, this agreement will be available in the final RFP. 1803 has reviewed all comments and redline changes to the NDA and will make changes as they deem appropriate. 

30. Q: Please identify and explain whether 1803 Electric Cooperative, Inc. will be the acquiring entity and take title to the resources selected from the RFP upon receiving certification approval of such resources from the LPSC.

    A: 1803 will be the acquiring entity and take title to the resources.

31. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) the source of payment by 1803 for resources selected from the RFP, and (b) any security to be provided by 1803 for such payment obligations.

    A: (a) 1803 will have full requirement agreements with its Member Cooperatives for full recovery of 1803’s costs. (b) Security options will be flexible to meet varying power provider conditions and are expected to be negotiated with remaining bidders in the RFP’s Phase 2 process.

32. Q: Please identify and explain whether Member Cooperatives are able to withdraw or terminate membership in 1803, or otherwise choose to not participate in resources selected from the RFP: (a) prior to or after selection of resources from the RFP, and (b) prior to or after certification approval of such resources by the LPSC.

    A: Membership in 1803 is voluntary. Upon certification of resources by the LPSC, all parties that are currently 1803 Member Cooperatives will have a financial obligation to fulfill the contract(s) entered in to while they were a member of 1803.

33. Q: Please identify and explain whether any costs are contemplated to be added to resources selected from the RFP: (a) as part of the transaction of the resources from 1803 to the Member Cooperatives, and (b) for any management of such resources by 1803 or third parties for the benefit of member cooperatives.

    A: See Section 4.13.5 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

34. Q: Please identify and explain the process (including voting procedures and quorum requirements) that will be used by 1803 for participation of its Member Cooperatives with respect to selection of: (a) “Round 1 Results” from Phase I of the RFP, and (b) “Winning Bidders” from Phase II of the RFP.

    A: For both the determination of Round 1 results in Phase 1 and Winning Bidders in Phase 2 of the RFP, selections will be made by the 1803 Board in accordance with the voting requirements established by its bylaws and in accordance with La. R.S. 12:401 et seq.

35. Q: Please identify and explain whether 1803 is currently subject to jurisdiction of the LPSC and/or the FERC, including: (a) what steps have been taken to effect such jurisdiction, and (b) what are the implications of such jurisdiction with respect to: (i) the RFP process, and (ii) resources selected from the RFP.

    A: As an electric cooperative transacting business in the state of Louisiana that will be primarily engaged in the sale of electricity (see La. R.S. 45:121 (Electric public utility defined)), 1803 will be an electric public utility subject to the regulation of the LPSC. No sale of electricity is expected to occur by 1803 until 2025, and 1803 will accordingly be LPSC-regulated at that time. The LPSC’s Market Based Mechanism General Order R-26172, Subdocket C, dated October 29, 2008, requires that electric utilities subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction shall employ the market based mechanism process to support the acquisition of a purchase power contract intended to serve LPSC-jurisdictional retail customers. Not presently selling electricity, 1803’s sole purpose now is to conduct the RFP process on behalf of its regulated member cooperatives, and 1803 is acknowledging the LPSC’s jurisdiction by conducting this RFP process in accordance with the LPSC’s MBM process. A further implication of the LPSC’s jurisdiction is that 1803 will seek certification of agreements with power suppliers for all resources selected. 1803 and its Member Cooperatives will also seek LPSC certification of all power supply agreements between themselves. 1803 will consult with the Commission to pursue any other actions which may be needed or requested to facilitate or acknowledge the LPSC’s jurisdiction. 1803 is not, and does not expect to be, subject to FERC jurisdiction.

36. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) whether 1803 will be the entity that will seek certification approval from the LPSC for all resources selected from the RFP, and (b) if so, whether Member Cooperatives will submit separate filings with the LPSC to seek certification approval to purchase resources from 1803.

    A: (a) 1803 will seek certification. (b) The 1803 Member Cooperatives will seek certification to purchase resources from 1803 in accordance with the LPSC’s regulations in a process to be determined in consultation with the LPSC.

37. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) whether the RFP contemplates utilization of any form of energy management services for implementation and/or management of any portfolio of resources selected from the RFP, and (b) if so, please identify and explain: (i) the procedure by which the costs of such energy management services shall be identified to the LPSC prior to the RFP bid process, (ii) how the costs of such energy management services will be competitively determined, (iii) how the costs of such energy management services will be submitted to the LPSC for approval, and (iv) how the costs of such energy management services will be contemplated when conducting levelized cost analysis?

    A: See Section 4.13.5 and 4.13.7 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

38. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) whether the RFP contemplates any utilization of any form of services for participation in MISO and risks thereof, and (b) if so, please identify and explain: (i) the procedure by which the costs of such services shall be identified to the LPSC prior to the RFP bid process, (ii) how the costs of such services will be competitively determined, and (iii) how the costs of such services will be submitted to the LPSC for approval.

    A: See Section 4.13.5 and 4.13.7 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

39. Q: Please identify and explain whether the RFP terms preclude Alliance for Cooperative Energy Services Power Marketing LLC (ACES), as well as any and all of its affiliated entities, from any and all participation in energy management practices and/or MISO participation with respect to resources selected from the RFP.

    A: ACES only has a contract with 1803 for this RFP and no other services. No potential energy management services provider is precluded from being considered by 1803 for such services.

40. Q: On Page 16, the RFP mentions that during the first phase of the two-phase RFP proposal process, “the RFP Administrator will evaluate proposals […].” It then mentions that “the RFP Administrator will select bids for further evaluation, or reject proposals.” Please identify and explain (a) whether the RFP delegates any authority to ACES to make decisions on behalf of 1803 or its member cooperatives with respect to selection of: (i) “Round 1 Results” from Phase I of the RFP, and (ii) “Winning Bidders” from Phase II of the RFP, and (b) whether this first-phase selection or rejection process will be subject to LPSC oversight or 1803 input.

    A: ACES has no authority in this matter, all decision-making lies with 1803 and the LPSC. The LPSC is already involved in the RFP creation and the content of the RFP was at the direction of 1803.

41. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) whether the RFP requires bidders to maintain their bid pricing as confidential during the RFP process and thus they cannot discuss or disclose their bid pricing with anyone besides the RFP Administrator and LPSC Staff until the RFP is completed, and (b) if so, when does such confidentiality requirement end.

    A: 1803 will maintain confidentiality of bid pricing received. However, nothing in the RFP restricts a bidder’s ability to disclose its own bid pricing to third parties at any stage of the process, subject to the prohibitions against unsolicited contact with 1803 personnel, which includes all employees, management, and board members of 1803 and its five member cooperatives. Also, any bidder disclosing its own pricing would be expected to keep confidential any information or documents that 1803 has provided to the bidder as “Confidential Information” under the Confidentiality Agreement.

42. Q: Please identify and explain: (a) whether ACES and all of its representatives having access to confidential bidder information shall be required to sign the Confidentiality Agreement and related Non-Disclosure Certificate as a Party; and (b) whether ACES shall be precluded from sharing confidential bidder information with any and all of its affiliated entities.

    A: (a) ACES is an agent of 1803 and is bound under the CA, see Section 2 and 3, and ACES’ representatives who have access to confidential bidder information will sign the Non-Disclosure Certificate, (b) ACES is precluded under the RFP CA to share information with any affiliated entities.

43. Q: The Confidentiality Agreement and Non-Disclosure Certificate refers to several types of confidential information – – Confidential Information, Highly Sensitive Protected Materials, and Protected Materials. Please identify and explain what language should be used by bidders to designate their bid data as confidential under the agreement.

    A: Bid data should be labeled as “Confidential Information” to be designated as confidential under the Confidentiality Agreement. “Highly Sensitive Protected Materials” is a subset of “Confidential Information” that would only be provided as a single copy to a restricted, identified and agreed-upon group of people. When this designation is requested, the information and documents provided should also be labeled as “Highly Sensitive Protected Materials”. The term “Protected Materials” was used only in the Nondisclosure Certificate attached the initial draft Confidentiality Agreement. In the final Confidentiality Agreement form, the Non-Disclosure Certificate has been revised to replace the term “Protected Materials” with “Confidential Information” to be consistent with the Confidentiality Agreement.

44. Q: The 1803 RFP requires a minimum capacity quantity of 50 MW for designated generation resources proposals. This is within a total of 1,000 MW you seek to secure overall. Will you consider proposals for new renewable generating resources for smaller capacity quantities that scale up to 50 MW over a mutually agreed upon term? The RFP (p. 5) indicates that only some of the Member Cooperatives power supply requirements begin on April 1, 2025. It further states that the remaining needs should be available on January 1, 2026; with certain exceptions due to existing full-requirements wholesale power supply contracts.

    A: The minimum capacity quantity has been lowered to 25 MW for designated generation resources.

45. Q: Has 1803 identified its long-term resource needs by supply role: baseload, load following, peaking, reserves? Will that be shared with bidders?

    A: See Section 2.13 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

46. Q: Has 1803 or its members conducted an actual load forecast or study considering such things as customer demographics, customer count trends, usage per customer trends, energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, etc.? If not, what assurance can the member cooperatives have that it is procuring the right amount and type of capacity to reliably serve load in Louisiana.

    A: See Section 2.1.1 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

47. Q: Has notice to terminate the member cooperatives’ current full requirements supply contract been provided to Louisiana Generating/Cleco Cajun?

    A: Yes.

48. Q: Page 28 of the RFP Main Body lists nine factors to be assessed by the portfolio strategy and analysis team and further states that “expected cost, volatility, and market risk” are the most important of those factors. Area or system reliability is not listed among the factors to be assessed. Please (1) state the member cooperatives’ understanding of their responsibility to procure physical generation to support their load in Louisiana and (2) explain how the reliability of the electric grid will be evaluated and considered when selecting among resources offered in the RFP?

    A: See Sections 2.1.2, 2.1.4, 2.1.6, and 4.13.1 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

49. Q: Given that the member coops do not participate in the LPSC’s IRP process or any other stakeholder process regarding resource planning, where can stakeholders find the supporting information and documentation required by para. 8c and 8d of the MBMO Order? Please provide specific references.

    A: See Section 2 and Appendix A of the final RFP documents dated February 14, 2020.

50. Q: Who will be the market participant for resources procured through this RFP?

    A: Depends on the outcome of the RFP, the full-requirements provider if that type of contract is selected or 1803 if multiple contracts are selected.

51. Q: Who is responsible for long term resource planning – 1803 or its member cooperatives?

    A: Both.

52. Q: Has 1803 or the member cooperatives prepared a long term resource plan to ensure reliable operations of the grid before designing this RFP?

    A: See Section 2 and 4 of the final RFP document dated February 14, 2020.

53. Q: Do any of the employees of ACES who will receive confidential bidder information in the 1803 RFP perform work for other ACES clients that are involved in selling wholesale power? Please explain the safeguards that will be in place to prevent the possible misuse of confidential bidder information.

    A: ACES is an agent of 1803 and is bound under the CA, see Section 2 and 3, and ACES representatives who have access to confidential bidder information will sign the Non-Disclosure Certificate, (b) ACES is precluded under the RFP CA to share information with any affiliated entities.

54. Q: The 1803 Electric Cooperative, Inc., Informational Filing dated November 25, 2019 on page 9 section 3.1 requests all proposals for energy and/or capacity must be submitted in accordance with the appropriate Power Purchase Agreement Evaluation Form in Appendices B1-B6. If a bidder intends to offer a full-requirements supply agreement supported by a “slice of system” from a bidder-owned or controlled generation portfolio in MISO South, which of the provided Appendices B1 through B6 should be utilized to ensure the offer is considered “conforming” per the structure of the informational filing and eventual RFP?

    A: B3.

55. Q: MISO is the transmission system reliability coordinator but has no obligation to construct or acquire generating capacity that is necessary to support long-term reliability. Please confirm that it is a requirement of the 1803 Cooperative that any successful bidder selected from this RFP will be required to provide capacity and/or energy products to serve 1803 Cooperative load from a portfolio of physical resources registered to participate in and supply capacity and energy into the MISO market. Please also identify what portion, if any, of its long-term supply portfolio 1803 intends to procure directly from the MISO capacity auction in the form of ZRCs without any long term contracts with the underlying physical resources participating in the PRA.

    A: See Section 2.1.4 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020.

56. Q: Section 3.3.2 PPA Proposals for Firm Load following Obligation states: 1803 is requesting proposals from bidders able to provide either all or a portion of its firm load following obligations. (Emphasis added) Could 1803 provide an indication of the amount of capacity that it considers to be its firm load following obligation over the time horizon identified in Attachment A of the RFP documents (load forecast period)?

    A: Firm Load Following Obligation is now referred to as Full-Requirements or Partial Requirements Service in the final RFP document. Additionally, refer to Section 2.1.3 of the final RFP document for the estimated amounts of baseload, intermediate and peaking capacity and energy needed.

57. Q: Does 1803 have any concern that it may not receive sufficient and satisfactory bids that would satisfy its firm load following obligation? If that were the case, what steps would 1803 take to manage the risks since its firm load following obligation would not be fully contracted for?

    A: 1803 has minimal concerns due to the high level of interest expressed in participating in this RFP. 1803 also expects to receive multiple full-requirements offers that would contain load following energy. Through the analysis process, 1803 will assess portfolios that have differing amounts of load following capability and assess the risks and benefits of each portfolio in its final analysis.

58. Q: Could 1803 provide an indication of what it considers to be its firm base load requirement and what steps 1803 would take in the event it does not receive sufficient and satisfactory bids to satisfy its firm base load requirement?

    A: See Section 2.1.3 of the final RFP document. 1803 has minimal concerns due to the high level of interest expressed in participating in this RFP. 1803 also expects to receive multiple full-requirements offers that would contain load firm baseload energy and capacity. Through the analysis process, 1803 will assess portfolios that have differing amounts of firm baseload capacity and assess the risks and benefits of each portfolio in its final analysis.

59. Q: Could 1803 provide more specificity as to how it will identify costs that it will add in to its economic analysis for the costs of energy management services and the costs of market participant services, under the following conditions: (a) In the event that 1803 receives bids for full requirements contracts. (b) In the event that 1803 just receives bids for individual PPA contracts for Designated Generation Resources, Firm Load Following resources, Energy Only Blocks, Capacity Only Products, and/or Call Option Products. (c) In the event that 1803 receives bids for a combination of partial requirements contracts and individual PPA contracts as identified in part b above.

    A: See Section 4.13.5 and 4.13.7 of the final RFP dated February 14, 2020

60. Q: How will 1803 ensure that there is no potential for a conflict of interest by ACES deciding what costs to add to different bids for energy management and market participant services in the bid evaluation process, given that ACES may ultimately have an interest in being the provider of those services to 1803?

    A: 1803 will hire a third party consultant to estimate these costs and provide them to the RFP Administrator and the LPSC staff.

61. Q: In appendix B-2 for renewable designated generation resources, Energy Storage section, line 83 for Capacity Price, units are given as $ per MWh Storage Capacity Per Year. We would normally price at $/kW-month, can you provide an example based on the units you are looking for?

    A: Either $/MWh or $/kW-mo. is an acceptable bid format.

62. Q: In appendix B-5 for capacity only products, pricing is given in $/MWh. We would price at $/kW-month for capacity but you are asking for energy pricing. Can you please explain or clarify?

    A: Either $/MWh or $/kW-mo. is an acceptable bid format.

63. Q: In question #26 on the website, it was asked if a separate PPA evaluation form would be created for an energy storage resource. Will this PPA evaluation form be forthcoming in the final version of the RFP?

    A: Appendix B2 includes energy storage resources.

64. Q: When will the final forms for registration (including the Confidentiality Agreement) be made available?

    A: Registration forms were final on January 31, 2020 and now due by February 19, 2020. The final Confidentiality Agreement will be released on February 14, 2020.

65. Q: Will the schedule for registration change if a final RFP is not issued by January 31?

    A: The registration is now open through February 19, 2020 at 5 p.m. CST. A revised schedule for the entire RFP is included in the final RFP document.

66. Q: When will the final RFP schedule be published?

    A: February 14, 2020.

67. Q: Does 1803 have minimum eligibility requirements regarding development maturity of renewable generation projects, such as site control or interconnection status?

    A: See Section 3.3.1 of the final RFP document.

68. Q: I see that the dates for the remaining schedule are being evaluated and an updated schedule will be posted to the RFP website when the issue date is finalized, but I have one quick question. Will the proposal submission deadline be pushed by a week or more? I am just hoping to schedule our internal approval dates closer to our proposal submission.

    A: Yes, February 19, 2020 for registration and proposals are due between March 12-25, 2020.

69. Q: I know the official release of the RFP has been delayed. One thing I wanted to point out is the current timeline (~3 weeks between information release and proposal due dates) is pretty tight. For those of us pricing a product that delivers to the coops assumed CP Node it will take a while to study that basis. If there was a way to get each coops EP Nodes ahead of time that would certainly help. Is it possible to get the NDA out earlier and allow those who fill out an NDA and bidder registration form to get data at that point?

    A: Additional time has been provided for bidder analysis in the revised RFP timeline, bids are now due by March 25, 2020. The final NDA will be released on February 14, 2020. Upon execution of this NDA, the EP Nodes will be provided.

70. Q: When you release the final RFP and Appendices, will you also provide a redline of each Word document showing the changes made to them?

    A: Due to the volume of questions and comments, only a final clean version will be provided, however, prior draft documents will remain on the RFP website.

71. Q: Given that the final version of the 2019 Long-Term RFP has been delayed approximately two weeks and not available for review as of yet, could bidder registration be extended in a similar fashion in order to review the final document once it is available prior to deciding to register?

    A: Yes, the final day of bidder registration has been delayed until February 19, 2020. If you still need more time to register, please request that through the website Q&A and we will consider.

72. Q: When the final CA is made available, would it be possible for ACES to outline or point to specific sections of the CA that have changed from the draft to final versions?

    A: The final version and the draft version will be available on the RFP website.

73. Q: The agenda shows a Technical and Bidders’ conference call is scheduled for February 12th. Do you have the details regarding that call?

    A: This was an optional call that is currently not planned to be conducted; however, the website Q&A is open until 5 p.m. on February 19, 2020. 1803 may, in its sole judgment and discretion, but subject to prior consultation with LPSC Staff, schedule and conduct a Technical and Bidders’ Call if considered beneficial to the RFP process.

74. Q: For the proposal submission requirements, is Appendix B-1 through B-6 (whichever is applicable) all that has to be submitted, along with the original signature page?

    A: Yes, along with any supporting information the bidder thinks would be useful in analysis of the proposals.

75. Q: Should bidders be expected to respond during the open period for submission of proposals between February 17 and February 25, or will all major submittal dates be delayed relative to the issuance of the final RFP?

    A: Bidder submission is now from March 12 through March 25, 2020.

76. Q: How can we obtain historical load data? Can we get historical hourly load data for at least five years?

    A: Please sign the Confidentiality Agreement and we will provide historical hourly load data for five years.

77. Q: Are bidders required to submit a proposed contract form for any of the products as part of Phase 1 or Phase 2 bid submissions?

    A: Within five business days of notification of advancement to Phase 2, Bidders will be required to provide a draft PPA for review and edit by 1803 and the PPA Evaluation Team.

78. Q: The RFP goes into detail in section 4.13.8 on how basis modeling will be conducted and evaluated by ACES; however, it is unclear how respondents proposing requirements structures should approach potential ARR value. Respondents can conduct their own analysis on basis should they chose to deliver to what will be the CPNode but I don’t believe there is enough information available for respondents to price in potential ARR rebates. Will ACES apply their modeled value of potential rebate to requirements offers received or will data be provided to respondents in order for them to evaluate this potential credit themselves.

    A: ACES will apply their modeled potential ARR value evenly across all offers based on how much load they serve. In addition, any basis between delivery point and load will be incorporated into the offer evaluation as described in sections 4.13.4 through 4.13.8. Thus, all offers that do not take on delivery risk will be treated similarly. Offers taking on delivery risk will not have basis adjustments applied and may or may not have the ARR value (or share thereof) included in the offer depending on whether ARRs are retained by the Seller or given to 1803.

79. Q: Are the coops currently MISO Network Integrated Transmission Service customers (NITS)? If not, are they willing to become the Market Participant (MP) for NITS service or will they require the potential supplier to be? In a “portfolio approach” where several products are chosen, who will be the NITS customer?

    A: The members of 1803 are not directly MISO NITS customers or MPs. Depending on the ultimate portfolio selected, 1803 would expect to become a NITS customer and MP for the load. Potential suppliers would not need to fill these roles if a portfolio approach was chosen. Under a full requirements contract, 1803 would consider whether 1803 or the supplier should fill these roles as best suits 1803.

80. Q: With regard to Figure 5 in section 4.13.5, please explain how the Energy Management Overhead adder will be applied to Partial Requirements offers. For example, a partial requirements offer is received that covers 10% of the load and management fees are $1,000,000. When analyzing against competing offers, is the partial requirements provider’s offer increased to account for 90% of the management fees or $900,000?
    If a block offer is also received for 200 MW (or roughly 40% of the total load) that offer is increased by $400,000. With just two portfolio components, the analysis would charge the two entities 1.3 x the management fees expected to be incurred. This sort of analysis would potentially impair a portfolio approach when comparing against a Full Requirements offer (no Adder).

     

    Is there ever a point in the analysis lifecycle when the “portfolio” will cease being looked at as discrete offers and they are combined for an overall evaluation? If the partial requirements provider is comfortable taking on X% of the load and the remainder is covered by resource purchases, if the partial requirements provider is given the opportunity to incorporate the resources and serve the balance, there is no need for an energy manager which could result in lower overall costs to the customers.

    A: Step 1a and Step 1b look at offers in isolation, whereas Step 2b looks at offers in a portfolio. During the Step 1b portion of the analysis, each discrete offer is assigned a portion of costs, as noted in the first asterisk below Figure 5. If a partial requirements offer reduces some of these total costs (to be determined by 1803 and their consultant) then in Step 2b, when portfolios are evaluated together, the lower total cost would be assigned to the portfolio. At no time in the Step 1b analysis would an offer have more than its pro-rata share applied to it. Additionally, at no time in Step 2b would more than the total management cost be applied to any portfolio of resources.

    Using the example values in your question, in Step 1b, $100,000 would be added to the partial requirements offer. If it was advanced to Step 2b and modeled as part of a portfolio, the portfolio would be modeled with $1,000,000 in total energy management costs, unless 1803 determined these total costs were lower with a partial requirements offer (in which case that number (less than $1,000,000) would be used).

81. Q: Please clarify what is meant by “Min Capacity Guarantee?” in Appendix B-2. For example, is the referenced capacity before or after application of the MISO accreditation or other MISO rules that could change the capacity assigned to a renewable energy project?

    A: The minimum capacity guarantee is the minimum quantity of MISO Zonal Resource Credits (or any successor instrument) accredited by MISO including any impacts of MISO market rules. The Minimum Capacity Guarantee can change over time or be zero as well.

*Please note that question numbers are only for ease of reference and do not indicate the timing or importance of any question.