RFP Documents

Relevant questions and responses related to the MEAG Power 2024 Generation Capacity and Energy will be posted on this page. 

Yes, as long as they are relevant to the RFP.

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

Thank you for your interest in the MEAG Power 2024 RFP for Generation Capacity and Energy.  If you are requesting multiple points of contact for your company, those can be sent by email to [email protected] after completion of the intent form with the main point of contact.  If the question relates to multiple proposals, participants are permitted to submit multiple proposals provided they fall under the company information provided in the Notice of Intent and meet MEAG Power’s minimum requirements specified in the RFP.  If an entity wishes to submit multiple responses for multiple entities, they will need to register each participant and meet MEAG Power’s minimum requirements specified in the RFP. 

Thank you for your interest in the MEAG Power 2024 RFP for Generation Capacity and Energy. Respondents are responsible for any interconnections, transmission service and electric losses up to the point of interconnection with the Georgia Integrated Transmission System (GAITS). Respondents should include all transmission costs required to deliver energy to the GAITS in the proposed product price. All proposals will be required to identify and provide a description of those arrangements. If specific interconnection costs are not known, Respondents are expected to make reasonable estimates and include those in their proposal’s pricing. 

At this time, MEAG Power is only seeking utility-scale resources that are or can be interconnected at transmission voltage or delivered to the Georgia Integrated Transmission System (GAITS). 

MEAG Power is willing to consider leasing its site (or a portion of its site) for a PPA/PPA-toll. A fully executed Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement is needed prior to sharing MEAG Power’s owned site information. The mutual NDA is located in the RFP document on the RFP website https://www.acespower.com/meagpower2024rfp/ 

Respondents are responsible for any interconnections, transmission service and electric losses up to the point of interconnection with the Georgia Integrated Transmission System (GAITS). Respondents should include all transmission costs required to deliver energy to the GAITS in the proposed product price. All proposals will be required to identify and provide a description of those arrangements. If specific interconnection costs are not known, Respondents are expected to make reasonable estimates and include those in their proposal’s pricing. 

MEAG Power does not qualify, but its Participants may.  Several MEAG Participants applied for PACE loan grants during the 2023 season. 

This cost will be borne by MEAG Power and does not need to be included in any pricing from a developer. 

MEAG Power will consider a DC-coupled battery system.  Note that If Respondents have any exceptions to MEAG Power’s requirements, they must submit an explanation as to why the exception does not apply to the developer’s situation. 

MEAG Power will accept proposals for a portion of solar + storage facilities provided the proposal meets the minimum requirements outlined in the MEAG Power 2024 All-Source RFP. 

MEAG Power will accept proposals for a portion of production provided it meets the minimum requirements outlined in the MEAG Power 2024 All-Source RFP. 

The system should be designed to maximize capacity benefit and the facility shall be designed to never exceed the point of interconnection limit at that point. The system must be able to provide its guaranteed power capacity, subject to renewable resource and storage state of charge limitations, during operation, up to the point of interconnection limit. If any limits or constraints are required on the system output power to ensure that it does not exceed the point of interconnection limit, then the guaranteed power value shall reflect these limits.  

Yes, MEAG Power will consider proposals that allow for one discharge/day. However, respondents who have any exceptions to MEAG Power’s requirements must submit an explanation for their deviations. 

The RFP states that energy storage resources must be fully dispatchable by MEAG Power via Automated Generation Control (AGC). The AGC requirement is not applicable to solar generation. Solar offers will be evaluated, and the proposal must include a forecasted resource output profile for the proposed term of the PPA or proposed life of facility. MEAG Power will coordinate any necessary reliability curtailments with affected balancing authorities. MEAG and the balancing area will work in coordination such that the resource only receives one setpoint. 

MEAG Power will pay for deemed delivered energy for buyer–initiated curtailments, that is, curtailments due to an act or emission of MEAG Power.  A system emergency, for example, which requires the Balancing Authority Area (BAA) to curtail production, is not considered a buyer–initiated curtailment. 

The RFP states that energy storage resources must be fully dispatchable by MEAG Power via Automated Generation Control (AGC). Please review RFP document for minimum requirements and technical considerations. 

MEAG Power and affected parties will work in coordination to monitor solar production and capability. MEAG Power and the balancing area will work in coordination such that the resource only receives one setpoint and will coordinate any necessary reliability curtailments. 

No. Solar resources will not be applicable to the AGC requirement, and MEAG Power will work with the Balancing Authority (BA) so that the resource only receives one setpoint. Any necessary reliability curtailments will be coordinated with MEAG Power and the affected BAs. 

MEAG Power will evaluate all proposed resources and whether earlier start dates are acceptable. 

MEAG Power will consider resources that can provide at least 25 MW of nameplate capacity or greater. 

This is allowable. 

Any limitations should be clearly described in the RFP response, and the floor for discharge (if any) should be incorporated into the values provided for capacity and duration of the project. 

Yes, but not less than four hours, as noted in the RFP document: The paired energy storage system shall provide a minimum of four (4) hour discharge and capable of at least 365 equivalent full discharge cycles per year.  

Confirmed.

MEAG Power provides ancillary services at the system level and will not charge respondents for any of these services.  MEAG Power transmission interconnection agreements do not have additional charges for these services, but respondents should confirm potential costs with specific transmission providers if they intend to interconnect with other providers. 

For example, a 100 MW capacity storage resource should have at least 400 MWh of storage capacity, to discharge 100 MW for the entire four-hour period. More than 400 MWh may be needed due to losses or minimum charge levels to deliver 100 MW per hour for four hours. This level of performance is required for the entire term of the RFP response. 

The energy storage system should be available to dispatch at least 96% for each year of the proposal after accounting for any regular maintenance and EFOR. State of charge limitations (i.e. the storage system is not charged sufficiently at a specific time) are not part of this calculation. Put another way, the storage system should be interconnected and operational 96% of hours in a year.  

Additional capabilities are valuable for all types of projects during the most valuable times. Combined solar + storage projects are limited to the interconnection level, so there may be limitations on deliverability, and MEAG Power will consider the variability of solar output. Respondents are allowed to provide multiple configurations if appropriate with different costs to provide the greatest chance of success. 

Please refer to the MEAG Power All Source RFP document for the desired minimum requirements and technical characteristics. 

MEAG Power will consider the variability of solar output, the full output expectations, and variability of all resources. Relative values for hours and resource types are provided as a guide to respondents. 

From the perspective of solar, yes, the PPA is “as generated”. MEAG Power will consider resources that can provide at least 25 MW of nameplate capacity or greater. The RFP states in the Purpose and Scope that MEAG Power needs additional resources that can provide at least 375 MW of firm capacity by the summer of 2029 and an additional 75 MW of firm capacity by the summer of 2035. It is up to respondents to determine what products they are able to offer that would fit the minimum requirements requested. There is no specified MWh production requirement beyond the capacity levels stated. 

Any battery degradation should be described in the proposal, as well as any overbuild, guarantees, augmentation or other terms impacting battery capacity. Any net degradation should be accounted for in capacity and energy volumes over time. 

No credit support is required as part of the initial response on September 27, 2024. However, if the project is selected by MEAG Power from the RFP, either an investment grade counterparty will need to be principal to the transaction or credit support will be required to support the contracted transaction. Individual entities will be assessed based upon available credit ratings 

No credit support is required as part of the initial response on September 27, 2024. However, if the project is selected by MEAG Power from the RFP, credit support may be required to support the contracted transaction 

The respondent should indicate how they have calculated the capacity volume stated, e.g., summer rating at 90 degrees, winter rating, effective load carrying capability (ELCC), four-hour sustainable discharge, etc. 

Respondents are responsible for any interconnections, transmission service, and electric losses up to the point of interconnection with the Georgia Integrated Transmission System (GAITS). Respondents should include all transmission costs required to deliver energy to the GAITS in the proposed product price. All proposals will be required to identify and provide a description of those arrangements. If specific interconnection costs are not known, Respondents are expected to make reasonable estimates and include those in their proposal’s pricing. 

Your assumption is correct. The field refers to what percentage of the plant the offered MW represent. 

Yes, capacity price, variable operating and maintenance (VOM) costs, and start costs should reflect the year the PPA begins. 

It is reasonable to assume that a sales transaction could take six months to one year to complete, particularly if MEAG Power is to establish a new project with Participants. MEAG Power would want to lock in the price 30 to 60 days prior to closing 

Location of the project. 

If a Developer wishes to guarantee a minimum volume under accreditation rules, they can do so here, which may apply to some offers (particularly for combined solar and storage). If no such guarantee is provided, the field can say “none” or “as accredited” 

Appendix B-2 states, “MEAG Power is requesting a flat, non-escalating price.”  Respondents are allowed to submit multiple forms and options with different costs to provide the greatest chance of success. 

P50 is the typical level for the base form but respondents can provide additional data covering other levels, if available. 

For proposed tolling and power purchase agreements, MEAG Power is requesting pricing with non-escalating capacity and/or energy charges. See specific pricing options in Appendices B-1 through B-4. Pricing is assumed to be applied against the nameplate or installed capacity (ICAP) of a project, regardless of the accreditation level.

Bidders are responsible for all transmission costs required to deliver energy to the Georgia Integrated Transmission System (GITS). If a bidder is already connected to the GAITS through Georgia Power. Bidders are not expected to procure additional transmission service on top of MEAG Power procuring network integrated transmission services (NITS). 

No. However, MEAG Power may be required to refund Georgia Power Company (GPC) for any network upgrade costs that GPC refunds to the developer pursuant to GPC’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT). If a bidder is interconnecting through GPC, MEAG Power will impute the cost of such refunds in the cost of the power purchase agreement (PPA) price offered by the bidder to assess total costs of the PPA. 

The wetlands delineation and Phase 1 Environmental Review that were performed for this site are more than 20 years old, cannot be relied on to be current, and are not being made available as part of this RFP process. A site visit can be arranged with short–listed bidders later in the RFP process. 

Bidders are allowed to provide pricing separately for a summer-only product or can provide an all-inclusive year-round product. Bidders can provide pricing for both periods or one or the other to best align with their proposal. 

MEAG Power strongly prefers 0%, but if a respondent cannot offer a flat price, those fields can be greater than zero. 

If the interconnection provider is Georgia Power Company (GPC), any network upgrades beyond the point of interconnection will likely be reimbursable per GPC’s open access transmission tariff (OATT). Neither Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) nor MEAG Power are FERC jurisdictional, and, per the OATTs of these Integrated Transmission System (ITS) members, all network upgrades are the expense of the interconnecting customer. If the interconnection provider is GPC and MEAG Power is the power purchase agreement (PPA) off-taker, MEAG Power may be required to refund GPC for any network upgrade costs that GPC refunds to the developer pursuant to GPC’s OATT. If a bidder is interconnecting through GPC, MEAG Power will impute the cost of such refunds in the cost of the PPA price offered by the bidder to assess total costs of the PPA.

If “upstream transmission costs” is referencing network upgrades beyond the point of interconnection, which could be on the interconnection provider’s facilities or other ITS member’s facilities (called out as “affected systems” on the interconnection study), – see the answer above. 

If the respondent is referencing a published natural gas price index as part of its proposal, the “Natural Gas Price Index” field is where that detail can be provided. A respondent may leave this field blank or submit “N/A” if not referencing a natural gas index.

If the respondent is referencing a published natural gas price, and there are known or expected additional natural gas transportation charges from that pricing point to the resource, then provide that in this field. If there are no such terms in the offer, this can be marked “N/A”.

Your interpretation is correct. If a proposal is awarded, either an investment grade counterparty will need to be principal to the transaction or credit support will be required to support the contracted transaction. Individual entities will be assessed based upon available credit ratings