2020 Request for Offers for Long-Term Renewable Energy + Storage

Offers due September 4, 2020 at 5 PM Pacific Prevailing Time (PPT)

Overview

Peninsula Clean Energy and San José Clean Energy are excited to launch this 2020 Long-Term Renewable Energy and Storage Request for Offers (RFO). San José Clean Energy (“SJCE”) and Peninsula Clean Energy (“the Joint CCAs”) are soliciting competitive proposals for the purchase of long-term (>10 year) renewable energy contracts to fulfill each organization’s energy goals. The goal of this 2020 Request for Offers for Long-term Renewable Energy + Storage (“RFO”) is to provide a competitive, objectively administered opportunity for suppliers to propose projects to fulfill the Joint CCAs desire for long-term renewable resources that have a commercial on-line date of December 31, 2024 or sooner. Specifically, the Joint CCAs plan to enter into one or more Power Purchase and Sale Agreements (PPAs) for energy from eligible renewable resources.

Date Event
Wednesday, July 15 RFO Issuance and Q&A Open
Friday, July 31; 5 PM PPT Deadline to submit Q&A Questions prior to Webinar
Wednesday, August 5; 12 – 1:30 PM PPT Bidder Webinar to discuss RFO Process
Monday, August 24; 5 PM PPT Deadline to submit Q&A Questions
Friday, August 28; 12 PM PPT Final Q&A Addendum posted to RFO Website
Friday, September 4; 5 PM PPT Deadline to submit RFO Proposals
Friday, October 30 Bidders notified of shortlist status
Q1 2021 Power Purchase Agreement and Awards

 

RFO Materials

 

RFO Instructions (PDF)

Attachment 1a SJCE 2023 Load Profile (XLS)

Attachment 1b Peninsula Clean Energy 2023 Load Profile (XLS)

Attachment 2 Offer Form (XLS)

Attachment 3a Renewable Energy Only Term Sheet (DOC)

Attachment 3b Renewable Energy + Storage Term Sheet (DOC)

Attachment 4 Instructions for Geospatial Footprint (PDF)

Attachment 5 Local or Small Business Forms (DOC)

Attachment 6 Supplier Diversity Questionnaire (DOC)

Attachment 7 Exclusivity Agreement (to be provided prior to shortlisting) (DOC) – not yet available

2020 RFO Q&A Responses (DOC) Redline (Updated August 28, 2020)

2020 RFO Q&A Responses (PDF) (Updated August 28, 2020)

About Peninsula Clean Energy

Peninsula Clean Energy, a community choice energy aggregator, is San Mateo County’s official electricity provider. Peninsula Clean Energy plans for and secures commitments from a diverse portfolio of energy-generating resources to reliably serve the electric energy requirements of its customers over the near-, mid-, and long-term planning horizons. Peninsula Clean Energy’s programs include advancing the adoption of electric vehicles and transitioning building fossil fuel uses to low-carbon electricity.

For more information on Peninsula Clean Energy, please go to www.peninsulacleanenergy.com.

In May 2019, Peninsula Clean Energy received an investment grade credit rating of Baa2 from Moody’s and in April 2020, Peninsula Clean Energy received an investment grade credit rating of BBB+ from Fitch. As of December 31, 2019, Peninsula Clean Energy had an unaudited cash balance of $175.4 million, of which $162.4 million was unrestricted. The unrestricted cash balance represented 264 days of cash on hand, well in excess of Peninsula Clean Energy’s Board updated policy requirement of 180 days. Peninsula Clean Energy’s financial statements including its fiscal year 2018-2019 audited financials are available on Peninsula Clean Energy’s website. Peninsula Clean Energy currently provides electricity service to approximately 300,000 customer accounts. This represents a population of over 700,000 people with 3,600 GWh of clean electricity annually.

About San José Clean Energy

In 2017, the City established the Community Energy Department to administer San José Clean Energy (SJCE), San José’s Community Choice Energy provider. In February 2019, SJCE launched electricity generation service to residents and businesses. Today it serves more than 328,000 customers and has a peak load of almost 1 GW. SJCE is responsible for purchasing over 5,000 GWh of electricity annually and has an annual operating budget of over $300 million. SJCE is driven to provide clean, renewable energy at competitive rates to help the city meet its Climate Smart San José goals and provide local benefits. In 2020, SJCE’s default energy service GreenSource is 86% carbon-free and 45% renewable at rates 1% below PG&E, adding up to over $3 million in community-wide savings annually. Customers can also choose to upgrade to SJCE’s TotalGreen service to receive 100%renewable energy.

For more information, please visit: www.sanjosecleanenergy.org.
RFO Process

Communications

All RFO documents are available at the RFO website at https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/rfo-long-term-renewable. All announcements, updates and Q&As will be posted on the website.

Any communications regarding this RFO should be sent to PCESJCE2020RFO@peninsulacleanenergy.com. This email address will forward to the appropriate procurement contacts at each CCA including Phil Cornish for SJCE and Siobhan Doherty for Peninsula Clean Energy. Please only send questions and communications to the RFO email and not to the individual contacts’ email addresses. Emails sent to individual contacts and not to the RFO email may not be reviewed or responded to.

Webinar

The Joint CCAs will host an informational webinar on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 from 12 – 1:30 PM PPT. During the Webinar, the Joint CCAs intend to address questions submitted in advance of the Webinar by 5 PM on Friday, July 31, 2020 and encourage Respondents to submit questions in advance of the Webinar to support a more efficient Webinar. Questions should be submitted via th process below.

Slides: PCE-SJCE 2020 RFO Webinar
Recording: PCE-SJCE 2020 RFO Webinar

Submission and Posting of Q&A

Questions are due no later than Monday, August 24, 2020 at 5 PM PPT. Respondents are encouraged to submit questions concerning the RFO. All questions must be submitted through the form posted here: https://forms.gle/MipbQaswRS8aHXKCA. Bidders are urged to submit RFP questions to the Joint CCAs as early as possible, in consideration of the proposal submission deadlines. Questions submitted by Friday, July 31, 2020 will be answered during the webinar.

The Joint CCAs intend to post all questions submitted by Bidders before and after the Webinar, as well as responses to those questions, in the form of an Addendum posted to the RFO website. Answers will be posted no later than Friday, August 28, 2020 at 12 PM PPT. All addenda shall become part of this RFO. All questions will be posted anonymously, to shield the identity of Bidders who posed the questions. The Joint CCAs objective in posting questions and answers is to afford Bidders equal access to information potentially relevant to their proposals.

Bid Submittal

Respondents’ Offers must be submitted by Friday, September 4, 2020, 5 PM PPT. Offers must include the required documents described below. All proposals must meet the requirements of the RFO to be considered. However, the Joint CCAs reserves the right to waive any deficiency of an offer.

Only electronic submittals will be accepted via e-mail sent to PCESJCE2020RFO@peninsulacleanenergy.com. Please include “Joint CCA 2020 RFO offer from [Company Name]” in the subject line. Late proposals shall be rejected. This deadline is absolute and proposals received after the due date and time shall not be considered.

Shortlist Selection Process

The Joint CCAs expect to notify short-listed Respondents by Friday, October 30, 2020. The Joint CCAs will evaluate all Offers per the evaluation criteria described in the RFO Protocol. Each of the Joint CCAs will enter into a separate agreement for its corresponding share of any project selected. The Joint CCAs may endeavor to negotiate individually or together as is most likely to provide for efficient negotiations.

Contracts with projects selected by Peninsula Clean Energy will need to be approved by the Peninsula Clean Energy Board of Directors at a public Board meeting prior to execution. This may require that a redacted version of the contract be made available publicly.

Contracts with projects selected SJCE will need to be approved by the San José City Council prior to execution, unless San José City Council has already authorized the Director of Community Energy or her designee to negotiate and execute such contracts.