Summer 2016 Enhanced Community Renewables Solicitation

Latest News & Update

Respondents are encouraged to check this RFO Website periodically for updates, notices, and postings. SDG&E, at its sole discretion, pursuant to orders from the CPUC, may change the terms, requirements and schedule of this solicitation. Respondents should monitor the RFO Website for announcements regarding any updates or changes including posted questions & answers. SDG&E will post all solicitation announcements, including scheduling changes or RFO amendments to this website. In particular, check the RFO website for (i) details on the pre-bid conference call and (ii) posting of answers to submitted questions.

• 9/28/2016 - General FAQs updated
• 9/08/2016 - Bidder’s conference presentation posted
• 9/08/2016 - Listen to or watch the bidder’s conference

SDG&E’s 2016 RFO Seeking ECR Power Purchase Agreements

In accordance with Decision (D.)16-05-006 and D.15-01-051(together the Green Tariff Shared Renewables decision) issued by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) is issuing this Enhanced Community Renewables (ECR) Request for Offers (RFO or the solicitation) seeking contracts with facilities that produce Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)-eligible energy for the purpose of implementing its ECR program. 

The Green Tariff Shared Renewables (GTSR) Decision requires SDG&E to implement two programs:  (1) a Green Tariff (GT) program, allowing customers to choose a higher percentage of renewable generation than they already get from SDG&E; and (2) an ECR program, allowing customers to participate in community-based projects.  These programs are intended to:  1) make clean, renewable energy available to bundled utility customers, whether or not they own a home and/or can afford a significant capital investment; (2) increase the overall volume of renewable energy in the San Diego area; and (3) increase options for institutional, commercial and residential customers to meet their renewable energy goals.

Overall, SDG&E’s GTSR program is designed to ensure sufficient eligible capacity is available to meet customer demand of up to 59 MW, with 10 MW of the total program capacity being set aside for projects located in designated Environmental Justice areas. SDG&E will hold one ECR auction in 2016 and two ECR auctions per year in 2017 and 2018, or until all available GT and ECR capacity is reserved subject to customer participation in these programs.  SDG&E will offer 20MW of capacity at each solicitation, up to the total remaining unsubscribed capacity in SDG&E’s program. 

In this solicitation, SDG&E is seeking PPAs for the ECR program only.  This solicitation is not requesting bids for feed-in-tariff projects (e.g. Re-MAT, Bio-MAT), GT projects, BioRAM or other RPS procurement activities that currently exist or are being contemplated. 

Solicitation Protocols:

Details regarding the solicitation process and eligibility requirements are provided in the RFO document below.

• Solicitation Protocol Document

Required Forms and Documents:

• Project Description Form - Submit one per project.
• Project Offer Form - May submit two pricing options per project (one showing Energy Only pricing and another showing Full Capacity Deliverability Status pricing)
• Site Control Documentation: Copy of interconnection agreement, most recent study results or equivalent Fast Track documentation.
• ECR Power Purchase Agreement
• ECR Rider

Any party interested in submitting an offer must submit the offer electronically via PowerAdvocate®, and attach all required forms and bid materials to the offer. Respondents intending to bid and who do not have an existing account with PowerAdvocate® must first register to create a username/password in order to receive access to the event.  See below for instructions to log in/register:

Logging In to PowerAdvocate

You can access the PowerAdvocate platform via a web browser.

To log in

1. Open a web browser and go to http://poweradvocate.com

   PowerAdvocate functions in most web browsers; however, using browsers other than Internet Explorer (IE) version 6 or higher may cause certain functionality to work unexpectedly. Should you encounter problems, PowerAdvocate support may be unable to provide assistance until the issue has been replicated in a supported version of Internet Explorer.

2. Click Login.

   The Login page appears; you may wish to bookmark it for quick access.

3. Enter your account User Name and Password.

   Both are case-sensitive.

   If you do not have an account, go to http://poweradvocate.com and click the Registration link at the top of the page. If you have an account but do not remember your user information, click Forgot User Name or Forgot Password and they will be emailed to you.

4. Click Login.

First-time users must register as a Supplier using the instructions above and the Referral information below to access the RFO event: 

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Users with an existing PowerAdvocate® account may request access to the event using the link below:

https://www.poweradvocate.com/pR.do?okey=60456&pubEvent=true

All parties interested in submitting an offer must register to receive access to the 2016 SDG&E ECR RFO event on PowerAdvocate® in order to submit an offer. To register, Respondents must follow the instructions outlined above. All offers must be uploaded to PowerAdvocate® no later than 12:00 p.m. (i.e. Noon), Pacific Standard Time, on September 30, 2016 (Closing Date) (see also the ECR RFO Schedule).

The Project Description Form must be in Word or Word-compatible format (not in PDF). The Pricing Form must be in Excel or Excel-compatible format (not in PDF). The interconnection and site control documentation must be submitted in PDF format.

RFO Communication

All questions or other communications regarding this RFO should be submitted via e-mail to ECRRAMSolicitation@sdge.com and the Independent Evaluator, Harold Judd hjudd@acciongroup.com. All questions and answers will be posted on this website anonymously. SDG&E will not accept questions or comments in any other form, except during the bidder’s conference. Respondents are encouraged to check this RFO Website periodically for updates, notices, and postings.

Bidder’s Conference

SDG&E will hold one bidder’s conference via web conference. The bidder’s conference will be held on September 07, 2016 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, PST. If you plan to join, please email ECRRAMSolicitation@sdge.com, by September 2, 2016, and provide your company name and a list of attendees including their full names and contact information. Please limit participation to two representatives per company.

2016 ECR RFO Bidder’s Conference (September 7, 2016) 

Event reference: 3908581
Date: 7 September 2016 – 1:00 PM, PST

Bidder’s Conference presentation

Audience link: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/sempra/index.jsp?seid=153
Participant dial in (toll-free)*: (866) 227-1607  
Conference ID: 1675569

Please check the ECR RFO website periodically for updates, notices and postings.

*Participation in the bidder’s conference is NOT mandatory in order to submit an offer.

RFO Announcements

Please check this website periodically as SDG&E will post all solicitation announcements, including scheduling changes or RFO amendments if any.

Submitting Offers

All parties interested in submitting an offer must register to receive access to the 2016 SDG&E ECR RFO event on PowerAdvocate® in order to submit an offer.  To register, Respondents must follow the instructions outlined above.  All offers must be uploaded to PowerAdvocate® no later than 12:00 p.m. (i.e. Noon), Pacific Standard Time, on September 30, 2016 (Closing Date) (see also the ECR RFO Schedule). If Respondents encounter technical difficulties with uploading, they should provide evidence of such difficulties (e.g. a screen shot of the error message) and email the bid to the ECR RFO inbox by 1:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, on the Closing Date. If the Respondent encounters further technical difficulties with the ECR RFO inbox, they should provide evidence of such difficulties (e.g. a screen shot of the error message or a sent email notice with a time stamp before 1:00 p.m. on the Closing Date) and submit a hard copy and a CD of the bid package to SDG&E and the Independent Evaluator at the addresses below by close of business on the day following the Closing Date.

• San Diego Gas & Electric Company
  Electric and Gas Procurement Department
  Attn: ECR Solicitation
  8315 Century Park Court, CP-21D
  ​San Diego, CA 92123-1548
   
• Independent Evaluator 
  Accion Group
  Harold T. Judd
  email: hjudd@acciongroup.com
  244 N. Main Street
  Concord, NH 03301

​2016 ECR RAM Schedule