2015 Request for Offers Seeking CHP Power Purchase Agreements

Latest Update

• 8/25/2015 – Added additional Q&A responses (under RFO Communication) and a revised Offer Form (Required Forms and Documents)
• 8/20/2015 – Added Q&A responses (under RFO Communication) and a revised Offer Form (Required Forms and Documents)
• 8/11/2015 - Added Bidders Conference Presentation
• 8/4/2015 - Added Bidders Conference Details

In accordance with the Qualifying Facility (“QF”) and Combined Heat and Power (“CHP”) Program Settlement Agreement and related documents (including the CHP Program Settlement Agreement Term Sheet) approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) on December 16, 2010 in Decision (D.)10-12-035 (collectively, the “Settlement Agreement”), San Diego Gas and Electric (“SDG&E”) is issuing its 2015 Combined Heat and Power (“CHP”) Request for Offers (“RFO”) to solicit offers (“Offers”) from owners and operators of CHP Facilities and Utility Prescheduled Facilities (“UPF”). The Settlement Agreement became effective November 23, 2011.

(“SDG&E”) is issuing this 2015 CHP RFO to achieve its megawatt (“MW”) and Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) Emissions Reductions Targets, established in the CHP Program Settlement Agreement and further refined in D.15-06-028 – Decision on Combined Heat and Power Procurement Matters (“2015 CHP Decision”). This RFO solicits offers from owners and operators of CHP Facilities and UPFs.

Pursuant to the CHP Program Settlement, SDG&E seeks to acquire a total of 160 MW of CHP name plate Capacity under Power Purchase Agreements (“PPA” or “Agreements”) during the Initial Program Period (2011-2015) and 51 MW in the Second Program Period (2016-2020), both of which periods are defined in the CHP Program Settlement.  Through this solicitation, the third and final of three RFOs to be held during the Initial Program Period, SDG&E seeks offers to meet a CHP MW Target of up to 50 MW in order to make progress toward its Initial Program Period goal of 160 MW. SDG&E may consider offers larger than 50 MW depending on an offer’s overall attractiveness and contributions to meeting the CHP Settlement MW and GHG reduction goals. 

This solicitation sets forth the terms and conditions of SDG&E’s third CHP RFO. By responding to this RFO, the bidder agrees to be bound by all the terms, conditions, and other provisions of this RFO and any changes or supplements to it that may be issued by SDG&E, prior to the bidder’s response. 

Table 1 – Program MW Targets Established by the Settlement Agreement 

In this RFO, SDG&E will entertain offers for the following resources as defined in the CHP Program Settlement: Existing CHP, New CHP, Repowered CHP, Expanded CHP, and Existing CHP Facilities Converting to UPF. SDG&E will give preference for offers that are low cost, and have either low associated GHG emissions or provide GHG emissions reductions through changes in operations or technology. Any facility that offers operating flexibility will be considered favorably.

Table 2 – CHP Product Types

Winning Respondents shall enter into a PPA for the energy and capacity from eligible resources that can meet the criteria described in the RFO document (provided below). Respondents may modify the applicable PPA submitted as part of their offer package to the extent such modifications add value to the offer. SDG&E discourages any material modification of the Pro Forma PPA.

Solicitation Documents

Respondents are required to submit at least two offer forms (maximum of 10) to this solicitation by submitting the forms listed below.  Forms are available on the RFO Website.  The failure to provide the listed information may result in the proposal being deemed non-conforming and may disqualify the proposal from further consideration.

• The RFO (pdf)

Required Forms and Documents

• Offer Form (xlsx) – Bidders are required to complete the Offer Form as well as the other applicable appendices. Please submit one per project
  Note:  Respondents must submit at least two pricing option (one in which the bidder assumes GHG compliance costs) and no more than 10 pricing options per project.
• Project Description Form (doc) – Submit one per project.
• CEC-2843 Application Form – Submit a copy of respondent’s application to the CEC requesting qualification for the Combined Heat and Power System. If this application form is not required for your facility, please provide forecasted amounts in the offer form on tab 6.b ‘CEC-2843 Information’.
• Electric Interconnection Information – Copy of completed System Impact Study, a Phase I interconnection study, or results from the WDAT Fast Track process if available.
• Credit Application (doc) - Submit one per project.
• Redline forms of the Applicable PPA
  • CHP Pro Forma PPA (doc)
  • CHP UPF PPA (docx)

All offers must be uploaded to the RFO Website no later than 1 PM, Pacific Prevailing Time, on the CLOSING DATE (see RFO Schedule below). The Project Description Form and Model PPA must be in Word or Word-compatible format (not in PDF). The Offer Forms must be in Excel or Excel-compatible format (not in PDF). The copy of completed Interconnection Study and Site Control Documentation must be in PDF format.

RFO Communication

All questions or other communications regarding this RFO must be submitted via email to CHPRFO@sdge.com by the DEADLINE TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS as specified in Section 6.0 RFO Schedule.  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 pre-bid conference. Respondents are encouraged to check this RFO Website periodically for updates, notices, and postings.

• RFO Q&A
  • Deadline to submit questions is August 14th
  • Answers will be posted no later than August 20th

• RFO Q&A #2 

Participation from Diverse Business Enterprises

SDG&E encourages Diverse Business Enterprises (“DBEs”), “Women-Owned Businesses” or “Minority-Owned Businesses” or “Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises” as defined in G.O. 156[1], to participate in this RFO. 

Furthermore, SDG&E encourages developers to utilize DBEs during various stages of project development and construction. As a part of G.O. 156, SDG&E will require developers to identify and verify their DBE contractor/subcontractor spending if any.

Additional information on SDG&E’s DBE program and utilizing DBEs can be found at:

http://www.sempra.com/about/supplier-diversity/

and http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc/supplierdiversity/

DBEs can request additional information by contacting SDG&E at vendorrelations@sdge.com.

Pre-Bid Conference

• Pre-Bid Conference Presentation (Aug 11, 2015)

SDG&E’s 2015 CHP Pre-Bid Webinar Conference on August 11, 2015:

Date: August 11, 2015
Time: 9:00am (Pacific Time) to Noon
Location: Webinar
Participant dial in (toll-free): (866) 835-8845

SDG&E will host one pre-bid conference on August 11th, 2015.  Participation in the pre-bid conference is NOT mandatory in order to submit an offer. Please monitor the RFO Website periodically.

Any party interested in attending this pre-bid conference should email the following information to: chprfo@sdge.com

The email should include the following information:

• Company name
• Attendees' names, titles and contact information

RFO Announcements

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

Register to Submit Offers

The PowerAdvocate® Platform is the means by which Respondents will submit their offers related to this RFO to SDG&E for consideration.  Respondents can also find solicitation related documents on PowerAdvocate® that are also on the RFO Website. 

Respondents will need to register for a user name and password to access PowerAdvocate® in order to upload their offer(s).

The RFO and all subsequent revisions and documents are available for download from the RFO Website http://www.sdge.com/2015-request-offers-seeking-chp-power-purchase-agreements and the 2015 CHP RFO event on PowerAdvocate®.  Potential Respondents are responsible for monitoring the RFO Website and PowerAdvocate® for subsequent updates, notices and postings.

All offers must be uploaded to PowerAdvocate® no later than 1:00 p.m., Pacific Prevailing Time, on the CLOSING DATE (see RFO Schedule).  If Respondents encounter technical difficulties with the uploading process, they should provide evidence of such difficulties (e.g. a screen shot of the error message) and email the bid to the RFO inbox by 1:00 p.m., Pacific Prevailing Time, on the Closing Date. 

If the Respondent encounters technical difficulties with both the uploading process and the 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 USB Thumb Drive or 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: 2015 CHP RFO
8315 Century Park Court, CP-21D
San Diego, CA 92123-1548

Independent Evaluator

Alan Taylor
Sedway Consulting
821 15th Street
Boulder, Colorado 80302
(303) 581-4172 [phone]
(303) 581-4127 [fax]
Alan.Taylor@sedwayconsulting.com

2015 CHP RFO Schedule

The following schedule and deadlines apply to this RFO. SDG&E reserves the right to revise this schedule at anytime and at SDG&E's sole discretion. Respondents are responsible for accessing the RFO website for updated schedules and possible amendments to the RFO or the solicitation process.