The Average Winning Bid Price of $72.59/MWh is an average of the winning strike price for the winning utility-scale solar and brownfield site photovoltaic projects weighted by the annual quantity of RECs awarded for each project.

Reporting requirements and due dates vary based on the stage of development of the Project. Please refer to the Indexed REC Contract, including but not limited to Article 6 of the Indexed REC Contract, for further information.

As stated in Section 15.5 of the Indexed REC Contract, unless otherwise specifically provided herein or in a Product Order, “day” means a calendar day and includes Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The MES Compliance Plan shall be submitted to the IPA within thirty (30) calendar days of the Commission Bid Approval Date (December 15, 2022), which is January 14, 2023.

The evaluation of bids proceeds independently for each Category as described in paragraph I.2.11. of the RFP Rules. In the first step, for a given Category, the evaluation of bids eliminates the bids with strike prices that fail to meet or beat the benchmark. Benchmarks are established by the Procurement Administrator, in consultation with the IPA, the Procurement Monitor, and the ICC Staff. The benchmarks are confidential and are subject to review and approval by the ICC. Please see FAQ-Indexed REC-52 for more information.

At this time the Procurement Administrator cannot provide an example with the specific inputs provided in your question; however, a previously prepared illustrative example to show how the REC monthly price and the associated invoice amount are calculated is available here.

The Index Price, as defined in the Indexed REC Contract, means the real-time energy settlement price at the applicable Illinois trading hub, as indicated in the Product Order. Specifically, this means either the hourly Real-Time Locational Marginal Price for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc’s (“MISO”) Real-Time Energy and Operating Reserve Market for the Illinois Hub (“MISO-IL”) or the hourly Real-Time Locational Marginal Price for PJM Interconnection LLC’s (“PJM”) Real-Time Energy Market for the northern Illinois Hub (“PJM-NIHUB”). Additional information and historical Real-Time Locational Marginal Prices is available on the PJM and MISO websites, https://pjm.com/ and https://www.misoenergy.org/.

No. Under the Indexed REC RFP, each Company initiates the return of the posted cash, for a Seller that has a Project with an approved Bid, once: (1) you have fully executed the Indexed REC Contract and provided any required Performance Assurance; (2) you have paid the Supplier Fee to the IPA; and (3) the Company has received an acceptable executed request for the return of cash on the letterhead of the entity to which cash is returned and for which a W‐9 is provided.

The Illinois Power Agency Act (“IPA Act”) requires that benchmarks are kept confidential. Benchmarks are established by the Procurement Administrator, in consultation with the IPA, the Procurement Monitor, and the ICC Staff. The benchmark is subject to review and approval by the Commission.

Section 1-75(c)(1)(D) of the Act states that, “Renewable energy credits shall be cost effective. For purposes of this subsection (c), “cost effective” means that the costs of procuring renewable energy resources do not cause the limit stated in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1) to be exceeded and, for renewable energy credits procured through a competitive procurement event, do not exceed benchmarks based on market prices for like products in the region. For purposes of this subsection (c), “like products” means contracts for renewable energy credits from the same or substantially similar technology, same or substantially similar vintage (new or existing), the same or substantially similar quantity, and the same or SB2408 Enrolled LRB102 11366 BMS 16699 b Public Act 102-0662 substantially similar contract length and structure. Benchmarks shall reflect development, financing, or related costs resulting from requirements imposed through other provisions of State law, including, but not limited to, requirements in subparagraphs (P) and (Q) of this paragraph (1) and the Renewable Energy Facilities Agricultural Impact Mitigation Act. Confidential benchmarks shall be developed by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be subject to Commission review and approval. If price benchmarks for like products in the region are not available, the procurement administrator shall establish price benchmarks based on publicly available data on regional technology costs and expected current and future regional energy prices. The benchmarks in this Section shall not be used to curtail or otherwise reduce contractual obligations entered into by or through the Agency prior to June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906).”

No additional information is available.

No. The list of acceptable modifications to Post-Bid Letter of Credit is only available in PDF file format. The list of final acceptable modifications to the Post-Bid Letter of Credit is posted to the Procurement website here.

The Final RFP Project Percentage in the Bid Form will be used for purposes of the Indexed REC Contract and will be the percentage of the Project’s Actual Production, as offered by Seller through the RFP and as indicated in the Product Order under the Indexed REC Contract. It may not be amended during the Term of the Contract.

As stated in Section 2.3(b) of the Indexed REC Contract, in regards to the contract with each Company, the Parties shall work together to establish an irrevocable Standing Order for the Project for the automatic recurring transfer of RECs to Buyer’s account in PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS. Section 2.3(b)(iii) states “The Standing Order shall be for the automatic recurring transfer of RECs associated with a Vintage within the Acceptable Vintage Period. The Standing Order shall reflect Buyer’s allocated share of the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity, which shall be calculated by dividing (a) the multiplicative product of the RFP Project Percentage and the Annual Quantity by (b) the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity. For example, suppose a Project has the following characteristics: (1) the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity is 100,000 RECs, (2) the RFP Project Percentage is 50% and (3) the Annual Quantity is 70,000 RECs; then for purposes of establishing the Standing Order, the percent of RECs from such Project shall be the result obtained by dividing (a) the multiplicative product of (i) 50% and (ii) 70,000 RECs by (b) 100,000 RECs (i.e., the Standing Order shall be set at 35% of the Project’s Actual Production).”

For avoidance of doubt, RECs that are not transferred pursuant to Section 2.3(b)(iii) shall remain the exclusive property of Seller, to be utilized in Seller’s sole discretion; such RECs are not associated with the RFP Project Percentage and cannot be used to meet the Delivery Year Requirement or Maximum Contract Quantity under this Agreement.

Comments on and proposed modifications to the Post-Bid Letter of Credit that are submitted after the deadlines related to the Part 1 Proposal will not be reviewed. The list of final acceptable modifications to the Post-Bid Letter of Credit has already been posted here.

You do not need to register for Bidder Training. The Bidder Training consists of time set aside for Bidders to practice all aspects of the bid submission procedures. The Procurement Administrator is available at that time to answer questions regarding the completion of the Bid Form(s) and to evaluate the Bid Form(s). Bidder training is done via the Procurement Administrator’s Secure Bid Transfer interface and is not conducted via a webcast.

Please have on hand the Invitation to Bidder Training, Bid Form, Confidential Information for Training (blue background), and the Bid Form Guide. These documents were distributed with the Part 1 Notification via the application website on November 17, 2022. A Bidder can access these files using the same login credentials used to access the online Part 1 and Part 2 Forms. Please see the “Documents” section.

No, it is not a requirement for the individual that signs the form to be the contact provided on the form.

All bid assurance collateral remains in place until the Commission has rendered a decision on the results of the procurement event. If the Bid for a Project is selected by the evaluation procedure and approved by the Commission, bid assurance collateral remains in place until full execution of the Indexed REC Contract and posting of any required Performance Assurance, and until payment of the Supplier Fee is received. The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, December 15, 2022. The timelines for the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP related to the post-bid process for Projects with Bids selected and approved by the Commission was provided in the Part 1 Notification on November 17, 2022.

If the Bid for a Project is not selected by the evaluation procedure, the bid assurance collateral for that Project will be returned as stated in Section VI.2.19 of the RFP Rules, “A Pre-Bid Letter of Credit will expire on the date stated as part of its terms, fourteen (14) business days after the anticipated date of the Commission decision on the procurement event and cash provided as bid assurance collateral will be returned in the same general timeframe”.

Please see paragraph V.2.2. of the Indexed REC RFP Rules for the conditions under which a draw on cash posted as bid assurance collateral may be made.

Yes. Please refer to the FAQ-Indexed REC-44.

There is no set minimum expiration date for the initial Post-Bid Letter of Credit. However, we note that failure to meet and maintain the performance assurance requirement under the Indexed REC Contract is an Event of Default pursuant to Section 9.2(d) of the Indexed REC Contract. Further, it is a condition of the letter of credit that it will be automatically extended for one-year periods following its then current expiration date, unless at least sixty (60) days before its then current expiration date, the issuing bank notifies the Beneficiary that it does not intend to extend the expiring letter of credit.  Per the terms of the letter of credit, you are required to provide a replacement letter of credit no later than twenty (20) days prior to the expiration date of the letter of credit or meet the performance assurance requirement in another way; otherwise your letter of credit may be drawn upon.  There is no set minimum expiration date for the initial Post-Bid Letter of Credit. However, we note that failure to meet and maintain the performance assurance requirement under the Indexed REC Contract is an Event of Default pursuant to Section 9.2(d) of the Indexed REC Contract. Further, it is a condition of the letter of credit that it will be automatically extended for one-year periods following its then current expiration date, unless at least sixty (60) days before its then current expiration date, the issuing bank notifies the Beneficiary that it does not intend to extend the expiring letter of credit.  Per the terms of the letter of credit, you are required to provide a replacement letter of credit no later than twenty (20) days prior to the expiration date of the letter of credit or meet the performance assurance requirement in another way; otherwise your letter of credit may be drawn upon.

Yes. The Bidder may post the bid assurance collateral through an entity other than the Bidder or Seller (e.g., from a parent company).

If bid assurance collateral is in the form of cash, the Procurement Administrator requests, but does not require, that you confirm via email to Illinois-RFP@nera.com when you have initiated the wire transfer, including the amount and the identity of the entity that initiated the wire transfer.  If the bid assurance collateral is provided as a Hardcopy or Electronic Letter of Credit from an entity other than the Bidder and Seller itself, the letter of credit must clearly identify the Bidder and Seller accordingly.  In the Letter of Credit, the first sentence of Paragraph 2 should read “This Letter of Credit is issued at the request and for the account of [other entity] on behalf of [Seller / Bidder].”

No. The arrangement proposed in your example is prohibited under the Indexed REC Contract. In order for the REC Monthly Price Hourly Component to be calculated under the Indexed REC Contract, the Project must allow for its MWh production (as opposed to energy exported from the storage facility) to be measured for each hour.

First, the Procurement Administrator cannot advise bidders on their bid submissions. The Strike Price that you indicate in your Bid will be used to calculate the payments under the Indexed REC Contract and there is no separate payment adjustment related to additional battery storage under the Indexed REC Contract.

Second, with respect to a Project co-located with an energy storage facility, the RECs Delivered shall be associated with energy generated exclusively from the Project as measured by the Project’s Revenue Quality Meter and not from any other electric source. Similarly, the MWh hourly generation that must be provided under Section 6.1 of the Indexed REC Contract for which the REC Monthly Price Hourly Component is calculated must be from the Project as measured by the Project’s Revenue Quality Meter and not from any other electric source.  As such, increasing the Actual Production and REC quantity (as these terms are defined in the Indexed REC Contract) by using a battery is prohibited.

As stated in Section V.1 of the RFP Rules, once the Part 1 Proposal is complete, the Project information including the name of the Project, category of the Project, and size of the Project provided in the Part 1 Proposal cannot be changed in the Part 2 Proposal. In addition, according to Section IV.7.3 of the RFP Rules, the Part 1 Proposal will remain in full force and effect until fourteen (14) business days after the Bid Date.

However, please note that there is no prohibition under the Indexed REC Contract for size changes. Nevertheless, we note the following: (i) if the Project is a utility-scale project, the Project size must be greater than 5 MW (AC rating), (ii) at least 50% of the Project is located within the physical location identified in the Site Description in the Product Order for utility-scale projects, and the Project must be entirely located within the physical location identified in the description of the Project Site in the Product Order if the Project is a Brownfield Site Photovoltaic Project, (iii) the Annual Quantity in each Indexed REC Contract is a binding obligation, and is used to measure performance under the Contract, and an Event of Default shall be deemed to occur if three (3) or more Shortfall Years occurred, and the cumulative sum of the Shortfall Amounts across all Shortfall Years equals or exceeds in Annual Quantity under the Indexed REC Contract, and (iv) the RFP Project Percentage may not be amended during the Term of the Indexed REC Contract.

The size of the Project in MW (AC rating), provided within Part 1 Proposal, is used to calculate the bid assurance collateral and the Maximum Bid Size.

For this Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP, the amount of bid assurance collateral required for a Project is a function of both the size of the Project in MW and the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage provided in the Part 2 Form, and is determined separately for each Company. For further details on the amount of bid assurance collateral required for a Project, please see FAQ-Indexed REC-14.

The Maximum Bid Size is a product of (i) the project size in MW (AC rating), (ii) a capacity factor of 45% for a utility-scale wind project or a capacity factor of 30% for utility-scale solar and brownfield site photovoltaic projects, (iii) the Final RFP Project Percentage provided in the Bid Form, and (iv) 8,760 hours, as stated in the Section V.5 of the RFP Rules. The Maximum Bid Size will be calculated automatically within the Bid Form. A Bidder’s full quantity for a Project, as indicated in their Bid Form specified as an integer number of RECs, must not exceed the Maximum Bid Size of the Project.

The results from previous procurement events can be found on the procurement website. If you click on the “Previous RFPs” link on the left-hand side of the home page, you can find a list of previous procurements. Within each procurement’s archived page you can locate the procurement results. The results from the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP results are linked here for your convenience.

In addition, the results for the Summer 2019 Brownfield and Utility Scale Procurement can be found here. Please note that payment under the Summer 2019 RFP is on a fixed price basis and not on an Indexed REC settlement basis.

No other information is available.

The final list of acceptable modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for each Company, Post-Bid Letter of Credit for Option 1 and Option 2, Full Transfer Schedules 1-3, and Form of Guaranty for each Company, will be posted to the procurement website no later than Friday, November 18, 2022, which is the day the Part 2 Window opens.

If a Bidder posts bid assurance collateral and does not submit a Bid, the full amount of the bid assurance collateral will be returned with the timeframes provided in the Indexed REC RFP. All bid assurance collateral remains in place until the Commission has rendered a decision on the results of the procurement event. As stated in Section V.2.6 of the RFP Rules, “A Pre-Bid Letter of Credit expires on the date stated as part of its terms, fourteen (14) business days after the anticipated date of the Commission decision on the procurement event”. The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, December 15, 2022. As stated in Section V.2.4 of the RFP Rules, “Return of cash tendered as bid assurance to a Company is not initiated until the Company receives an executed request in a form acceptable to the Company and, for AIC, until a Supplier Request Form is received that AIC finds to be duly completed and, for MEC, until a Vendor Request Form is received that MEC finds to be duly completed.”

As described in Section 5.4.3 of the Long-Term Plan, under new subparagraph (P) of Section 1-75(c)(1), the Agency will optimize the procurement of RECs from utility-scale projects located in communities eligible to receive Energy Transition Community Grants. Section 5.4.3 describes a bid evaluation procedure to prioritize such projects. This grant program will be administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Under expected timelines at the time of development of the RFP Process and Rules and Indexed REC Contract for the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP, this grant program was not expected to be implemented until much later in 2022. Thus, this prioritization was not implemented in this Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP. This was confirmed in Stakeholder Workshop held in August 2022.

The Collateral Requirement under each Indexed REC Contract is separate from the bid assurance collateral that is due with the Part 2 Proposal. For Bidders with Bids approved by the Commission, bid assurance collateral remains in place until full execution of the Indexed REC Contract and posting of any required Performance Assurance and until payment of the Supplier Fees is received.

For an entity that is not eligible for unsecured credit under the Indexed REC Contract, Collateral Requirement means (a) with respect to a Utility-Scale Wind Project, an amount equal to four dollars ($4) times the Annual Quantity under the Indexed REC Contract; provided that if the Collateral Requirement is calculated to be less than $20,000, then the Collateral Requirement shall be $20,000; and means, (b) with respect to a Utility-Scale Solar Project or a Brownfield Site Photovoltaic Project, an amount equal to ten dollars ($10) times the Annual Quantity under the Indexed REC Contract; provided that if the Collateral Requirement is calculated to be less than $50,000, then the Collateral Requirement shall be $50,000.

A Seller with a Project with an approved Bid must meet the creditworthiness requirements under the Indexed REC Contract within five (5) business days of the Illinois Commerce Commission decision on the results of the procurement event. A bidder that is not eligible for unsecured credit under the Indexed REC Contract must post cash or a performance assurance letter of credit by the aforementioned deadline.

In order to submit a Bid for a Project, a Bidder must submit a Proposal, which consists of two parts. The first part of the Proposal, the Part 1 Proposal, is the Bidder’s response to the qualification standards described in Article IV of the RFP Rules for a Project. The Part 1 Proposals are received and processed during a specific timeframe, the “Part 1 Window”. The last day of the Part 1 Window is called the “Part 1 Date”. All materials for the Part 1 Proposals, including the Bid Participation Fee for Bidders that have not already paid such Bid Participation Fee pursuant to participation in a 2022 procurement event held on behalf the IPA, must be received by 12 PM (noon) on the Part 1 Date. The Part 1 Window for the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP opened on Thursday, October 13, 2022 and the Part 1 Date is November 3, 2022.

The second part of the Proposal, the Part 2 Proposal, includes the bids and financial guarantees to support the bids. The Part 2 Proposal is described in detail in Article V. Part 2 Proposals are received and processed during a specific timeframe, the “Part 2 Window”. The last day of the Part 2 Window is called the “Part 2 Date”. All materials for the Part 2 Proposals, except the Bidders’ Bids, must be received by 12 PM (noon) on the Part 2 Date. The Part 2 Window opens on November 18, 2022 and the Part 2 Date is December 02, 2022.

For the complete timeline for the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP, please refer to the calendar on the procurement website.

A behind the meter project that would utilize a Power Purchase Agreement can qualify to participate in the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP. Such a project must meet the requirements in Sections IV and V of the Indexed REC RFP Rules.

Please see more information including a discussion of the intent of this requirement in Section 4.4 Cost Recovery of the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Plan: https://ipa.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/ipa/documents/2022-long-term-plan-23-august.pdf

The Inserts to the Part 1 Form for each Category of Project are posted to the Final Materials page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield section of the procurement website, under the header “FINAL Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP Documents”.

As defined by the Act, utility-scale wind projects and utility-scale solar projects must have a nameplate capacity greater than 5,000 kW (AC rating). A Project that first started operations on or before June 1, 2017 is not eligible to participate in this RFP.

In order to submit a Bid for a Project, a Bidder must submit a Proposal, which consists of two parts. The first part of the Proposal, the Part 1 Proposal, is the Bidder’s response to the qualification standards described in Article IV of the RFP Rules for a Project. The qualification standards are set to provide assurances that the Project can satisfy the requirements of the Act and to establish that the Seller accepts the terms of, and can meet the obligations under, the applicable supplier contract for this RFP. The second part of the Proposal, the Part 2 Proposal, includes the bids and financial guarantees to support the bids. The Part 2 Proposal is described in detail in Article V.

Please review Articles IV and V of the RFP Rules posted to the Final Materials page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield section of the procurement website for additional requirements of utility-scale wind and utility-scale solar projects and details on the bidding process.

Please note that there are two types of collateral contemplated: (a) Bid Assurance Collateral, which is due on the Part 2 Date to support your bids and (b) Performance Assurance collateral required under the terms of the Indexed REC Contract.

Regarding (a) Bid Assurance Collateral, the financial information provided in Section 8 of the Part 1 Form is not used for the calculation of Bid Assurance Collateral. Bid Assurance Collateral is to be provided by all bidders regardless of what their credit ratings are or whether they are relying on the financial standing of a guarantor. For more details regarding the calculation of Bid Assurance Collateral, please refer to FAQ-Indexed REC-14.

Regarding (b) Seller’s Performance Assurance collateral, this is defined in Section 7.1 of the Indexed REC Contract. The financial information provided in Section 8 of the Part 1 Form will be used to determine a Sellers eligibility for unsecured credit. For more details regarding Section 8 of the Part 1 Form and Performance Assurance collateral, please refer to FAQ-Indexed REC-12.

Yes, this is acceptable. If the documentation provided to demonstrate exclusive control for the required area names an affiliate of the Seller, please check the box for this purpose in Second Item of Section 6 in the Part 1 form.

The Bid Participation Fee may be paid from an affiliate entity’s bank account. When completing payment via E-Pay be sure the paying entity name matches the name assigned to the bank account and routing numbers to avoid processing errors or delays.

Yes, a bidder may submit a Part 1 Proposal for a Project, and later decide to not submit a Part 2 Proposal for that Project.

No information regarding the Part 1 or Part 2 Proposals for Projects that are not selected as a winning Bid under this Indexed REC RFP will be made public. Please see Section VI.3 of the RFP rules for further details on Confidentiality.

Under the Illinois Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/16-111.5), “For the procurement of standard wholesale products, the names of the successful bidders and the load weighted average of the winning bid prices for each contract type and for each contract term shall be made available to the public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event. For procurements conducted to meet the requirements of subsection (b) of Section 1-56 or subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act governed by the provisions of this Section, the address and nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility proposed by a winning bidder shall also be made available to the public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event, along with the business address and contact information for any winning bidder. An estimate or approximation of the nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility may be disclosed if necessary to protect the confidentiality of individual bid prices.”

Section 8 of the Part 1 Form requires that the Bidder indicate whether the Seller is operating under an Agency Agreement. It is not a requirement that Seller operate under an Agency Agreement in order for a Project to be eligible to participate in the Indexed REC RFP. If a Bidder is operating under an Agency Agreement they will be subject to additional requirements in the Part 1 Proposal, which will be provided to the Bidder in a separate notice.

A project on a closed municipal landfill may be able to qualify as a brownfield site photovoltaic site project as long as it meets the qualification requirements in Sections IV and V of the RFP Rules. In particular, to qualify a brownfield site photovoltaic site the Bidder must indicate whether the project site is an area that is regulated by one of the following entities under the following “programs”: (i) US EPA under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), as amended; (ii) US EPA under the Corrective Action Program of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), as amended; (iii) IEPA Solid Waste Program; (iv) IEPA Site Remediation Program. Or the project site must be located at the site of a coal mine that has permanently ceased coal production, permanently halted any re-mining operations, and is no longer accepting any coal combustion residues.

If the project site is regulated by one of the programs listed above, the bidder must submit sufficient documentation, dated no earlier than 25 years prior to the bid date, to demonstrate regulation under the program. Please see paragraph IV.5.4 for a list of sufficient documentation. The Procurement Administrator may consider other forms of documentation provided by the Bidder to demonstrate regulation under the above programs if appropriate. Additional documentation is required for Projects regulated by the IEPA SRP as described in paragraph IV.5.5. If the project site is located at the site of a coal mine that has permanently ceased coal production, permanently halted any re-mining operations, and is no longer accepting any coal combustion residues, the bidder must meet the requirements described in paragraph IV.5.6.

You can save any changes made to the online form by clicking the green “Save and Continue” button in the bottom right corner of the screen. You may then go back into the form and make additional changes within the online form up until the form deadline. Once the form is submitted, the account will be locked while the Procurement Administrator reviews the submission. The form will remain locked until you receive a notice from the Procurement Administrator regarding the submission.

No, it is not a specific requirement under the RFP for Projects registered to PJM to obtain a WMPA from PJM. It is the responsibility of Seller to obtain all the necessary authorizations, approvals, consents, notices, filings and permits for it to perform under the Indexed REC Contract.

No. According to the RFP Rule Section V.5.4, a Bidder shall choose an “Indexed Hub” of PJM-NIHUB or MISO-IL, and this selection is independent and regardless of whether the project is or will be interconnected with MISO or PJM.

The Procurement Administrator cannot advise bidders on their bid submissions. The Strike Price that you indicate in your Bid will be used to calculate the payments under the Indexed REC Contract and there is no separate payment adjustment related to the Supplier Fee under the Indexed REC Contract.

Projects with winning Bids approved by the Commission will be assessed a one-time Supplier Fee per REC. The exact amount of the Supplier Fee per REC will be announced no later than two (2) business days before the Bid Date. Payment of the Supplier Fees to the IPA by the Bidder or Seller will be due within seven (7) business days after Commission approval of the Bids.

The Procurement Administrator has posted the presentation materials and the audio recording from the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP Bidder Information Webcast held on October 12, 2022 to the Final Materials page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield section of the website.

No, a project’s external offtake agreements or the RFP Project Percentage will not affect the size of the project. In the Part 1 form the Bidder must provide the size of the project in MW (AC rating) rounded to two (2) decimals. The size of the project will not be affected by the RFP Project Percentage. The project’s Nameplate Capacity must be greater than 5,000 kW (AC Rating) for utility-scale wind projects and utility-scale solar projects.

In the Part 2 Proposal, the Bidder must provide a Preliminary RFP Project Percentage, rounded to two decimals, for purposes of calculating bid assurance collateral due with the Part 2 Proposal. The amount of bid assurance collateral required for a Project is a function of the size of the Project and the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage provided in the Part 2 Proposal, and is determined separately for each Company. The amount of bid assurance collateral required for the Project is as follows:

• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for AIC is $1,600/MW for a Wind Project and $5,500/MW for a Solar Project and Brownfield Project multiplied by the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage (%) provided in the Part 2 Proposal, rounded up to the nearest $100. The amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to AIC not need exceed $1,900,000 across all utility-scale wind projects presented by a Bidder, or $2,700,000 across all utility-scale solar projects presented by a Bidder, or $175,000 across all brownfield site photovoltaic projects presented by a Bidder.
• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for ComEd is $4,000/MW for a Wind Project and $13,000/MW for a Solar Project and Brownfield Project multiplied by the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage (%) provided in the Part 2 Proposal, rounded up to the nearest $100. The amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to ComEd not need exceed $4,750,000 across all utility-scale wind projects presented by a Bidder, or $6,800,000 across all utility-scale solar projects presented by a Bidder, or $450,000 across all brownfield site photovoltaic projects presented by a Bidder.
• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for MEC is $400/MW for a Wind Project and $1,000/MW for a Solar Project and Brownfield Project multiplied by the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage (%) provided in the Part 2 Proposal, rounded up to the nearest $100. The amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to MEC not need exceed 350,000 across all utility-scale wind projects presented by a Bidder, or $500,000 across all utility scale solar projects presented by a Bidder, or $25,000 across all brownfield site photovoltaic projects presented by a Bidder.

For example, if the Project is a 20MW utility-scale solar project and the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage is 50%, the bidder would be required to submit 20 x $5,500 x 50%, rounded up to the nearest $100 = $55,000 to AIC, 20 x $13,000 x 50%, rounded up to the nearest $100 = $130,000 to ComEd, and 20 x $1,000 x 50%, rounded up to the nearest $100 = $10,000 to MEC. The Bidder would send each of these amounts to the corresponding Company separately, in the form of cash or letter of credit, following all instructions provided by the Procurement Administrator.

For the Bidder to be able to submit Bids on its Projects, the Bidder must have submitted bid assurance collateral to all three (3) Companies in an amount that is sufficient given the aggregate size of the Bidder’s Projects and the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage for each of the Bidder’s Projects. If the Bidder fails to provide bid assurance collateral to one or more of the Companies, or if the Bidder provides bid assurance collateral to all Companies but the amount of the bid assurance collateral for one or more of the Companies is insufficient given the Project size and the Preliminary RFP Project Percentage across all of the Bidder’s Projects, the Part 2 Proposals for all of the Bidder’s Projects will be considered deficient.

A Bidder that submits Proposals for multiple Projects may post bid assurance collateral by effecting a single wire transfer to each Company or a single Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to each Company for all Projects. In this case, to determine the amount of bid assurance collateral across all Projects, for each Company, the amount of bid assurance collateral for each Project should be calculated as described above and then the amounts, each already rounded up to the nearest $100, should be summed across all Projects.

A Bidder that paid a Bid Participation Fee pursuant to participation in a prior 2022 procurement event is not required to upload evidence of such payment in the Part 1 Form.

Section 8 of the Part 1 Form requires that the Bidder indicate whether the Seller is rated by one or more of the major rating agencies and if so provide all available ratings. Additionally, the Bidder must indicate whether the Seller will rely on the financial standing of a Guarantor during the supply period and provide all available ratings from the major rating agencies for the Guarantor. It is not a requirement for the Seller to have a senior long-term debt rating by S&P, Moody’s or Fitch or for the Seller to rely on the financial standing of a Guarantor in order for a Project to be eligible to participate in the Indexed REC RFP. However, if the Seller is not rated by the major rating agencies and does not rely on the financial standing of a Guarantor that is rated by the major rating agencies, the Seller will not be eligible for unsecured credit under the Indexed REC Contract.

A Seller with a Project with an approved Bid must meet the creditworthiness requirements under the Indexed REC Contract within five (5) business days of the Illinois Commerce Commission decision on the results of the procurement event. A bidder that is not eligible for unsecured credit under the Indexed REC Contract must post cash or a performance assurance letter of credit by the aforementioned deadline.

In the Part 1 Proposal, the Officer of the Seller is required to make a representation that the Project has reached the appropriate development milestones to fully expect that the Project will deliver its first REC to each Company by a date consistent with terms of the Indexed REC Contract. In the Part 1 Proposal, an RFP Bidder will also be required to provide documentation to demonstrate adequate project maturity. The RFP Bidder must provide, if available for the Project, one of the following:

• the Queue/OASIS ID from PJM and a copy of the completed System Impact Study from PJM for the Project; or
• the Project Number from MISO and a copy of the Preliminary System Impact Study under Definitive Planning Phase 1 (“DPP 1”) under the DPP-2020-Cycle 1 or a later study cycle; or
• the Project Number from MISO and a copy of the fully executed interconnection agreement for the Project; or
• a fully executed interconnection agreement with a utility for the Project.

If none of the information bulleted above is available for the Project, or if the Bidder cannot provide a document that shows that the Project is further in the interconnection process, then the Bidder must: (i) describe the stage of development of the Project applicable to the point of interconnection and to the size of the Project; and (ii) demonstrate control for a portion of the Project site as described in Paragraph IV.6.2 of the RFP Rules.

According to Paragraph IV.6.2 of the RFP Rules, a “Bidder that demonstrates site control to meet the requirements of Paragraph IV.6.1, must do so for a portion of the Project site that covers an area of at least 40 acres times the Project size for a utility-scale wind project, an area of at least 4 acres times the Project size for a utility-scale solar project, or an area of at least 3 acres times the Project size for a brownfield site photovoltaic project.” For example, if the Project size for a brownfield site project is 10 MW, then the Bidder must demonstrate control for 30 acres included in the Project site.

Revised 10/17/2022, originally posted 02/22/2022

Please note that the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP will seek to procure renewable energy credits from a project only. The Indexed REC Contract does not include delivery or payment for energy or any other product related to the project.

As defined in the IPA Act, “Strike price” means a contract price for energy and renewable energy credits from a project. The strike price ($/MWh) in the Bid and the Index Price ($/MWh) that corresponds to the Index Hub provided in the bid form, will be used for purposes of calculating the REC Monthly Price ($/MWh) under the Indexed REC Contract.

The REC Monthly Price applicable to the Project with respect to a month shall be calculated as follows. First, for each hour, the energy generation (MWh) for the Project will be multiplied by the difference found by subtracting the Strike Price ($/MWh) from the Index Price ($/MWh). Next, the REC Monthly Price will be calculated as the sum of all those products for all the hours of the month divided by the total energy generation (MWh) for the month for the Project. The REC Monthly Price may be either positive or negative. Payment shall be made from Seller to Buyer if the REC Monthly Price is positive and payment shall be made from Buyer to Seller if the REC Monthly Price is negative.

Please review the Indexed REC Contract for additional information: https://ipa-energyrfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Indexed-Wind-Solar-and-Brownfield-Final-REC-Contract_10-7-2022.pdf

Revised 10/17/2022, originally posted 03/25/2022

In general, there are no restrictions for who the project owner could sell the energy to.  The Indexed REC RFP is to only procure renewable energy credits from a project that is qualified and selected under the RFP. Under the Indexed REC RFP and the Indexed REC Contract the Project is not and will not be a generating unit whose costs are being recovered through rates regulated by Illinois or any other state or states. The Indexed REC Contract does not include delivery or payment for energy or any other product related to the Project.

Yes, it is possible to participate in both Indexed REC RFP and the Adjustable Block Program at the same time.

In accordance with Section 16-111.5(h) of the Illinois Public Utilities Act, the following information is made public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event under the Indexed REC Procurement: (i) the names of successful bidders; (ii) the average of the winning bid prices for each contract type and contract duration; (iii) the address and nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility; and (iv) the business address and contact information for each successful bidder. The Project name is not released.

The results of previous competitive procurements related to utility-scale projects are available from the Previous RFPs page: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/previous-rfps/

No, there is not an approved vendor list for developers and installers applicable to the Indexed REC RFP.  A list of successful suppliers from the first Indexed REC RFP held on May 6, 2022 is provided in the results posting on the 2022 Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield REC RFP (AIC, ComEd, and MEC) page under the Previous RFPs section of the procurement website.

The presentation materials and the audio recording from the stakeholder workshop held on August 2, 2022 are available on the IPA’s website, under the header “Spring 2022 Indexed REC Procurement for Stakeholder Comments (July 1, 2022).

There is no minimum or maximum size requirement for brownfield site photovoltaic projects. Please see Section 3.2 of the Draft Preliminary Proposal Requirements with a list of requirements that are anticipated at this time for the Part 1 and Part 2 Proposals for brownfield site photovoltaic Projects.

To participate in the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP, a brownfield site photovoltaic project will be required to meet the requirements in the Indexed REC RFP Rules.  The Procurement Administrator posted the Draft Preliminary Proposal Requirements and the First Draft Indexed REC Contract to the Draft Documents page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield section of the procurement website on August 12, 2022 and issued a request for stakeholder feedback on these documents.  The Draft Indexed REC RFP Rules and the Second Draft Indexed REC Contract are expected to be posted to the procurement website on September 9, 2022 and a request for stakeholder feedback will be issued.  The Final Indexed REC RFP Rules and the Final Indexed REC Contract are expected to be issued on October 7, 2022.

If you have not already done so, please register here to receive updates and information regarding the Indexed REC RFP.

The evaluation spreadsheet to determine whether a Project located in a state adjacent to Illinois (Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan) meets the public interest criteria in the Act and has been pre-approved to be eligible for Illinois RPS compliance must be submitted to the Illinois Power Agency by email to ipa.contactus@illinois.gov . The evaluation spreadsheet dated August 15, 2022 and available on the IPA’s website, under the header “Adjacent State Facility Eligibility” here, accounts for updates described in Chapter 4 of the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. This updated spreadsheet dated August 15, 2022 must be used for the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP. Bidders considering participation in the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP are encouraged to submit as soon as practicable.

There is no cost associated with obtaining pre-approval from the Illinois Power Agency as to whether a Project located in a state adjacent to Illinois (Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan) meets the public interest criteria in the Act and has been pre-approved to be eligible for Illinois RPS compliance.

The Procurement Administrator posted the First Draft Indexed REC Contract and Draft Preliminary Proposal Requirements to the Draft Documents page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield section of the procurement website on August 12, 2022 and issued a request for stakeholder feedback on these documents. The First Draft Indexed REC Contract and Draft Preliminary Proposal Requirements have been prepared to conform with the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan and the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Final Order approving the plan with modifications. Additionally, written comments received under the Request for Stakeholder Comments issued on July 1, 2022 along with the feedback provided from stakeholders during the stakeholder workshop held on August 2, 2022 were accounted for in this posting and will continue to inform the contract and proposal requirements development process planned for over the next two months.

In particular, during the stakeholder workshop held on August 2, 2022 the Procurement Administrator identified several discussion items based on comments received in July 2022. In the Stakeholder Request for Feedback posted to the procurement website on August 12, 2022 (available here), two topics related to the contract have been identified for further feedback. These topics are related to additional flexibility for REC delivery obligations as discussed in the stakeholder workshop and the initial REC delivery deadline. Stakeholders may provide feedback on any aspect of the First Draft Indexed REC Contract and the Draft Preliminary Proposal Requirements and should not feel limited by these topics. Comments are due by Friday, August 26, 2022. Please review the Stakeholder Request for Feedback posted to the procurement website on August 12, 2022 for additional instructions.

A second round for submitting written comments is planned for September 2022. The Procurement Administrator will post the Second Draft REC Contract and Draft RFP Documents incorporating stakeholder feedback under the first round on September 9, 2022.  Comments on the Second Draft REC Contract and Draft RFP Documents will be due by September 23, 2022.