The Average Winning Bid Price of $52.43/MWh is an average of the winning strike price for the winning utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects weighted by the annual quantity of RECs awarded for each project.

A list of all projects that participated in the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP is not available. 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; and (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 Indexed REC RFP will seek to procure renewable energy credits (“RECs”) from new utility-scale wind projects, new utility-scale solar projects, and new brownfield site photovoltaic projects. As defined by the Act, a utility-scale solar project means an electric generating facility that generates electricity using photovoltaic cells and that has 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 when available for additional requirements of utility-scale solar projects and details on the bidding process.

The procurement website (www.ipa-energyrfp.com) provides information to suppliers participating in the Illinois Power Agency’s competitive procurement events. When a procurement event is scheduled, information pertaining to the procurement will be posted to the procurement website. The schedule will be posted to the Calendar page and an announcement will be sent to all website registrants at that time. To receive updates and information regarding the Indexed REC RFP, please join our mailing list here: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/contact-us/register/.

As proposed in the Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2022 Long-Term Plan”) the IPA filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) on March 21, 2022, the next Indexed REC RFP for new utility-scale wind, new utility-scale solar, and new brownfield site photovoltaic projects is expected to be held in Fall 2022, with bids due in early December 2022. The proposed targets for the Fall 2022 Indexed REC RFP are 1,750,000 RECs annually from new utility-scale wind projects, 1,000,000 RECs annually from new utility-scale solar projects, and 65,000 RECs annually from new brownfield site photovoltaic projects. Targets may be adjusted upward based on results observed through the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP. The ICC is expected to release its Final Order approving or modifying the 2022 Long-Term Plan on July 14, 2022.

The IPA filed its Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2022 Long-Term Plan”) with the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) on March 21, 2022. Section 5.5.4 of the 2022 Long-Term Plan states:

“The Agency is not proposing any procurements of RECs from resources other than new wind and new photovoltaic projects; this includes both other renewable energy generating technologies as well as procurements for RECs not from specific projects or intended to result in new project development (e.g., RECs from existing projects energized prior to June 1, 2017).

As explained in Section 2.6.2.1, Section 1-75(c)(1)(C) of the IPA Act only established targets for RECs from new wind and furthermore that percentage-based RPS goals – be “met entirely by procurements of renewable energy credits from new wind and photovoltaic projects.” While the Agency appreciates that other renewable energy technologies are listed in the definition of renewable energy resources contained in Section 1-10 of the IPA Act, these provisions of Section 1-75(c)(1)(C)—taken in combination with the procurement priorities set forth in Section 1-75(c)(1)(F) of the Act— preclude consideration of a procurement from technologies other than wind and solar. RECs generated using technologies other than wind and solar can be used for other purposes, such as sales into voluntary REC markets outside the IPA’s purview, or by Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers for “green” or “renewable” retail electric supply offers.”

The ICC is expected to release its Final Order approving or modifying the 2022 Long-Term Plan on July 14, 2022.

The winning bid prices by project are not available. 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; and (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.

Any transfer request for the post-bid letter of credit must be presented utilizing one of the forms of the Letter of Full Transfer (Schedules 1-3) together with the original Letter of Credit and original amendments, if any.  The Letter of Full Transfer does not need to be completed at the time the post-bid letter of credit is provided.

Please note that if you have a Project with a winning Bid approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission”), the annual quantity in the RFP that is approved will be allocated to each of the three Companies.

For each Company, the Collateral Requirement for a utility-scale wind project is equal to $4 times the annual quantity of RECs under the Indexed REC Contract with such Company, and the Collateral Requirement for a utility-scale solar project or a brownfield site photovoltaic project is equal to $10 times the annual quantity of RECs under the Indexed REC Contract with such Company.

A Seller with a Project with an approved Bid must meet the creditworthiness requirements under each Indexed REC Contract within five (5) business days of the Illinois Commerce Commission approval 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 post-bid letter of credit by the deadline. If a bidder is relying on the creditworthiness of a guarantor that is eligible for unsecured credit, then a guaranty must be provided to Buyer by such deadline.

Payment of the Supplier Fee is to be made to the Illinois Power Agency by the Bidder or Seller for Projects with winning Bids approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission”). The Supplier Fee is due within seven (7) business days after Commission approval of the Bids. Information regarding payment of the Supplier Fee (i.e., acceptable payment methods, instructions for payment, and contact information) will be provided on Thursday, May 12, 2022 after Commission approval of the results of the procurement event.

The Post-Bid Letter of Credit can be submitted by electronic means or hardcopy by overnight delivery service.  If the Issuing Bank is submitting a Post-Bid Letter of Credit via overnight delivery service, the Bidder should provide the tracking number and scan of such Post-Bid Letter of Credit to the applicable Company.

Regarding compliance with the prevailing wage requirements under Section 1-75(c)(1)(Q)(1) of the IPA Act, the IPA interprets the statutory requirement as carrying a qualitative eligibility requirement related to fair wages paid for labor on all renewable energy projects bidding into IPA procurements. The REC Contract requires that all construction work performed by Seller under the REC Contract be performed by employees receiving an amount equal to or greater than the “general prevailing rate of hourly wages”, as defined in Section 3 of the Prevailing Wage Act.  For purposes of the REC Contract, the IPA requires applicant projects located in adjacent states to demonstrate, at minimum, wage parity with the prevailing wage requirements in Illinois. For example, if the project is located in a county in an adjacent state with published prevailing wages, it would mean using that wage schedule as the applicable prevailing wage for Section 1-75(c)(1)(Q)(1) compliance. Should there be no governing prevailing wage schedule for that locality, it would mean utilizing the federal Davis-Bacon rates as the applicable prevailing wage for Section 1-75(c)(1)(Q)(1) compliance.

An example that has been prepared for illustrative purposes to show how the REC monthly price and the associated invoice amount are calculated is available here.

The amount of bid assurance collateral required for a Project is determined separately for each Company as detailed below.  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. If the Bidder fails to provide bid assurance collateral to one or more of the Companies, all of the Bidder’s Bids will be rejected and none of the Bids will be evaluated.

For purposes of determining the amount of bid assurance collateral, where applicable, the aggregate size of the Projects presented by a Bidder will be rounded up to the nearest megawatt.

• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for AIC is $5,500/MW multiplied by the aggregate size of all utility-scale solar projects.  The amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to AIC across all utility-scale solar projects presented by a Bidder need not exceed $5,500,000.
• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for ComEd is $13,000/MW multiplied by the aggregate size of all utility-scale solar projects.  The amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to ComEd across all utility-scale solar projects presented by a Bidder need not exceed $13,000,000.
• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for MEC is $1,000/MW multiplied by the aggregate size of all utility-scale solar projects.  The amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to MEC across all utility-scale solar projects presented by a Bidder need not exceed $1,000,000.

For example, if the bidder presents utility-scale solar projects with an aggregate size of 20 MW, the bidder would submit 20 x $5,500 = $110,000 to AIC, 20 x $13,000 = $260,000 to ComEd, and 20 x $1,000 = $20,000 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 by email on April 12, 2022.

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. 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”. The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

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.”

Thus, as described in Paragraph VI.2.16. of the RFP Rules, at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event, the names and contact information of winning Bidders, the average of the winning Bid prices, and the address and nameplate capacity of the Project are made public. The quantity of RECs procured may also be disclosed if there are at least three (3) successful bidders. The Act states that participants in the procurement process will maintain the confidentiality of all other supplier and bidding information.

A Bidder that provides cash as bid assurance collateral for AIC and MEC may provide AIC’s “Supplier Request Form” and MEC’s “Vendor Request Form” with the Part 2 Proposal by upload to the online Part 2 Form or by email to Illinois-RFP@nera.com.  AIC’s Supplier Request Form and MEC’s Vendor Request Form are required to be sent only to the Procurement Administrator, and should not be sent directly to AIC or MEC.  If a Bidder fails to submit AIC’s Supplier Request Form and MEC’s Vendor Request Form with the Part 2 Proposal, then the Procurement Administrator will require AIC’s Supplier Request Form and MEC’s Vendor Request Form to be provided by 12 PM (noon) on the day after the Bid Date.

There is no process for “withdrawing” a Project from a procurement event under the RFP Rules. There is no penalty for not submitting materials for the Part 2 Proposal for a Project. If a Bidder submitted Part 1 Proposals for multiple Projects and does not submit a Part 2 Proposal for one of those Projects, then the amount of bid assurance collateral required with the Part 2 Proposal must be sufficient given the size of any Project(s) for which the Bidder is submitting a Part 2 Proposal.

No. As stated in the Indexed REC Contract, Seller must represent that all construction activities related to the Project are compliant with the Prevailing Wage Act requirements.  These requirements apply to all construction work performed by Seller, including all contractors and subcontractors, relating to construction, maintenance, repair, assembly, or disassembly work in relation to the Project. Please review Section 2.2(f) and Section 6.2 of the Indexed REC Contract for more information.

Under the Indexed REC Contract, the Project must be built by General Contractors that have entered into a Project Labor Agreement prior to construction. A General Contractor is defined as the entity or organization with main responsibility for the building of a construction project and who is the party signing the prime construction contract for the Project. If the EPC Contractor is a General Contractor, then the EPC contractor must execute the Project Labor Agreement prior to construction of the Project. The Project Labor Agreements Act requirements are not applicable to a Project if construction activities began prior to September 15, 2021, the date of the enactment of Public Act 102-0662. Seller must represent that the Project Labor Agreements Act requirements have been complied with under the Indexed REC Contract. Please review Section 2.2(g) and Section 6.3 of the Indexed REC Contract for more information.

If an Opinion was provided and accepted by ComEd in a prior procurement event, the proposed Guarantor may re-certify its status under the Indexed REC RFP in lieu of repeating the process as long as there have been no changes that would have altered that Opinion.

To re-certify, the proposed Guarantor must provide a current letter by its Corporate Secretary (or equal / higher Corporate Officer) that it certifies that there have been no changes in its status which would adversely affect the enforceability of the Guaranty, since the time that the original Opinion was rendered. A sample certificate for purposes of re-certifying the Guarantor is available upon request.

ComEd shall have sole and absolute discretion, without liability or recourse to the proposed Guarantor or Seller, to evaluate the sufficiency of the documents submitted by such proposed Guarantor pursuant to the requirements of Exhibit E-4.

A Bidder may enter coordinates in the field labelled “Project Street Address Line 1” in the First Item: Location Information of Section 3 or Section 4, whichever is applicable, of the online Part 1 Form along with city, state, and zip code.  The map of the Project site must be consistent with the coordinates you provide.

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, the Procurement Administrator allocates the quantity of RECs selected by the evaluation procedure to all three (3) Companies. 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 Fee is received. 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”. The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

In regards to the Collateral Requirement 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 and posted performance assurance remains in place throughout the term of the contract. 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 deadline. If a bidder is relying on the creditworthiness of a guarantor that is eligible for unsecured credit, then a guaranty must be provided to Buyer by such deadline. The Collateral Requirement may be reduced for the last Delivery Year, if applicable.

Projects with winning bids approved by the Commission will be assessed a one-time Supplier Fee per REC that reflects the cost of conducting the procurement event less the total of the Bid Participation Fees. 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 Standing Order is an agreed upon schedule registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS for the automatic transfer of RECs issued for the Project to Buyer’s PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS account on a recurring basis in accordance with Section 2.3 of the Indexed REC Contract. The Standing Order shall reflect Buyer’s allocated share of the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity (calculated by dividing the Annual Quantity by the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity as defined in the Indexed REC Contract). The Standing Order may also feature other limits placed on the transfer of RECs, such as the Acceptable Vintage Period.  Both Buyer and Seller shall work together to establish the irrevocable Standing Order in PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS and update the Standing Order as necessary. Please contact PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS directly for additional information on the functionality of the applicable system. In the event Excess RECs have been delivered to Buyer, Section 2.3(f) of the Indexed REC Contract provides a process for such RECs to be returned to Seller.

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.

There is no comparable mechanism under the Indexed REC Contract to the option you describe as available under the contract for the Adjustable Block Program. Under the Indexed REC Contract, failure of Seller to Deliver at least one (1) REC from the Project by the Initial REC Delivery Deadline or extended Initial REC Delivery Deadline is an event of default. For such an event of default, the Seller will be required to pay the Buyer an amount equal to the Collateral Requirement (or Increased Collateral Requirement, if applicable).

It is the responsibility of each bidder to review the terms of the Indexed REC Contract and to understand the conditions in which performance assurance under the Indexed REC Contract may be forfeited or drawn upon.  Each bidder accepts these terms as a condition of its participation in the Indexed REC RFP.

As stated in Section 2.3 of Indexed REC Contract, “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: (a) Seller, as transferor of the RECs, shall confirm the Standing Order request within the PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS within thirty (30) days of: the Project’s Date of First Operation or June 1, 2022, whichever is later. Buyer, as transferee, shall accept the properly submitted Standing Order request within the PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS within thirty (30) days of receipt of such properly submitted Standing Order request”.

The deadline for the delivery of one (1) REC from the Project is May 31, 2025, which is also defined as the “Initial REC Delivery Deadline” in the Indexed REC Contract. This deadline may be extended pursuant to Section 2.4 or Section 10.1 of the Indexed REC Contract.

Yes, the Indexed REC Contract accounts for degradation in the calculation of the Delivery Year Requirement with respect to utility scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects. Under the Indexed REC Contract, in each delivery year, the Seller must deliver a quantity of RECs that meets the Delivery Year Requirement. With respect to such solar projects, the Delivery Year Requirement for each Delivery Year will feature a degradation factor of 0.5% where the Delivery Year Requirement will be greater in the earlier Delivery Years and smaller in the later Delivery Years. The Delivery Year Requirement calculation is set forth in Section 1.28 of the Indexed REC Contract. A 20-year schedule indicating the Delivery Year Requirement for each Delivery Year will be provided in the Product Order of the Indexed REC Contract for each winning project. The degradation adjustment described in the foregoing is not applicable to utility scale wind projects.

First, if you bid and win in the RFP, the RECs from your winning Project will be allocated by the Procurement Administrator to the Companies in pre-specified proportions (27.793% to AIC, 71.925% to ComEd, and 0.282% to MEC). As such, it is contemplated that you will sign three contracts, one with each of AIC, ComEd and MEC.

Second, the annual quantity that you bid in the RFP will be the “RFP Awarded Annual Quantity” in each of the Indexed REC Contract. The Annual Quantity in a contract will reflect the portion of the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity allocated to such contract. The Maximum Contract Quantity will be equal to the Annual Quantity indicated in such contract multiplied by 20.

No, all RECs to be delivered by Seller under the Indexed REC Contract must be generated from the Project that was selected through the RFP. If the Project is selected by the evaluation in this RFP and approved by the Commission, the map of the Project site provided by the Bidder in its Proposal will become part of the Indexed REC Contract.

There are no requirements to self-curtail the Project when the hourly LMP at the pnode applicable to the point of interconnection of the Project is negative. Please note that the “Index Price”, which is the hourly LMP used for purposes of payment under the Indexed REC Contract, is the real-time locational marginal price at the applicable Illinois trading hub (either MISO-IL or PJM-NIHUB) selected by the bidder. The REC Monthly Price Hourly Component is the product of (a) the result obtained by subtracting the Strike Price from the Index Price of such hour and (b) the MWh actual generation of the Project for such hour. The REC Monthly Price for a Vintage month shall be calculated by dividing (a) the sum of all REC Monthly Price Hourly Components in such Vintage month by (b) the MWh actual generation of the Project for such Vintage month, and rounding to the nearest cent. The REC Monthly Price may be either positive or negative. Payment is made from Seller to Buyer if the REC Monthly Price is positive and payment is made from Buyer to Seller if the REC Monthly Price is negative.

A set of optional changes to the Form of Guaranty for each Company were posted on March 23, 2022 to the Final Materials page of the procurement website. You may use the standard Form of Guaranty or use the standard Form of Guaranty with one or more of the acceptable modifications on an optional basis.

Each Indexed REC Contract is administered separately and independently by each of Ameren Illinois Company, Commonwealth Edison Company, and MidAmerican Energy Company (each is the Buyer under each such Indexed REC Contract). As such, the Collateral Threshold amount determined in accordance with Table A in Section 7.1 of the Indexed REC Contract applies to each of Ameren Illinois Company, Commonwealth Edison Company, and MidAmerican Energy Company independently. However, if the Seller or Seller’s Guarantor is a party to one or more additional REC purchase agreements with a Buyer, then the Seller or Seller’s Guarantor will be granted a single Collateral Threshold to be applied in aggregate to all such REC purchase agreements entered into with such Buyer.

Any RECs generated by the Project in excess of the Delivery Year Requirement for any Delivery Year (“Excess RECs”) shall remain the exclusive property of Seller, to be utilized in Seller’s sole discretion. In the event Excess RECs have been delivered to Buyer, Section 2.3(f) of the Indexed REC Contract provides a process for such RECs to be returned to Seller.

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 deadline. If a bidder is relying on the creditworthiness of a guarantor that is eligible for unsecured credit, then a guaranty must be provided to Buyer by such deadline.

Upon the effective date of Public Act 102-0662, as described in Section 1-75(c)(1)(G)(v), “for all competitive procurements and any procurements of renewable energy credit from new utility-scale wind and new utility-scale photovoltaic projects, the Agency shall procure indexed renewable energy credits and direct respondents to offer a strike price.”  The 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2022 Long-Term Plan”), filed on March 21, 2022 for Illinois Commerce Commission approval, discusses the changes to the IPA Act enacted through Public Act 102-0662. In particular in Section 2.7.4.1, the IPA states that “the Agency understands this new Indexed REC pricing approach to offer revenue certainty back to renewable energy project developers in a manner that functions similarly to a bundled fixed price REC + energy off-take agreement. In times when energy revenues are low, REC prices are high; in times when energy revenues are high, REC prices adjust downward accordingly. The end result is revenue certainty regardless of wholesale energy market conditions, hopefully solving financing and development barriers for entities seeking to develop new utility-scale wind and utility-scale solar projects under the Illinois RPS.”

The RECs procured in this Indexed REC RFP must meet the definition of “Renewable Energy Credit” and “Indexed Renewable Energy Credit” as defined in the IPA Act. As described in Section V.5.4 of the RFP Rules, a Bidder must select an “Index Hub”, either the MISO Illinois Hub (“MISO-IL Hub”) or the PJM N Illinois Hub (“PJM-NIHUB”), for each Project for which a Bid is submitted in the bid form. If the Bid for a Project is selected by the evaluation and approved by the Commission, the Index Price, as defined in the Indexed REC Contract, that corresponds to the Index Hub selected in the bid form will be used for purposes of calculating the REC Monthly Price under the Indexed REC Contract.

For more information, please refer to the 2022 Long-Term Plan, available on the IPA’s website here and the Final Materials for the Indexed REC RFP here.

There is no specific requirement for Interconnection Service for a Project to be Network Resource Interconnection Service or Energy Resource Interconnection Service under the Indexed REC RFP.

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”.  The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Revised 04/01/2022, originally posted 03/28/2022

Bid assurance collateral is due by 12 PM (noon) on the Part 2 Date, Friday, April 29, 2022.

As detailed in the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, filed on March 21, 2022 for Illinois Commerce Commission approval, the IPA is proposing to conduct competitive procurements in Fall 2022 and Summer 2023 for RECs from utility-scale wind projects, utility-scale solar projects, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects.

For more information, please review sections 5.5 and 5.6 of the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan posted to the Renewable Resources page of the IPA’s website.

The REC Monthly Price is calculated by the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”).  The IPA will issue a “Price Calculation Notice”, as this term is defined in the Indexed REC Contract, to Buyer and Seller within twenty (20) days of the end of each month containing information related to the REC Monthly Price of such month that has concluded.

The Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP will seek to procure renewable energy credits from a project only. Each bidder is responsible for the sale of other products related to the project including energy.

Please note that the Spring 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/2022/03/Indexed-Wind-Solar-and-Brownfield-Final-REC-Contract_3-18-2022.pdf

Please see paragraph VI.2.17 of the RFP Rules for additional information. If a Seller has a Project with an approved Bid, by 12 PM (noon) on the first business day after the Commission decision, each Company prepares and sends a partially executed electronic copy of the Indexed REC Contract and related documents to the Seller. By 12 PM (noon) CPT (1 PM Eastern Prevailing Time) on the second business day after the Commission decision, the Seller executes the signature pages of the partially executed Indexed REC Contracts and related documents and sends such fully executed signature pages to each Company electronically. Upon execution of the Indexed REC Contracts and related documents in counterparts by both parties, such Indexed REC Contracts and related documents are fully executed.

The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

As defined in Section I.1.4 of the RFP Rules, a “Bidder” is an entity that presents a response to this Indexed REC RFP and a “Seller” is an entity that bids to deliver RECs from a Project under the term of the applicable supplier contract and that will be the signatory under the applicable supplier contract.  The Bidder and Seller may or may not be the same entity.  If the Bidder and the Seller are not the same entity, you will be asked to identify the Bidder’s legal name and address in your Part 1 Proposal.  The Company Name that is the account holder does not need to be the Bidder or the Seller.  Project “tags” are given to Projects at the point of account activation and are used by the Procurement Administrator only for organizational purposes, mainly for organizing correspondence between the Procurement Administrator and Bidders submitting Proposals for multiple Projects.

A bidder information webcast will be held on Monday, March 21, 2022 and is open to all prospective bidders. Representatives of NERA, the Procurement Administrator, will provide an overview of the RFP Process and Rules including qualification requirements. Time is scheduled for questions. If you wish to participate, and have not done so already, please RSVP with the number of phone connections needed.

Any questions may be submitted through the Ask a Question page.

The information submitted in the Adjacent-State Facility Application for Determination of Eligibility will not be posted publicly on the IPA’s website. A Project located in a state adjacent to Illinois must complete and submit an eligibility request spreadsheet to the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) and the IPA will determine whether the Project meets the public interest criteria in the Act and has been pre-approved to be eligible for Illinois RPS compliance. The evaluation spreadsheet is available on the IPA’s website, under the header “Adjacent State Facility Eligibility”. Please complete the fields as instructed in the spreadsheet and email the form to IPA.ContactUs@Illinois.gov.

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 these are 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.5.2 of the RFP Rules.

Revised 03/28/2022, originally posted 02/22/2022

As part of the Part 1 Proposal, an RFP Bidder is required to provide a map of the Project site clearly showing the site location. All other information and documentation included in the Part 1 Proposal, such as the address for the Project and documented evidence of site control, must be consistent with the map provided. The Procurement Administrator may request additional information regarding the Project site and the Part 1 Proposal will then be required to include any such additional information.

Revised 03/28/2022, originally posted 02/22/2022

Projects with winning Bids approved by the Commission will be assessed a Supplier Fee per REC that reflects the cost of conducting the procurement event less the total of the Bid Participation Fees. The exact amount of the Supplier Fee per REC will be announced no later than two (2) business days before the Bid Date. An estimate of the Supplier Fee per REC was provided on slide 16 in the Bidder Information Webcast held on March 22, 2022 and posted to the Final Materials page. 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.

Revised 03/28/2022, originally posted 02/22/2022

Section 4.1 of the Indexed REC Contract states that in the event that Seller fails to Deliver the Delivery Year Requirement for a Delivery Year under the terms of the REC Contract (such Delivery Year a “Shortfall Year” and such amount of RECs that Seller fails to Deliver to satisfy the Delivery Year Requirement for a Delivery Year, the “Shortfall Amount”), Seller represents that no RECs from the Project issued by PJM EIS GATS or M-RETS in that same Delivery Year were willfully withheld or sold or otherwise transferred to another party (other than to the Buyer in connection with an IPA approved agreement).

The Bidder determines the annual quantity of RECs to include in the Bid for a given Project. This annual quantity may be less than the Maximum Bid Size (but cannot be greater). This annual quantity of RECs can be for a portion of the RECs from a Project.

Importantly, in the Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder must provide the size of the Project in MW (AC rating), rounded to two (2) decimals, which in turn determines the area for which the Bidder must show site control and the amount of bid assurance collateral posted with the Part 2 Proposal. The size of the Project must be the total size of the Project and not a portion of the Project capacity.

The evaluation of the Bids, which is fully described in Paragraph VI.2.10 of the Final Indexed REC RFP Rules, implies that the number of RECs from the highest-priced Project selected may be less than the full quantity (a “partial award”). For this reason, a Bidder must specify, in addition to the annual full quantity that the Seller is offering to deliver under the Indexed REC Contract, an annual quantity below which the Seller is no longer willing to accept an award under this RFP. Accordingly, a “Bid” for a Project has three (3) elements: (i) a strike price ($/MWh); (ii) a full quantity, which is an annual quantity of RECs that the Seller is offering to deliver under the terms of the Indexed REC Contract; and (iii) a minimum quantity, which is an annual minimum quantity of RECs that the Seller is willing to accept as a partial award. The Seller commits to accept any award with a quantity not less than the minimum quantity and not more than the full quantity at the price specified in the Bid.

The Bidder must provide in the online Part 2 Form an indicative quantity of RECs for the Project that represents what the Bidder intends to offer as the full quantity. This indicative quantity of RECs is specified as an annual quantity of RECs. The indicative quantity provided in this section is not binding in that the Bidder may place a Bid on the Bid Date that specifies a full quantity that is different from the indicative quantity submitted in this section, provided that such full quantity in the Bid does not exceed the Maximum Bid Size.

Bids are evaluated on a price-only basis and independently for each Category of Project (i.e., utility-scale wind project, utility-scale solar project, or brownfield site photovoltaic project).

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.

The Indexed REC RFP is for RECs from new utility-scale wind projects (projects over 5 MW), new utility-scale solar projects (projects over 5 MW), and new brownfield site photovoltaic projects. Please refer to the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (2022 Long-Term Plan) for additional information on procurements and programs in Illinois. The 2022 Long-Term Plan was filed for Commission approval on March 21, 2022. The filing (2022 Long-Term Plan) is available on the IPA’s website here and is expected to be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission in July 2022.

Revised 03/28/2022, originally posted 02/22/2022

On January 24, 2022, the Procurement Administrator posted a revised version of the Preliminary Proposal Requirements and Key Contract Terms originally posted on December 6, 2021. As noted in the revised version, the original document described the forward price curve as a way to calculate an annual payment cap under the Indexed REC Contract. This description was not correct. The preliminary contract terms and proposal requirements provided in that document are entirely superseded by the Final Indexed REC Contract and the Final Indexed REC RFP Rules posted on March 18, 2022. For avoidance of doubt, the forward price curve will be used simply for budget planning purposes only and will not be used to establish an annual cost cap for utility REC purchases in the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP.

Additional information on the Forward Price Curve will be included in the IPA’s 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Plan.

One objective of the bid assurance collateral is for the bidder to show that the bidder will be able to meet the Collateral Requirement under the Indexed REC Contract. Not meeting the Collateral Requirement would lead to supplier default, termination of the Indexed REC Contract, and failure of the procurement event to procure the number of RECs intended.

The bid assurance collateral requirements on a per MW basis in the Final Indexed REC RFP Rules are in line with prior procurement events for RECs. The maximum amount of bid assurance collateral is calibrated to be consistent with the Collateral Requirement that could be due under the Indexed REC Contract. An increase in the maximum amount of bid assurance collateral relative to a past procurement event would be due to either an increase in the Collateral Requirement under the contract or due to an increase in the target.

The IPA Act, as amended by Public Act 102-0662, requires the IPA to conduct at least one subsequent forward procurement for indexed renewable energy credits within 240 days of September 15, 2021, the effective date of Public Act 102-0662. The IPA must do so notwithstanding whether the Commission has approved the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (2022 Long-Term Plan).

The 2022 Long-Term Plan is expected to be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission in July 2022, after the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP has concluded. Therefore, the proposed bid evaluation preferences described in Section 5.4.3 of the 2022 Long-Term Plan will not apply for purposes of bid evaluation in this Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP. For information on bid evaluation for the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP, please see webcast slides 14 and 71 and paragraph I.2.11 of the Final Indexed REC RFP Rules.

Revised 03/28/2022, originally posted 02/08/2022

The Procurement Administrator has posted the presentation materials and the audio recording from the stakeholder workshop held on February 7, 2022 to the Draft Documents page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield section of the website.

A behind the meter project can qualify as a brownfield site photovoltaic project in the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP. Such project must meet the requirements in Section IV and Section V of the Indexed REC RFP Rules including making the required representations in Paragraphs IV.6.2, IV.6.3, and IV.6.6.

In regards to Section IV.5.1 of the Final Indexed REC RFP Rules, the Bidder must demonstrate adequate project maturity for the Project. If available, the Bidder may provide 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 these are 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.5.2.

In regards to a brownfield site photovoltaic project, a Bidder that meets the project maturity requirement by demonstrating site control, must do so for a portion of the Project site that covers an area of at least 3 acres times the project size. Please see Paragraph IV.5.2 for the list of documentation to demonstrate site control and additional information for complying with this requirement.

For the Bidder to be able to submit Bids on all of 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. If the Bidder fails to provide bid assurance collateral to one or more of the Companies, all of the Bidder’s Bids will be rejected and none of the Bids will be evaluated.

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, the Procurement Administrator allocates the quantity of RECs selected by the evaluation procedure to all three (3) Companies. 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 Fee is received.

Revised 04/01/2022, originally posted 01/31/2022

The Prevailing Wage Act requirements apply to construction activities only. These construction activities include construction, maintenance, repair, assembly, or disassembly work in relation to the Project. Both Seller and Seller’s contractors and subcontractors, rendering services under the Indexed REC Contract, must comply with the requirements of the Prevailing Wage Act, and are required to pay laborers, mechanics and other workers employed in construction activities related to the Project an amount equal to or greater than the current “general prevailing rate of hourly wages”, as defined in Section 3 of the Prevailing Wage Act. The Prevailing Wage Act does not apply to sales and marketing activities for the Project.

A Project located in a state adjacent to Illinois must complete and submit an eligibility request spreadsheet to the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) and the IPA will determine whether the Project meets the public interest criteria in the Act and has been pre-approved to be eligible for Illinois RPS compliance. The evaluation spreadsheet is available on the IPA’s website, under the header “Adjacent State Facility Eligibility”. Once the required fields in yellow have been inputted, the spreadsheet generates a preliminary score subject to review by the IPA. The minimum score needed to qualify is 60.

The Spring 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.

Revised 03/28/2022, originally posted 01/18/2022

Comments on the Preliminary Proposal Requirements and Draft Key Contract Terms for the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP must be emailed to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com anytime today, but no later than 12:00am Central Prevailing Time on December 18, 2021.

Individuals that register for an account for the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP will receive an email prior to the opening of the Part 1 Window with account activation instructions. The Procurement Administrator will also send instructions for accessing and completing the online qualification forms at that time. The Part 1 Window for the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP is currently scheduled to open in March 2022. A Calendar for the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP is posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website. Please note that the Calendar is subject to revision.

Interested parties will have the opportunity to submit comments on the Draft Indexed REC Contract. Currently, two rounds of comments on the Draft Indexed REC Contract are planned for in 2022. Please see the Spring 2022 Indexed REC RFP Calendar posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website for more information. The Calendar is subject to revision. If you have not done so already, please join our mailing list to receive email updates and information related to the Indexed Wind, Solar, and Brownfield RFP here.