The process for submission of Bids is described in Section V.10 of the Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Rules. A “Bid” for a Capacity Product includes a price, in $/MW-day, for at least one ZRC for a given Season of a Planning Year for which ZRCs are procured. A Bid also includes the number of ZRCs to which the price applies and the Source Zone of the ZRCs. The Bidder may not submit any additional instructions, contingencies, or conditions on their Bids. Any such additional instructions, contingencies, or conditions will be ignored.

The evaluation procedure is described in Section VI.2 of the Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Rules. The evaluation of Bids for the procurement of a Capacity Product for AIC proceeds independently for each Season of a Planning Year and consists of two steps. In the first step, for a given Season of a Planning Year, all Bids that fail to meet the benchmark are eliminated. In accordance with the Act, the benchmarks are established by the Procurement Administrator, in consultation with the IPA, the Procurement Monitor, and the ICC Staff. The benchmarks are confidential and subject to review and approval by the ICC. In the second step, for a given Season of a Planning Year, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmark and selects the lowest priced Bids up to the ZRC Target for a Season and Planning Year.

It is the responsibility of each bidder to review the terms and conditions of the RFP Rules posted to the Block Energy and Capacity Procurement section of the procurement website. Each bidder accepts these terms as a condition of its participation in the BEC RFP.

Please have on hand the Invitation to Bidder Training – Capacity Products, the Capacity Bid Form, the Confidential Information for Training (blue background), and the Capacity Bid Form Guide. The Confidential Information for Training (blue background) and the Capacity Bid Form Guide were distributed with the Part 1 Notification on March 31, 2023. The Invitation to Bidder Training – Capacity Products and the Capacity Bid Form were reissued on April 27, 2023.

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 answer questions regarding the completion of the Bid Form and to evaluate the Bid Form. Bidder Training is done via the Procurement Administrator’s Secure Bid Transfer interface and is not conducted via a webcast.

There is no such restriction on the price that a Bidder may submit with its Bids for AIC Capacity Products.

As stated in Paragraph I.3.8 of the Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Rules, “The evaluation of Bids for the procurement of a Capacity Product for AIC proceeds independently for each Season in a Planning Year and consists of two steps. In the first step, for a given Season of a Planning Year, all Bids that fail to meet the benchmarks are eliminated. In accordance with the Act, the benchmarks are established by the Procurement Administrator, in consultation with the IPA, the Procurement Monitor, and the ICC Staff. The benchmarks are confidential and subject to review and approval by the ICC. In the second step, for a given Season of a Planning Year, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmarks and selects the lowest priced Bids.”

The process for submission of bids is described in Section V.10 of the Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Rules and is summarized below:

A “Bid” for a Capacity Product includes a price, in $/MW-day, for at least one ZRC for a given Season of a Planning Year for which ZRCs are procured. A Bid also includes the number of ZRCs to which the price applies and the Source Zone of the ZRCs. The price in the Bid is the price that the Bidder is willing to accept to deliver to AIC for the given Season and Planning Year the quantity of ZRCs from the Source Zone specified in the Bid. A Bidder may bid on any number of ZRCs for a Season of a Planning Year up to and including the ZRC Target for that Season and Planning Year. If a Bidder bids on more ZRCs than the ZRC Target for a Season and Planning Year, the higher priced Bids will be discarded and the number of Bids considered in the evaluation will not exceed the ZRC Target for that Season and Planning Year.

The evaluation procedure is described in Section VI.2 of the Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Rules and is summarized below:

The evaluation of Bids for the procurement of a Capacity Product for AIC proceeds independently for each Season of a Planning Year and consists of two steps. In the first step, for a given Season of a Planning Year, all Bids that fail to meet the benchmark are eliminated. In the second step, for a given Season of a Planning Year, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmark and selects the lowest priced Bids up to the ZRC Target for a Season and Planning Year. In order to fill the ZRC Target exactly for a Season and a Planning Year, it is possible that only some but not all ZRCs submitted by a Bidder at a specific price are selected. For example, for the Summer Season of a Planning Year, if a Bidder submits 50 ZRCs but the Procurement Administrator need only to select 20 ZRCs, only 20 of the 50 ZRCs would be selected and identified as winning Bids.

Additionally, in the procurement of Capacity Products for AIC, it is possible that multiple Bidders could submit Bids of the same amount ($/MW-day) for a given number of ZRCs for a given Season of a Planning Year, resulting in a tie for the highest accepted price for that Season and Planning Year. Such Bids are Tied Bids (at the Tied Price). If, in order to fill the ZRC Target exactly for such Season and Planning Year, only some of the ZRCs but not all ZRCs from the Tied Bids for such Season and Planning Year are needed, the ZRCs selected as part of the winning Bids will be selected at random from the Tied Bids. The Procurement Administrator will assign to each ZRC in a Tied Bid a random number between 0 and 1. The ZRCs from the Tied Bids are selected in increasing order of random number until the ZRC Target is filled for such Season and Planning Year. No selection preference will be given to identical Bids submitted at any particular time or in any particular way.

In order to qualify to participate in the AIC Capacity procurement event, bidders must submit a successful Part 1 Proposal and a Part 2 Proposal. The deadline to submit a Part 1 Proposal was March 27, 2023 and the deadline to submit a Part 2 Proposal was April 11, 2023. No late Part 1 or Part 2 Proposals will be accepted under any circumstances.

After the ICC approves some or all of a Bidder’s Bids in the procurement event for AIC Energy Products and/or the procurement event for MEC, AIC and MEC prepare and send a partially executed electronic copy of the applicable supplier contract and related documents to the Seller. At that time, the Seller may contact AIC and/or MEC directly to request the details needed to complete Paragraph 12 in the applicable Form of Guaranty.

AIC and MEC expect to provide the partially executed supplier contract and related documents to the Seller on the same day of the ICC approval, but no later than 12 PM (noon) CPT on the first business day after the ICC decision. The ICC renders its decision on the results of the procurement events for Energy Products on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

Please email the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com to receive these documents.

The Fuel Mix Report is due by 6 PM CPT on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The expected fuel mix should only be provided for each Company, month, and segment (On-Peak and Off-Peak) for which the Bidder has Bids identified as winning Bids. The completed Fuel Mix Report must be provided in Microsoft Excel format and by email to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com.

Redlines of the changes between the contract documents used for the Fall 2022 BEC RFP and the contract documents used for the Spring 2023 BEC RFP are posted to the Draft Documents page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website. There are no changes between the draft contract documents and final contract documents as posted to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website.

Two electronic methods of payment, ACH or E-Pay, will be accepted by the IPA for the payment of the required supplier fees. The Procurement Administrator will distribute detailed instructions for payment of the supplier fees to Bidders that have Bids approved by the ICC. The ICC renders its decision on the results of the procurement events for Energy Products on Thursday, April 20, 2023. The ICC renders its decision on the results of the procurement event for AIC Capacity Products on Thursday, May 18, 2023.

The Final Targets are not available in Microsoft Excel format. The Final Targets are available in pdf format and are posted to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website under the “Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Targets” heading.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. A revised version of the Fuel Mix Report (Appendix 18) with the correct label for the Off-Peak Fuel Source Type will be distributed to Bidders the week of April 10, 2023.

The expiration date for the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit for Energy Products is May 10, 2023.

Please email the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com to receive these documents.

Instructions for the submission of bid assurance collateral for each Company will be distributed to Bidders shortly after the Part 1 Date, which is March 27, 2023. The instructions will include both information on how to submit cash as bid assurance collateral to the Companies as well as how to transmit the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to the Companies.

The Procurement Administrator will not be soliciting comments on the Standard Pre-Bid Letters of Credit in the Spring 2023 Block Energy and Capacity RFP.

A Bidder that is submitting Bids for the Spring 2023 Block Energy procurement event for a Company must, in its Part 2 Proposal, submit financial guarantees by providing either cash or a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for that Company. The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be in the form of the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for a Company or incorporate only modifications approved by that Company as posted to the procurement website. The modifications approved by each Company were posted to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity Procurement section of the procurement website on February 27, 2023.

In approving the 2023 Electricity Procurement Plan, the Illinois Commerce Commission accepted a change proposed by ComEd to reduce the hedging target to 50% within the ComEd territory. The acceptance of ComEd’s proposal was conditioned on the ICC’s approval of tariff revisions to ComEd’s Rider Carbon-Free Resource Adjustment “CFRA” (the CMC tariff). The conditions related to such tariff revisions have since been met.

The provisional targets provided in the RFP Rules were based on the July 2022 load forecast, which provided that no procurement was needed for ComEd for the 2023-2024 Delivery Year at the 50% hedging target. Final targets using an updated March 15 load forecast will be posted to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website by March 31, 2023. The preliminary observation from the updated March 15 load forecast is that there will be some small procurement volumes available for ComEd for the 2023-2024 Delivery Year due to load growth.

A supplier that is a “Regulated Entity” under the ISDA Stay Protocol has the option to execute the Supplement by mutual agreement of the Parties. This option is not new for the procurement events held in 2023. During the proposal process, each Bidder will be asked to provide the information to prepare the applicable supplier contract and will be asked to check a box to indicate that they wish to use the Supplement. A bidder that chooses not to use the Supplement should simply leave this box unchecked. This information will be requested for each Company for which the Bidder submits a Proposal in either the AIC Energy Contract Insert (#P1-3), the ComEd Contract Insert (#P1-5), the MEC Contract Insert (#P1-7), and/or the AIC Capacity Contract Insert (#P1-9).

Confirmed. In the Supplement U.S. Stay Protocol, the Company (AIC, ComEd, or MEC) is Party B and the Seller is Party A. This is consistent with how the entities are defined in each supplier agreement.

No, the Collateral Requirement under an applicable supplier contract applies only to the Seller. ComEd will not make a collateral posting to the Seller.

The Supplemental RFP concluded on May 16, 2022. At this time there are no procurement events scheduled or expected to be held to procure block energy for the period June 2022 through September 2022. Additionally, there is no mechanism under the IPA’s electricity procurement plan for suppliers to submit individual offers outside of the procurement process.

A BEC RFP procurement has been planned for Fall 2022 to procure block energy for the period October 1, 2022 through May 31, 2025. An announcement will be sent to all website registrants when the Fall 2022 block energy procurement process begins.

The timeline of the contract execution process for each Company is fully described in Paragraph VI.2.17 of the RFP Rules posted on March 16, 2022. For your convenience, we also provide it below:

“If the ICC approves some or all of a Bidder’s Bids for a procurement event for a Company, by 12 PM (noon) CPT on the first business day after the ICC decision, that Company prepares and sends a partially executed electronic copy of the applicable supplier contract and related documents to the Seller.”

A summary of the contract execution process was distributed to Sellers by email on May 18, 2022 with the subject line “Supplemental RFP – REMINDER: Contract Execution Process”.

In regards to procurement events held for block energy, the Procurement Administrator provides a recommendation to the Commission for each procurement event (i.e. a separate recommendation for each of the procurement events for ComEd, AIC and MEC).

Section 16-111.5 of the Act requires that “Within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids, the procurement administrator shall submit a confidential report to the Commission. The report shall contain the results of the bidding for each of the products along with the procurement administrator’s recommendation for the acceptance and rejection of bids based on the price benchmark criteria and other factors observed in the process. The procurement monitor also shall submit a confidential report to the Commission within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids. The report shall contain the procurement monitor’s assessment of bidder behavior in the process as well as an assessment of the procurement administrator’s compliance with the procurement process and rules. The Commission shall review the confidential reports submitted by the procurement administrator and procurement monitor, and shall accept or reject the recommendations of the procurement administrator within 2 business days after receipt of the reports.”

The evaluation of Bids for a Company in its procurement event for Energy Products proceeds in two steps. In the first step, all Bids that fail to meet the benchmarks are eliminated. In accordance with the Act, 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. In the second step, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmarks and selects a package of Bids that procures all needed blocks for that Company if possible at the lowest average cost per MWh. This package of Bids is called the Least Cost Package for a Company.  The Least Cost Package for a Company is the results of bidding that is presented to the Commission and the basis for the Procurement Administrator’s recommendation, however, as stated in the Act there may be other factors observed in the process that would also be considered by the Procurement Administrator when preparing the recommendation.

Section 16-111.5 of the Act requires that the Procurement Administrator and the Procurement Monitor submit a confidential report to the Commission within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids and that the Commission shall review the confidential reports, and shall accept or reject the recommendations of the Procurement Administrator within 2 business days after receipt of the reports.

The Procurement Administrator will notify each Bidder that submitted Bids, by 4 PM CPT on the Bid Date, which of the Bidder’s Bids, if any, will be identified as winning Bids to the ICC. The ICC will render a decision on the results of the procurement events under the Supplement RFP on Friday, May 20, 2022.

The Procurement Administrator will notify each Bidder that submitted Bids, by 4 PM CPT on the Bid Date, which of the Bidder’s Bids, if any, will be identified as winning Bids to the ICC. A Bidder that submits Bids will be notified by 4PM CPT that none of their Bids will be identified as winning Bids if that is the case.

The Procurement Administrator will notify each Bidder that submitted Bids, by 4 PM CPT on the Bid Date, which of the Bidder’s Bids, if any, will be identified as winning Bids to the ICC.  The Procurement Administrator cannot commit to an earlier timeframe.

The Procurement Administrator will notify each Bidder that submitted Bids, by 4 PM CPT on the Bid Date, which of the Bidder’s Bids, if any, will be identified as winning Bids to the ICC. The Procurement Administrator will provide notification by phone by 4PM CPT. The Procurement Administrator will endeavor to also provide written confirmation by 4PM CPT, however, it is possible that written confirmation will be provided after that time.

As seen in the public notices posted to the ICC’s Electricity Procurement Process page, https://www.icc.illinois.gov/programs/electricity-procurement-process, the Commission has approved the procurement administrator’s selection of winning bids for each instance of the procurement of electricity pursuant to Illinois Public Act 95-0481, effective August 28, 2007 (the “Act”), including the Act’s amendments to the Public Utilities Act (“PUA”).

Please note that the Procurement Administrator cannot speculate or anticipate the Commission decision on the Supplemental Procurement Events.  It is entirely up to each supplier to form its own expectations in this regard.

Section 16-111.5 of the Act states that “if the procurement process fails to fully meet the expected load requirement due to insufficient supplier participation or due to a Commission rejection of the procurement results, the procurement administrator, the procurement monitor, and the Commission staff shall meet within 10 days to analyze potential causes of low supplier interest or causes for the Commission decision. If changes are identified that would likely result in increased supplier participation, or that would address concerns causing the Commission to reject the results of the prior procurement event, the procurement administrator may implement those changes and rerun the request for proposals process according to a schedule determined by those parties and consistent with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection. In any event, a new request for proposals process shall be implemented by the procurement administrator within 90 days after the determination that the procurement process has failed to fully meet the expected load requirement.”

In response to the April 18 Procurement Events failing to fully meet expected load requirements, the parties met as required and the parties agreed that additional procurement events would be held at the earliest opportunity to procure block energy for the period June through September 2022 for all three (3) Companies.  Thus, the Supplemental RFP was issued and is the new request for proposals process contemplated by Section 16-111.5.

The Procurement Administrator cannot speculate or anticipate the Commission decision on the Supplemental Procurement Events or the outcome of any meeting of the parties that could arise to discuss the results of the Supplemental Procurement Events.  It is entirely up to each supplier to form its own expectations in this regard.  However, we note that (1) it would no longer be possible to hold procurement events for the June through September 2022 supply period as the supply period would have already started and (2) procurement events failed to meet the load requirements in the past, including the Spring 2018, Spring 2017 and Fall 2017 BEC RFPs in the last five and a half years, and no additional procurement events were held at the time.

Yes. To continue using the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit submitted in the April 18 Procurement Event for a Company, a Bidder must submit an amendment to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit. The amendment must modify the Expiration Date of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit from May 11, 2022 to June 10, 2022. Furthermore, for AIC and ComEd, the amount of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be $5,000 per block times the total number of blocks that the Bidder intends to bid across all Segments and months, or $250,000, whichever is greater. If the amount of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is insufficient to meet this amount, the amendment to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit submitted for the April 18 Procurement Event for a Company must also modify the amount so that it is sufficient. Conversely, if the amount of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit submitted for the April 18 Procurement Event for a Company exceeds the amount required for the Supplemental Procurement Event for a Company, the amendment to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit may, but is not required to, reduce the amount of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, provided however that such amount must remain sufficient to support participation in the Supplemental Procurement Event for a Company. The amount of bid assurance collateral required for MEC remains $25,000 and only the Expiration Date needs amended.

The Procurement Administrator’s confidential report on the results of the April 18 Procurement Events is not publicly available.

The April 18 Procurement Events failed to fully meet the expected load requirements of AIC, ComEd, and MEC. In accordance with Section 16-111.5 of the Act, the Procurement Administrator, the Procurement Monitor, and ICC Staff met within ten (10) days to analyze potential causes of low supplier interest. At this meeting, these parties agreed that additional procurement events would be held at the earliest opportunity to procure block energy for the period June through September 2022 for all three (3) Companies. These additional procurement events are called the “Supplemental Procurement Events”.

As stated in Paragraph I.2.11 of the Spring 2022 Block Energy and Capacity RFP Rules, “The evaluation of Bids for a Company in its procurement event for Energy Products proceeds in two steps. In the first step, all Bids that fail to meet the benchmarks are eliminated. In accordance with the Act, 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. In the second step, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmarks and selects a package of Bids that procures all needed blocks for that Company if possible at the lowest average cost per MWh. This package of Bids is called the Least Cost Package for a Company and each Bid in the Least Cost Package is a winning Bid.”

Information concerning the results of April 18 Procurement Events is posted to the Results page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website.

The Companies are not involved in the evaluation and selection of Bids. The evaluation of Bids for a Company in its procurement event for Energy Products proceeds in two steps. In the first step, all Bids that fail to meet the benchmarks are eliminated. In the second step, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmarks and selects a package of Bids that procures all needed blocks for that Company if possible at the lowest average cost per MWh. The outcome of this procedure was that only a portion of the Targets available for AIC’s and ComEd’s Energy Products was filled. No portion of the Target available for MEC’s Energy Products was filled.

The Final Targets for the Spring 2022 BEC RFP with bids due on April 18, 2022 (“April 18 Procurement Events”) are available here. The results of the April 18 Procurement Events are available here. To arrive at the number of blocks that were procured during the April 18 Procurement Events, divide the quantity column in the results file by 25.

Additional procurement events to procure block energy for the period June through September 2022 for all three (3) Companies will be held under the Supplemental Procurement Events. The Supplemental Procurement Events are open to all prospective bidders. The bid date will be May 16, 2022, with the ICC decision on the results of the procurement events scheduled for May 20, 2022.

The Targets to be procured in the Supplemental Procurement Events are provided in Paragraph I.2.3. of the Supplemental Rules available on the procurement website: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/block-energy-and-capacity/final-materials/

The Illinois Power Agency’s (“IPA”) 2022 Electricity Procurement Plan provides for the purchase of electric supply to serve certain customers of Ameren Illinois Company (“AIC”), Commonwealth Edison Company (“ComEd”), and MidAmerican Energy Company ( “MEC”) (each a “Company”) over the five-year period beginning on June 1, 2022 and ending on May 31, 2027. For each of AIC and ComEd, the requirements of Included Retail Customers, as this term is defined in the RFP Rules under the Spring 2022 BEC RFP, will be met from a variety of sources including but not limited to the supply procured through the Spring 2022 BEC RFP, as well as supply procured through the 2021 RFPs, 2020 RFPs, and the 2010 long-term RFPs. For MEC, the requirements of Included Retail Customers will be met from a variety of sources including but not limited to the supply procured through this RFP.

The Final Targets for the Spring 2022 BEC RFP with bids due on April 18, 2022 (“April 18 Procurement Events) are available here. The results of the April 18 Procurement Events are available here. To arrive at the number of blocks that were procured during the April 18 Procurement Events, divide the quantity column in the results file by 25.

The April 18 Procurement Events failed to fully meet the expected load requirements of AIC, ComEd, and MEC. In accordance with Section 16-111.5 of the Act, the Procurement Administrator, the Procurement Monitor, and ICC Staff met within ten (10) days to analyze potential causes of low supplier interest. At this meeting, these parties agreed that additional procurement events would be held at the earliest opportunity to procure block energy for the period June through September 2022 for all three (3) Companies. These additional procurement events are called the “Supplemental Procurement Events”.

The Supplemental Procurement Events are open to all prospective bidders. The bid date will be May 16, 2022, with the ICC decision on the results of the procurement events scheduled for May 20, 2022.

Please note that unfilled blocks for months after September 2022 will be procured in the Fall 2022 BEC RFP.

The final supplier contracts for the Supplemental Procurement Events are the same as the final supplier contracts from the Spring 2022 BEC RFP (except for the administrative addition of specific dates related to scheduling in the Confirmation Sheet for ComEd). The administrative addition of specific dates is reflected in the “Redline (Spring 2022 Final vs Supplemental Final) Confirmation Sheet – Sample (April 28, 2022)”. The final supplier contracts for the Supplemental Procurement Events and the redline of the Confirmation Sheet for ComEd are posted under the Supplemental Procurement Events heading on the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website.

The target for On-Peak June 2022 for AIC was 22 blocks. These 22 blocks were filled with 12 blocks of the On-Peak June 2022 Product as well as 10 blocks of the On-Peak June 2022 to May 2023 Combination. The price of $100.18/MWh is the average of the winning bid prices for the 12 blocks of the On-Peak June 2022 Product. This price is associated with 12 blocks or a quantity of 300 MW. The price of $101.52/MWh is associated with 550 MW or 22 blocks and represents the average price that will be paid for the On-Peak June 2022 contracts. This price is the average of the winning bid prices for the 12 blocks of the On-Peak June 2022 Product and the winning bid prices for the 10 blocks of the On-Peak June 2022 to May 2023 Combination.

Redlines of the changes between the contract documents used for the Fall 2021 BEC RFP and the contract documents used for the Spring 2022 BEC RFP are posted to the Draft Documents page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website. There are no changes between the draft contract documents and final contract documents as posted to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website.

Bidders had the opportunity to provide comments on or propose modifications to the changes that have been made to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit relative to the previously used Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for each Company with the Part 1 Proposal. On March 31, 2022, the Procurement Administrator posted the final lists of acceptable modifications to the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website. Bidders must either use the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for a Company, or submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit that incorporates only those modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit approved by that Company and posted to the procurement website.

All bid assurance collateral remains in place until the Commission has rendered a decision on the results of a procurement event. For Bidders with Bids approved by the Commission, bid assurance collateral remains in place until full execution of the applicable supplier contract and until payment of the Supplier Fee is received. Return of cash tendered as bid assurance to a Company is not initiated until a Company receives a fully executed request for the return of cash in a form acceptable to that Company. Bidders participating in a procurement event for AIC must also send to AIC a Supplier Request Form that AIC finds to be duly completed. Bidders participating in the procurement event for MEC must also send to MEC a Vendor Request Form that MEC finds to be duly completed. Requirements related to the AIC’s Supplier Request Form and MEC’s Vendor Request Form are described in Section V.6 of the RFP Rules.

The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement events for Energy Products on Thursday, April 21, 2022. The Commission renders its decision on the results of the procurement event for AIC Capacity Products on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

Please contact the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com to receive this information.

Instructions for the submission of bid assurance collateral for each Company will be distributed to Bidders shortly after the Part 1 Date, which is March 25, 2022. The instructions will include both information on how to submit cash as bid assurance collateral to the Companies as well as how to transmit the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to the Companies.

The comment process for the 2022 Spring BEC RFP concluded on Friday, March 4, 2022. As detailed in the Invitation to Comment, comments are solicited only on proposed changes that have been made relative to the previously used 2021 contracts and not on the entire contract.

Preliminary acceptable modifications to the Spring 2022 Pre-Bid Letters of Credit will be posted to the Final Documents page on March 16, 2022.

The Spring 2022 (ComEd) Master Agreement has been posted in draft form to the Draft Documents page. The final version will be posted on Thursday, March 15, 2022. Word versions of these documents are not available.

The Spring 2022 (ComEd) Master Agreement is standard and non-negotiable. Bidders must accept the terms of the supplier contract prior to bidding.

On February 25, 2022, the Procurement Administrator posted an Invitation to Comment on Proposed Changes to the Standard Contract Form. As described in the Invitation to Comment, Bidders may comment on proposed changes only. A summary of the proposed changes from the (ComEd) Master Agreement from the Fall 2021 procurement event is provided in the Invitation to Comment on page 2.

A bank issuing a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must meet the requirements listed in Paragraph 14 of the Standard Pre-Bid Letters of Credit. The final Standard Pre-Bid Letters of Credit are posted to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website.

Bidders had the opportunity to provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for each Company with the Part 1 Proposal. On March 15, 2021, the Procurement Administrator posted the final lists of acceptable modifications to the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit to the Final Materials page under each of Appendices 10 through 13. Bidders must either use the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for a Company, or submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit that incorporates only those modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit approved by that Company and posted to the procurement website.

The Procurement Administrator posted the Final Targets for energy and capacity to the Final Materials page of the Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website on March 18, 2021.

The instructions for submission of the Pre-Bid Letter(s) of Credit are available upon request. Please email your request to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com and indicate the procurement event(s) for which you plan to participate.  These instructions will be sent to all Bidders that submit a Part 1 Proposal on Friday, March 12.

The Targets are not available in Microsoft Excel format. Preliminary Targets are available in the RFP Rules posted to the Final Materials page of the RFP website. The Final Targets will be provided to bidders in pdf format and are expected to be provided with the Part 1 Notification on March 18, 2021.

As part of the Part 2 Proposal, a Bidder that intends to bid on the Energy Products for AIC, Energy Products for ComEd, and/or Energy Products for MEC must provide an executed Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to each of the respective Companies separately.  For each Company, the Bidder must either use the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for that Company, or the Bidder must submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit that incorporates only the approved modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit approved by that Company.  The Pre-Bid Letter(s) of Credit for Energy Products are due by 12 PM (noon) on the Part 2 Date, Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

The target for June 2020 for AIC was 20 blocks.  These 20 blocks were filled with 17 blocks of the On-Peak June 2020 Product as well as 3 blocks of the June 2020 to May 2021 Combination.  The price of $24.65/MWh is the average of the winning bid prices for the 17 blocks of the On-Peak June 2020 Product.  This price is associated with 17 blocks or a quantity of 425 MW.  The price of $25.37/MWh is associated with 500 MW or 20 blocks and represents the average price that will be paid for the On-Peak June 2020 contracts.  This price is the average of the winning bid prices for the 17 blocks of the On-Peak June 2020 Product and the winning bid prices for the 3 blocks of the June 2020 to May 2021 Combination.

After Commission approval of the results, the Companies will work with suppliers to provide instructions for delivery of letters of credit.  Each Company will provide instructions for electronic delivery and/or hardcopy delivery.  Please note that the terms of the letters of credit already provide for electronic transmission or documents and communications.

Neither the Procurement Administrator nor the Companies review draft language for the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit.  The Procurement Administrator issued instructions on March 31 and again on April 3 regarding the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit.  Aside from these instructions, the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for a Company must be in the form of the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for that Company or include only those modifications acceptable to the Company and posted to the procurement website.

Neither the Procurement Administrator nor the Companies review draft language for the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit. Please see FAQ-BEC-26 as updated on 4/13/2020 for the inclusion of an email address to Paragraph 4 that is generally acceptable to the Companies.

The Procurement Administrator announced Supplier Fees on April 14, 2020.  They are as follows: $165 per on-peak block; $110 per off-peak block; $20 per ZRC.

The IPA will be issuing instructions and the Procurement Administrator will communicate these to winning bidders as soon as they become available.

The Procurement Administrator expects the timeframes as provided in the RFP Rules to continue to apply even in the current circumstances.  As a reminder, as stated in the RFP Rules, such notifications are made to the extent practicable or may be made later as circumstances warrant.

The Procurement Administrator would appreciate, but does not require, that you submit the revised version of the AIC P2 Capacity Certifications Insert (#P2-5) that was updated to correct a typographical error in the Bid Date. If the originally posted version is submitted, the Procurement Administrator will assume that the certifications, based on the corrected Bid Date of April 22, 2020, remain valid.

The deadline to submit a Part 2 Proposal for a procurement event for Energy Products (excluding Bids) including the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit for AIC Energy Products, ComEd, and MEC is April 14, 2020 by 12 PM (noon) CPT. If the Part 2 Proposal (excluding Bids) from a Bidder is incomplete because the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit has not been received, the Procurement Administrator sends a deficiency notice to the Bidder. If the deficiency notice is the first deficiency notice sent, the Bidder must respond by 12 PM (noon) on the Part 2 Date, or by 6 PM on the second business day following the business day during which that notice is sent, whichever comes later.

As stated in the RFP Rules for the block energy procurement events (Paragraphs IV.4.4, IV.5.4, and IV.6.4), a Bidder participating in a procurement event must use the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for that procurement event or incorporate only modifications approved by the applicable Company as posted to the procurement website. As you note, the modification you propose is not one that has been approved by any Company. No comments were solicited on the Pre-Bid Letters of Credits under the BEC RFP as the only changes to these documents were limited strictly to administrative updates. No comments or modifications on any of the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit can be considered at this time.
In relation to possible disclosures that you may be required to make to regulators, we cannot assess what these disclosures may be and whether such disclosures may or may not constitute “disclosing information relating to your Proposal”. We can note that this provision is limited to the time prior to the Illinois Commerce Commission decision on April 24, 2020. We can also note that this condition to draw on the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit relates to the undertakings otherwise made by the Bidder in the Part 2 Proposal. In the Part 2 Proposal, the Officer of the Bidder certifies that, other than for purpose of arranging for the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit or communications with Advisors (if any), the Bidder has not disclosed, and will not otherwise disclose, publicly or to any other party any information relating to its Proposal, which could have an effect on whether another party submits a Proposal for this procurement event, or on the contents of such Proposal that another Bidder would be willing to submit. The RFP Rules note that such information includes, but is not limited to: the fact that the Bidder is submitting a Proposal for this procurement event; the Bidder’s Bids; the Bidder’s number of blocks bid for any Product, any Combination, or for any bundle of Products and Combinations; the Bidder’s estimation of the value of a Product or Combination; the Bidder’s estimation of the risks associated with providing supply under the applicable supplier contract; and the Bidder’s preference for bidding on specific Products or Combinations.

The deadline to submit comments on the supplier contracts was March 11, 2020.  Bidders are required, as a condition of participation in the BEC RFP, to accept the terms of the applicable supplier contracts as posted to the procurement website without modification.

Each of ComEd and AIC finds it acceptable to have the content of the statement from the Issuing Bank added directly to Paragraph 15 of their respective Pre-Bid Letter of Credit (instead of having the statement be provided on a stand-alone basis).

It is customary and acceptable for the address of the beneficiary to appear in the introductory block as follows:
___________________________ (“Date of Issuance”)
Letter of Credit No. _______________

Beneficiary:
Commonwealth Edison Company (“ComEd”)
[ADDRESS]

Applicant:
[Name of Applicant]
[Address]

Yes, the following modification to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is acceptable to each Company:

4. Drafts, document(s) and other communications hereunder may be presented or delivered to us by facsimile transmission or electronic means. Presentation of documents to effect a draw by facsimile must be made to the following facsimile number: _______________, and confirmed by telephone to us at the following number(s): ________________. Presentation of documents to effect a draw by electronic means must be made by your e-mail address:                 or            _____ to the following email address: _______________, and confirmed by telephone to us at the following number(s): _______________. In the event of a presentation via facsimile transmission or via electronic means, no mail confirmation is necessary and the facsimile transmission or the electronic communication will constitute the operative drawing documents.

This additional acceptable modification was sent in a general communication to bidders.

04-13-2020 REVISED (originally posted 04-06-2020)

Specific instructions were provided via email on March 31, 2020 directing Bidders to submit an electronic version of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit.  A hardcopy of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is neither required nor expected.  If the Issuing Bank unnecessarily issues a hardcopy, please be ready to provide to the Procurement Administrator a tracking number from the overnight delivery service.

In addition to the electronic Pre-Bid Letter of Credit itself, a statement from the issuing Bank must be provided to confirm that the electronic PDF file serves as the operative instrument.  The sample statement is as follows: “We confirm that the electronic PDF file of the Letter of Credit serves as the operative instrument.  The Beneficiary may use the electronic PDF file of the Letter of Credit No. __________as it would a hardcopy original.   The Beneficiary may draw on us in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Letter of Credit.”

The statement, along with instructions, is posted here.  The statement was also included in the further instructions distributed to Bidders by the Procurement Administrator on April 3, 2020.

The Procurement Administrator has issued a document that provides instructions to Bidders to submit the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit electronically.  A hardcopy of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is neither required nor expected.

If the Issuing Bank unnecessarily issues a hardcopy, please be ready to provide to the Procurement Administrator a tracking number from the overnight delivery service.

In addition to the electronic Pre-Bid Letter of Credit itself, a statement from the issuing Bank must be provided to confirm that the electronic PDF file serves as the operative instrument.  The sample statement is as follows: “We confirm that the electronic PDF file of the Letter of Credit serves as the operative instrument.  The Beneficiary may use the electronic PDF file of the Letter of Credit No. __________as it would a hardcopy original.   The Beneficiary may draw on us in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Letter of Credit.”

The statement, along with instructions, is posted here.  The statement was also included in the further instructions distributed to Bidders by the Procurement Administrator on April 3, 2020.

Final Targets were posted to the Final Materials section of the Spring Block Energy and Capacity Procurement page of the IPA website as of April 2, 2020.  They can be found here.

A winning bidder for Energy Products for ComEd in this Spring 2020 procurement event that is already a Seller under a (ComEd) Master Agreement from a prior procurement event can use their post-bid letter of credit that is currently in place with ComEd and make amendments to the amount and expiration date for example as necessary.

The lists of acceptable modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for each procurement event will be posted to the Final Materials page of the procurement website by end of Friday, March 27, 2020.

The Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for AIC Capacity Products is available on the Final Materials page of the Spring Block Energy and Capacity Procurement section of the procurement website. Applicants may begin working with their bank to prepare the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit due with the Part 2 Proposal. Due to emergency measures enacted in the wake of COVID-19, the Procurement Administrator will be issuing specific instructions for the submitting a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to the appropriate Company (AIC, ComEd, or MEC). These instructions will be issued as soon as practicable but in no event later than the Part 1 Notification Date of April 6, 2020.

For this upcoming procurement event, the Procurement Administrator will accept, instead of Inserts with notarized signatures, Inserts that are digitally signed as long as the submission includes a certificate of completion or other additional document to verify the identity of the signatory. Bidders may use digital signatures, including a certificate of completion, for all Inserts.

The RFP Rules are available on the Final Materials page of the Spring Block Energy and Capacity Procurement section of the procurement website here. The targets provided in Table I-1 through Table I-3 in the RFP Rules are provisional only. The Final Targets will be posted to the Final Materials section no later than April 6, 2020.

Yes, you may provide the additional documentation produced by the digital signature software to the Procurement Administrator via email and request a review.

The Procurement Administrator has posted the presentation slides from the bidder information webcast held on March 23, 2020, to the Final Materials page of the Spring Block Energy and Capacity section of the procurement website. The audio recording from the webcast will be posted by close of business on March 25, 2020.

The changes to the standard letters of credit for AIC Capacity Products consist solely of administrative updates.  As such, the Procurement Administrator will not be soliciting comments on the standard letters of credit for AIC Capacity Products.

For this upcoming procurement event, the Procurement Administrator will accept, instead of Inserts with notarized signatures, Inserts that are digitally signed as long as the submission includes a certificate of completion or other additional document to confirm the identity of the signatory.   Bidders may use digital signatures, including a certificate of completion, for all Inserts.

Note that electronic signatures (i.e., an image or picture of the Officer’s signature) will not be accepted.

The Low-Income Community Solar Pilot RFP and the Block Energy and Capacity RFP are separate procurements. There are no restrictions that would preclude one entity participating in one from participating in the other.

The Wind and Solar RFP (“W&S RFP”) DRAFT Illustrative Part 1 Form, which provides an outline of the draft Part 1 Proposal qualification requirements, was posted to the Draft Documents page of the Wind and Solar Section of the procurement website on June 30, 2017.

The release of the final parameters and RFP documents is expected for July 19, 2017. To the extent practicable, the Procurement Administrator will make additional early releases of information, including the release of the solar target for this first procurement event.

The Procurement Administrator made a preliminary release of information regarding the RFP requirements on June 14.  The release of the final RFP documents is expected for July 19, 2017.  To the extent practicable, the Procurement Administrator will also make additional early releases of select information.  The Procurement Administrator recently posted an illustrative Part 1 Form with more details on the requirements of the Part 1 Proposal.

There is a bid assurance collateral due with the Part 2 Proposal, but that bid assurance collateral is separate from the Collateral Requirement due at contract execution for a winning bid.  The bid assurance collateral, as described in the draft proposals requirements released on June 14, 2017, consist of a form of a letter of credit to each utility in an amount that is based on the size of the project presented (currently set at $5,000/MW for wind, $15,000/MW for solar projects, subject to a $25,000 minimum). An updated proposal requirements is expected to be released the week of July 10, 2017.

However, the amount of bid assurance collateral tendered with the Part 2 Proposal does not correspond to Collateral Requirement required during the REC Contract. The letters of credit provided with the Part 2 Proposal to support the bid will be cancelled and returned to the bidder when certain conditions are met.  If the bidder is not a winning bidder in the RFP, such cancellation and return will occur as soon as practicable after the Commission decision on the results of the procurement event.  If the bidder is a winning bidder in the RFP and as a winning bidder signs the REC Contract with the applicable utility, such cancellation and return will occur once all formalities of contract execution with the utility have been completed and once all supplier fees have been paid to the IPA. Failure to execute a contract and/or failure to pay supplier fees would be examples of some of the circumstances under which the bidder may lose all of a portion of its bid assurance collateral. The final RFP documents will explain these circumstances in more detail.

Your current understanding is correct. Under the current draft of the Preliminary Proposal Requirements, a participant is required to submit a letter of credit to each utility to support its bids. The letter of credit for each utility must be in an amount of $5,000/MW of wind projects and $15,000/MW of solar projects for which bids will be presented, subject to a $25,000 minimum for each letter of credit. Please note that, however, the RFP Rules for the Wind and Solar RFP have not yet been finalized and the currently drafted requirements could change.

Additionally, it is important to note that the Letters of Credit to support the bid will be cancelled and returned to the bidder (and not held during the term of the contract). If the bidder is not a winning bidder in the RFP, such cancellation and return will occur as soon as practicable after the Commission decision on the results of the procurement event.  If the bidder is a winning bidder in the RFP and the winning bidder will sign a REC Contract with a Company, such cancellation and return will occur once all formalities of contract execution with the Company have been completed and once all suppliers fees have been paid to the IPA.

While the REC Contract is also still under development, there will be separate collateral requirement for winning bidders upon signing the contract. Under the current draft, prior to the first REC delivery, the collateral requirement is half of the Annual Contract Value (Annual REC Quantity x Purchase Price) or $50,000, whichever is greater. After the first REC delivery, the collateral requirement is reduced to 1 time the Annual Contract Value or $50,000, whichever is greater. Finally, the collateral requirement in the last delivery year is reduced to reflect the amount that will be delivered in that delivery year (which may be less than a full year).

Please see FAQ-W&S-26 for an example calculation of the collateral requirement prior to first REC delivery.

The comments on standard contracts prepared by the Procurement Administrator are made available to the Commission but will not be publicly posted. Please note that a second draft of the REC Contract that takes into consideration these comments was posted June 28, 2017 to the procurement website. This second draft, the DRAFT (2) REC Contract, is available for further comments by potential participants in the procurement event.

Please see FAQ-W&S-73.

Revised 8-01-2017 first posted 7-05-2017

That is correct.  The Bid Assurance Collateral in the draft Part 2 Proposal requirements requires providing a letter of credit to each utility in an amount that is based on the size of the project presented ($5,000/MW for wind, $15,000/MW for solar projects, subject to a $25,000 minimum).  The final requirements are expected to be posted on July 19, 2017.

The REC Contract (Draft 1) requires the Seller to post any financial guarantees within two (2) business days of a request by the Buyer if such a request is received by 1 PM Eastern Prevailing Time or within three (3) business days otherwise.

Under the REC Contract, the purchaser of the RECs will be AIC, ComEd, or MEC.  In a given year, the Seller can deliver up to the Annual Quantity but no more.  If the project generates RECs in excess of the Annual Quantity, these are the property of the Seller.  The Seller can sell these RECs elsewhere, including by offering them in other IPA procurement events, or the Seller can keep the RECs (“bank” them) in case the project does not generate sufficient RECs to meet the Annual Quantity in a future year.  There are no provisions in the REC Contract or elsewhere whereby the IPA automatically purchases such excess RECs.  If the project generates fewer RECs than the Annual Quantity in a given year and the Seller does not provide RECs generated by the project in a prior to meet the Annual Quantity, the Seller is paid only for the RECs delivered.  Furthermore, the Seller cannot “make up” the quantity at a future time by delivering more than the Annual Quantity in a future year.  Thus, the total quantity delivered over the term of the REC Contract never exceeds the Maximum Contract Quantity and the total quantity delivered will fall short of the Maximum Contract Quantity if the Seller delivers less than the Annual Quantity in any year.

The RFP Rules for the Wind and Solar RFP have not yet been finalized. The requirements are expected to cover interconnection, site control, and the type of bidder fees that may be due.

The Procurement Administrator posted an outline of the proposal requirements on a draft and preliminary basis on June 14, 2017. This document is posted to the Draft Documents Page of the Wind and Solar section of the procurement website.

This early information release was announced to the registrants’ list.  If you have not yet registered for announcements, please do so by filling out the Registration Form and selecting the “Wind and Solar RFP” category.

That is correct. If your project’s annual production is 12,000,000 kWh then the REC production is 12,000 RECs (12,000,000 kWh = 12,000 MWh = 12,000 annual RECs). Prior to the first REC delivery, the collateral requirement is 1.5 times the Annual Contract Value or $50,000, whichever is greater. With a bid price of $100 per REC, the Annual Contract Value is $100 x 12,000 or $1.2M.  Thus, the collateral requirement is the greater of $1.2M x 1.5 = $1.8M or $50,000, which is $1.8M.

After the first REC delivery, the collateral requirement is reduced to 1 time the Annual Contract Value or $50,000, whichever is greater. Finally, the collateral requirement in the last delivery year is reduced to reflect the amount that will be delivered in that delivery year (which may be less than a full year).

Revised 6-12-2017 first posted 6-09-2017

Yes, instructions will be provided upon request by email to Illinois-RFP@nera.com. The IRS Form W-9 for the IPA and payment instructions for the bid participation fee will be available as soon as practicable and no later June 28, 2017, the date the RFP documents are issued.

The currently proposed contract terms are available on the Draft Documents page of the Wind and Solar section of the procurement website. Please submit a redlined Microsoft Word document with any edits you would like to propose for consideration before the deadline at 6 PM CPT Wednesday, June 14, 2017. The Invitation to Comment, which includes instructions for submitting comments, is found on the Draft Documents page of the Wind and Solar section of the procurement website.

There is no minimum on the contract quantity presented in the Proposal. The maximum that can be provided is the target in the procurement event.  For solar multiple procurement events are expected and thus this maximum will be different for each procurement event and will be below the 1,000,000 REC annual target.

As a reminder, while there is no minimum contract size, there is a minimum on the nameplate capacity of utility-scale solar projects, which is 2 MW AC. This minimum size requirement does not apply to brownfield site PV projects.

August 10, 2017 is the expected Bid Date for the Wind and Solar RFP. The final contracts are expected to be posted on June 27, 2017 and the RFP documents are expected to be issued on June 28, 2017.

This FAQ was posted on 06-02-2015 and archived because the information is no longer relevant or accurate.

That understanding is correct. Any Proposal must be such that the total number of RECs in the Sub-25 Category is at or below 5,000 RECs including both REC quantities from identified systems and forecast quantities.

This FAQ was posted on 04-14-2015 and archived because the information is no longer relevant or accurate.

The stakeholders workshop on Round 1 of comments to the Draft IPA REC Purchase & Sale Agreement will take place on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 from 10 AM to 3 PM CPT at 160 N. LaSalle, 8th Floor, Main Hearing Room, Chicago, Illinois.

This FAQ was posted on 05-21-2015 and archived because the information is no longer relevant or accurate.

No, you do not place your Bids in June for ”Over-500 Product”, as Bids for the November 2015 procurement event will not be taken as part of the June 2015 procurement event and only Bids submitted for the Sub-25 Product and 25-500 Product will be accepted on the June 18 Bid Date. Bids on the Over-500 Product will be accepted in the November 2015 and March 2016 procurement events, however.

This FAQ was posted on 05-21-2015 and archived because the information is no longer relevant or accurate.

Final RFP Documents, including the Inserts to be completed for the Part 1 Proposal, were posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the website on May 14, 2015. You must register for an application account and submit your Proposal materials online on the application website. A PDF copy of the Part 1 Form, Part 2 Form and Bid Form have been posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the website on May 14, 2015.

This FAQ was posted on 05-08-2015 and archived because the information is no longer relevant or accurate.

Additional draft Inserts will be embedded in a draft Part 1 Form and a draft Part 2 Form that will be posted shortly. Final RFP Documents will be posted on Thursday, May 14, 2015. Please see the Calendar page of the procurement website for a full schedule of Supplemental PV events.

For purposes of the Low-Income Community Solar Pilot RFP, the “community” is defined as the area around the Project. It is the area within a 10-mile radius for an urban county and within a 30-mile radius for a rural county. An urban county is a county that is in a Metropolitan Statistical Area or a HUD Metro FMR Area. A rural county is any other county in the state.  Organizations within the community are “community-based” and subscribers (as this term is defined in the key contract terms) are “qualified” if they reside within the community.

The Bidder may propose an alternative definition of the community associated with the Project, however, it is unlikely that a 75-mile radius will meet the requirements. In order to propose an alternative definition, the Bidder must provide:

1. The name of the community;
2. A map showing the relevant geographic boundaries; and
3. Evidence that the community’s residents associate themselves with the community.

Revised 8/26/2019 first posted 8/21/2019

A community-based organization should be an existing non-profit organization (not a public sector entity) that provides programs and services within the community where the proposed project will be located.

The Stakeholder Request for Feedback process is just for submitting feedback and not for providing any materials related to qualifying in the actual procurement event. In preparation for a next procurement, the IPA and Procurement Administrator are seeking stakeholder feedback on several topics, in the form of seven (7) questions in the Request for Feedback PDF found at https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/useful-links/. Commenters need not respond to every question (some may not be applicable) and commenters should not feel limited by these seven (7) questions in providing feedback. Responses are due by May 17, 2021 and should be sent to Illinois-RFP@nera.com.

A second procurement under the Low-Income Community Solar Pilot RFP is planned to be held late this year, but this will depend on the outcome of several proposals currently under consideration by the General Assembly. When the procurement event is scheduled a calendar of events and dates will be posted to the Calendar page of the website here and an announcement will be sent to website registrants.

All information regarding the Fall 2019 Low-Income Community Solar Pilot RFP can be found at https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/2019-low-income-community-solar-pilot-procurement-ipa/. On this page you will find links to the presentation and recording of the Bidder Information Webcast posted on October 23, 2019, as well as the Final RFP Rules posted on October 30, 2019. If you have any further questions on the documentation from 2019, please send them to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com.

As a reminder, responses are due by May 17, 2021 and should be sent to Illinois-RFP@nera.com. See the Useful Links page on the procurement website for additional information on the feedback process: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/useful-links/.

At this time, due to budget constraints, there is no planned solar forward procurements.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  As the Act makes clear, a generating unit whose costs were being recovered through rates regulated by Illinois or any other state or states on or after January 1, 2017 is ineligible for RPS compliance.  This is stated in other portions of the Final Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan dated April 20, 2020, such as section 2.3.2.3 (“Through Section 1-75(c)(1)(J), P.A. 99-0906 introduces an additional requirement on generating facilities seeking to generate RECs eligible for the Illinois RPS: “a generating unit whose costs were being recovered through rates regulated by this State or any other state or states on or after January 1, 2017” is ineligible”).  This restriction is discussed at greater length in Section 4.2.

The Part 1 Proposal requirements used in the 2019 procurement under the Low-Income Community Solar Pilot Project Program are in Article IV of the RFP Rules (https://ipa-energyrfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Low-Income-Community-Solar-Pilot-RFP-Rules-with-references-corrected-October-30-2019.pdf ).  However, prior to holding the next procurement, the IPA intends to consider changes to the requirements for bidder participation (including the opportunity for stakeholder input) based on a review of the results of the first procurement.  Thus, the 2019 requirements are subject to change and the requirements that will be used in the next procurement are not yet known.

The next procurement under the Low-Income Community Solar Pilot Project Program has not yet been scheduled.  The IPA’s Final Revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“Final Revised Plan”) is dated April 20, 2020 and it states that the IPA(section 8.6.4) will hold another procurement under this program “during either the 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 programs years” where a program year begins on June 1 of a year and ends on May 31 of the following year.

When the next procurement under this program is scheduled, information pertaining to it will be posted to the procurement website.  The schedule will be posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website and an announcement will be sent to all registrants at that time. If you are not already registered, please join our mailing list to receive updates and announcements regarding RFPs announced by the Procurement Administrator by completing the Contact Us form here: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/contact-us/register/.

Currently, there is no procurement for RECs from brownfield site photovoltaic projects scheduled for 2020.  The IPA’s Final Revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“Final Revised Plan”) is dated April 20, 2020 and it states that (section 5.9.3): “if funds are available and additional Adjustable Block Program procurement quantities are satisfied, the Agency would conduct a procurement for 50,000 RECs delivered annually from Brownfield Site Photovoltaic Projects.”  Section 3.22 of the Final Revised Plan explains the priorities that the IPA would use should additional funds become available.  The Final Revised Plan is available here: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/Renewable_Resources.aspx

If a Brownfield RFP is scheduled, information pertaining to this procurement will be posted to the procurement website.  The schedule will be posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website and an announcement will be sent to all registrants at that time. If you are not already registered, please join our mailing list to receive updates and announcements regarding RFPs announced by the Procurement Administrator by completing the Contact Us form here: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/contact-us/register/.

There are no procurements scheduled for RECs from utility-scale solar projects in 2019. The remaining procurements for 2019 include the Low-Income Community Solar Pilot RFP. Please see the information available for this procurement event on its dedicated page on ipa-energyrfp.com.

Additional information pertaining to future REC procurement events from solar projects can be found in the IPA’s Revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan:

https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/default.aspx

Information regarding the Adjustable Block Program and the Illinois Solar for All Program can be found on their respective websites:

https://www.illinoissfa.com/

https://www.illinoissfa.com/

Currently, there are no procurements scheduled for RECs from utility-scale solar projects under the Initial Long-Term Plan of the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”).  The IPA has released a draft Revised Long-Term Plan released on August 15, 2019, which is available here: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/Renewable_Resources.aspx

In this Revised Long-Term Plan, the IPA is not proposing to conduct additional competitive procurements for RECs from utility-scale solar projects at this time. Accordingly, we cannot speak to the process for submitting a proposal should an RFP for utility-scale solar projects be held in the future.

FAQ WND-1 (https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/faqs/utility-scale-wind-faqs/?topic=general) explains the locational requirements for utility-scale wind projects; the locational requirements for utility-scale solar projects are the same.  You may want to consult the RFP Rules from the Brownfield and Utility-Scale Solar RFP that provides the requirements for proposal from the most recent procurement from RECs from utility-scale solar projects:

https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/2018-brownfield-and-utility-scale-solar-procurement/

Currently, the IPA plans to hold the following procurement events for Renewable Energy Credits in 2019: Low-Income Community Solar Pilot, Utility-Scale Wind, and Community Renewable Generation Program. Please see the information available for these procurement events on each of the  dedicated pages on ipa-energyrfp.com. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available. The schedules for these RFPs will be posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website and an announcement will be sent to the registrants for each event at the time of posting.

Additional information pertaining to future REC procurement events can be found in the IPA’s Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan.  Information regarding the Adjustable Block Program and the Illinois Solar for All Program can be found on their respective websites:

https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/default.aspx

https://www.illinoissfa.com/

The renewable procurements are for REC-only contracts. Each bidder is responsible for the sale of other products related to the project including energy.

The Spring 2019 Block Energy and Capacity RFP took place in May 2019. The Brownfield RFP will take place over Summer 2019. Later in the year, the following events are scheduled: the Fall 2019 Block Energy and Capacity RFP, the Utility-Scale Wind RFP, the 2019 Low-Income Community Solar Pilot Project, and the Community Renewable Generation Program Forward Procurement. Please refer to the Calendar page of the IPA procurement website for information on the deadlines and main events for procurement events as they become available. If you have not already done so, please join our mailing list to receive updates and announcements regarding RFPs announced on this website by completing the form here:

https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/contact-us/register/

Revised 7/25/2019 first posted 12/03/2018

Please see the Illinois Commerce Commission website https://www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/casedetails.aspx?no=17-0838 for scheduling and procedural information related to the IPA’s Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan.

Revised 7/25/2019 first posted 7/10/2018

Your question appears to pertain to the Adjustable Block Program proposed as part of the Illinois Power Agency’s Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“LTRRPP”).  The Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission”) released its Final Order on the LTRRPP on April 3, 2018 approving this program. The IPA posted its final Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan on August 6, 2018 and has released additional information about this program on its website: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/default.aspx.

The details of the Adjustable Block Program will not be provided on this website and the Procurement Administrator will not respond to questions in this regard.

Revised 7/25/2019 first posted 7/09/2018

There will be opportunities for Community Solar to participate in the Illinois Power Agency’s Adjustable Block Program. The IPA posted its final Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan on August 6, 2018 and has released additional information about this program on its website: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/default.aspx.

The details of the Adjustable Block Program will not be provided on this website and the Procurement Administrator will not respond to questions in this regard.

Revised 7/25/2019 first posted 7/09/2018

While we are still waiting for further information and we may supplement this response at a later time, we draw your attention to ComEd’s custom incentive program for energy efficiency:

https://www.comed.com/WaysToSave/ForYourBusiness/Pages/Custom.aspx

The contracts under the 2017-2018 Initial Forward Procurements, which encompasses the Summer 2017 Wind and Solar RFP and the two procurement events under the Spring 2018 New Solar RFP, are for a 15 year term. The second procurement event under the Spring 2018 New Solar RFP will begin with a webcast on Thursday, March 29, 2018. Additional information is available on the New Solar tab of the procurement website.

Prior to these procurements, the Illinois Power Agency held a long-term renewable energy procurement in 2010 for 20-year contracts. Additional information on this RFP is available here:

http://www.comed-energyrfp.com/2010-RFP/ltdocuments.asp

The Low-Income Community Solar Pilot project is proposed as part of the Illinois Power Agency’s Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“LTRRPP”). The Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission”) will render a decision on the LTRRPP and this decision is expected on April 3, 2018. The Commission may change in whole or in part the proposal made by Illinois Power Agency with regard to this pilot project.   Details on this pilot project are not yet available.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission”) will render a decision on the Adjustable Block Program proposed as part of the Illinois Power Agency’s Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“LTRRPP”), and this decision is expected on April 3, 2018. The Commission may change in whole or in part the proposal made by Illinois Power Agency with regard to the Adjustable Block Program.

The details of the Adjustable Block Program will not be provided on this website once the Commission renders its decision and the Procurement Administrator will not respond to questions in this regard. Please refer to the IPA’s website, https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/default.aspx, where the LTRRPP as approved by the Commission will be posted once it becomes available.

No schedule has yet been announced for future procurements of utility-scale solar. Please see:

https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/Plans-Under-Development.aspx

for information about the IPA’s plan under development. You may also register to receive announcements from the Procurement Administrator by registering here:

https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/contact-us/register/

Revised 7/25/2019 first posted 9/26/2017

All materials from the workshops held by the IPA will be posted to the Illinois Power Agency’s (“IPA”) website at: https://www.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/. These materials include the presentations but not recordings of the workshops.

This information is not yet available. When available, the information will be posted to the procurement website and may be sent in an announcement to website registrants. You can register to receive announcements from the Procurement Administrator here:

https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/contact-us/register/

The Procurement Administrator will provide login credentials for the Fall RFP a day prior to the opening of the Part 1 Window. We will confirm at that time either that the login credentials will remain the same or provide you with updated credentials.

There is no procurement event planned for 2017 using the exact format of the REC RFP From the past two years.  Please see the tentative schedule of the IPA for other renewable energy events:

https://www.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Documents/2017-Schedule-Announcement.pdf

Information regarding the Fall 2017 AIC capacity procurement event is not yet available. The 2017 Procurement Plan does not propose changes to the process that was used for the Fall 2016 AIC capacity procurement event, for which documents are available under the “Previous RFP” section of the procurement website (in the Fall 2016 Standard Products RFP).

At this time, there is no implementation information regarding the programs to be held under Public Act 099-0906. This Act was signed into law on December 7, 2016 and will go into effect on June 1, 2017. The link below is to the bill itself:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/99/PDF/099-0906.pdf

The two entities would be submitting separate proposals for different procurement events and each entity would pay its own bid participation fee.

Participants that request an account for the first time receive their login credentials generally within two (2) business days of making a request. When requesting an account for the first time, participants should ensure that they select the procurement event to which they want to submit a Proposal at the top of the web form.  If you cannot locate those login credentials, please request that they be re-issued by contacting the Procurement Administrator via email at Illinois-RFP@nera.com. Please include your name, phone number, company name, and email address in your communication to us.

Returning bidders can use the same login credentials that were issued to them in a prior procurement event.  If you cannot locate those login credentials, please request that they be re-issued by contacting the Procurement Administrator via email at Illinois-RFP@nera.com. Please include your name, phone number, company name, and email address in your communication to us.