For purposes of bid evaluation, there is a reference to a “50% criteria” related to systems in the Sub-25 Category. Is it that 50% of Bids must be selected from systems in the Sub-25 Category or is it that 50% of the budget for the procurement event should be allocated to purchase RECs from systems in the Sub-25 Category?

Neither; 50% refers to the percentage of RECs procured from systems in the Sub-25 Category and thus to the percentage of RECs procured from systems in the 25-Plus Category. This requirement is derived from the following language of Section 1-56(i)(1) of the Illinois Power Agency Act: “[t]o the extent available, 50% of the renewable energy credits procured from distributed renewable energy generation shall come from devices of less than 25 kilowatts in nameplate capacity.” Please note that for the second procurement event, there is also a requirement of how the RECs in the 25-Plus Category are divided among systems that are above 500 kW and those that are between 25 kW and 500 kW.

To further clarify, bid evaluation and selection reflecting this requirement and the corresponding requirement that Bids be selected on the basis of price occurs as follows:

First, the evaluation of Bids eliminates all Bids that fail to meet or beat the confidential price benchmarks (established for each Product).

Second, Bids are selected until all Bids are selected (at which point no further steps need be taken) or until the budget is exhausted.

Lastly, if the prior step ends because the procurement budget was exhausted, in a next step, systems may be taken out of price order if this is needed in order to achieve the particular objectives of having a certain percentage from systems of a particular size class.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 05-21-2015.

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