Bid assurance collateral may be provided in the form of cash or in the form of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit.

There are three (3) accepted methods for cash payment of the bid assurance collateral:  (i) by check payable to “Illinois Power Agency”, following all instructions supplied by the Procurement Administrator in this regard;  (ii) using e-pay, which is the electronic, e-check payment program administered by the Illinois State Treasurer, following all instructions supplied by the Procurement Administrator in this regard; or (iii) by ACH, (Automatic Clearing House) in CCD or CCD+ format, provided that the Bidder advises the Illinois Power Agency that it is requesting to remit payment via the ACH method, provided that the Bidder can provide a valid fax number for the paying entity, and provided that the Bidder follows all instructions supplied by the Illinois Power Agency by fax to the fax number provided by the Bidder.  Please refer to the instructions provided by the Procurement Administrator with the Part 1 Notification.

If a Bidder elects to submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit as bid assurance collateral, the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be in the form of the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit or incorporate only modifications approved by the IPA and posted to the procurement website after the Part 1 Proposal process. The Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is provided as Appendix 6 of the RFP Rules.  A list of acceptable modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is posted to the procurement website.  The original of the executed Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be sent via overnight delivery service to: Illinois Power Agency, Attn: Charles Kudia, 160 North LaSalle Street, Suite C-504, Chicago, Illinois 60601, Phone: (312) 814-3273.