The Supplemental Photovoltaic Procurement Plan developed by the IPA and approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission allows for a possible fourth procurement event in Spring 2017, called the Supplemental Photovoltaic Contingency Procurement. The Agency has determined that it is not necessary to conduct a Supplemental Photovoltaic Contingency Procurement.

The following renewable energy procurement events for 2017 are planned and tentative schedules have been released:

• Two procurements for distributed renewable generation resources on behalf of Ameren Illinois, ComEd, and MidAmerican pursuant to the Agency’s 2017 Procurement Plan. The first of these procurement events is planned for this Spring and the schedule is available here:

   https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/calendar/

• Once Public Act 99-0906 becomes effective on June 1, 2017, the IPA expects to conduct an initial forward procurement event for Wind/Solar in summer 2017. The expected schedule, which is provided here:

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

   has bidder registration beginning June 22, 2017 and a Bid Date of August 10, 2017.

Additional forward solar procurement events will be scheduled at a later date. All such schedules will be posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website.

If you have not already done so, we suggest that you complete the form to Register to receive updates and information regarding the RFPs. These updates will include announcements of upcoming procurement events.

Please review Article 8 of the SPV Contract posted in a PDF entitled “Final IPA REC Purchase and Sale Agreement (February 22, 2016)” on the Supplemental PV Procurement section of the procurement website. For additional questions related to the SPV Contract and the requirements of the IPA under the SPV Contract, please address your question directly to the IPA.  The Procurement Administrator can provide email contact upon request.

No. Under the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), a forecast quantity can only be bid for systems less than 25 kW in size that have not yet been identified. Please note that, in its Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder was required to certify that the entire forecast quantity included in their proposal consists of systems in the Sub-25 Category that are not yet identified and that the Seller understands and agrees that under the terms of the SPV Contract, no portion of the forecast quantity can be used for systems in the 25-Plus Category.

A Seller may request to replace a winning system identified in its SPV Contract prior to the system being energized. Such request must be made in writing to the IPA and is granted at the sole discretion of the IPA.  In addition, the substitute system must be within the great of + 25% or + 5 kW (whichever is greater) of the planned installed capacity of the system being replaced and must meet all the requirements for systems to be eligible for the SPV RFP. Please see section 3.10 of the SPV Contract for all requirements for substituting systems under the SPV Contract.

To be considered distributed generation, a system must, among other requirements, be no more than 2,000 kW in size.  To the extent that a future procurement event solicits RECs from distributed generation systems, this requirement would remain.

Please refer to Section 3.9 of the SPV Contract regarding restrictions on the ability to change the system size. Examples of restrictions include, but are not limited to, Section 3.9.2 that requires any changes in size to be within the greater of: + 25% or + 5kW from the Planned Installed Capacity and Section 3.9.3 that requires for the Final System Size to not result in a change in a Size Category. Nevertheless, systems that are co-located can be considered separate systems under the SPV RFP as long as each system has its own separate revenue quality meter and has its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs).

No. The Supplemental Photovoltaic Procurement Plan developed by the IPA and approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission allows for a possible fourth procurement event in Spring 2017 if there are available funds. Such a procurement event may or may not occur.

Please note, however, that the 2016 Procurement Plan includes a procurement event under the Utility Distributed Generation RFP for June 2016 (more information will be posted here as it becomes available: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/renewable-energy-resources-section/).

The information expected in Appendix 1.5 is a Federal Tax ID.

Your bank does not need to and should not re-issue the letter of credit. (If you bank re-issues the letter of credit there could be new deficiencies with the replacement form). Instead, your bank should be issuing an amendment with the changes required by your deficiency notice. Your bank would then send only the amendment to a given letter of credit to the IPA by overnight delivery service.

No interest is paid on cash held as bid assurance collateral or performance assurance collateral.

An SPV Contract is entered into for each identified system or for a number of RECs bid as a forecast quantity at a given price. The Seller identified in the Part 1 Proposal will execute an SPV Contract for each winning bid associated with an identified system.

Bid assurance collateral still on account with the IPA from a prior procurement event may be used as bid assurance collateral for the current procurement event. Please indicate in the Justification of Omissions of the online Part 2 Form that you are using cash already posted and on account with the IPA. Please also indicate whether or not you are supplementing this amount with additional cash or a pre-bid letter of credit using the radio buttons and fields provided for this purpose.

With the Part 2 Proposal, a Bidder must provide a duly completed Tax Identification Number Form provided as Appendix 1.5 to the SPV Contract for each Seller. Only Appendix 1.5 to the SPV Contract is required with the Part 2 Proposal. A bidder whose bids are approved by the ICC would complete all Appendices as part of the SPV Contract execution process. At that point a contract number would be listed on the forms.

The Procurement Administrator does not maintain such a list. Each bidder would be expected to work with a financial institution with which it has a current business relationship.

Bid assurance collateral may be provided in the form of cash or in the form of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit. Either form is an acceptable method to post the bid assurance collateral required by the Part 2 Proposal.

Under the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), a Bidder may bid a quantity of RECs that are not associated with identified systems. This is called a “forecast quantity”. Forecast quantities of RECs must be from systems less than 25 kW in size.

Forecast quantities are not allowed under the terms of the Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”). A Bidder must identify all of the systems in their Proposal no later than the Part 2 Date.

The SPV RFP does not exclude systems on the basis of the identity of the company that ensures that the system is interconnected at the distribution level in Illinois.

In the information submitted in your Proposal, you are asked about the “interconnecting utility” for the system. The interconnecting utility refers to the entity responsible for the interconnection at the distribution level.  It does not refer to the entity from which the customer is purchasing electricity, which may be an alternative retail electric supplier and thus may not be the same at the entity responsible for interconnection.

The SPV RFP does not exclude systems on the basis of the identity of the company that ensures that the system is interconnected at the distribution level in Illinois.

A Bidder must, in its Part 2 Proposal, submit bid assurance collateral in the form of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit or cash. These are the only acceptable methods of providing bid assurance collateral and performance assurance collateral.

Systems for which Bids are submitted under the SPV RFP must be behind the meter of a Customer of an electric utility, an alternative retail electric supplier, a municipal utility, or a rural electric cooperative located in Illinois. Typically the Customer is the individual or entity listed on the utility bill.  There is no requirement that the Customer be the same individual or entity as the Host or System Owner.  There is also no requirement for the system to be behind the electric meter for a single Customer so that the system could operate for the benefit of multiple customers.

No.  In its Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) is required to certify that none of the systems presented in the Proposal have been selected as part of winning Bids in a previous procurement event under the SPV RFP or the Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”).  As such, winning systems from a Utility DG procurement event are not eligible to be presented as part of a Proposal in a procurement event under the SPV RFP.

You may request an extension of up to three (3) months for demonstrated project delays outside of your reasonable project development control.  The IPA may grant that extension at its sole discretion.  Any request for extension is made in writing in accordance with Article 14 of the SPV Contract.

For systems over 10kW, regardless of expected production, a revenue quality meter is required. Please consult the Illinois Power Agency’s standards in the document “Revenue-Quality Metering Accuracy Standard and Acceptable Technologies”.  System sizes are DC ratings.

As explained in Paragraph I.4.9 of the SPV RFP Rules, the Maximum Contract Quantity of RECs to be delivered under the SPV Contract is determined by the winning system’s size and assumes a capacity factor 14.38%.  This calculation is the same for all systems with no deviations.  Additionally, please note that in the Part 1 Proposal, a Seller must certify that the size of the system is a reasonable estimate of the DC capacity output of the system and that such estimate is based on the equipment that is or will be installed, and the manufacturer’s specifications.

The IPA, the Buyer under the SPV Contract, may, but is not required to, offer to purchase, RECs from the system in excess of the Maximum Contract Quantity. The Seller may, but is not required to, sell to the Buyer RECs in excess of the Maximum Contract Quantity at the winning bid price for the system.

The slides, audio recording, as well as the questions and answers from the Bidder Information Webcast will all be posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section or the FAQ page of the procurement website.

Please see Article 11 of the SPV Contract for the terms for requesting assignment of a winning Bid under the SPV Contract. Please note that there is a limitation on how early this request can occur after the procurement event.

Development of the benchmarks is confidential.

One condition for co-located installations to be “distributed generation” is for each installation to be behind the customer meter (please review all conditions for such installations to be distributed generation). For these installations to be considered separate systems that can be bid separately in the procurement events in the Sub-25 Category, each installation or system must have its own separate revenue quality meter and each must have its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs).

An Identified System is a system for which the Bidder has some or all information required by the Worksheet Insert (#P1-2) and some or all of the documentation required by the Backup Insert (#P1-3). Please see Paragraph IV.2 of the SPV RFP Rules for more details. Generally, a system is an identified system if the Bidder provides:

1) Information regarding system characteristics, including: size, system owner information, location, system host information, interconnecting utility, customer account number, system energized date, and seller information; and
2) Documentation regarding the system characteristics, including: system size certification, documentation to support the stated energized date, seller-owner agreement, host acknowledgment, and a certification regarding previously presented systems.

The latest date by which identified systems under this third SPV RFP must be energized is March 31, 2017.

No, the timing of this procurement event under the Supplemental Photovoltaic Plan has been approved by the Commission and is not subject to changed.

The SPV allows for extensions to be granted at the discretion of the IPA.

The slides, audio recording, as well as the questions and answers from the Bidder Information Webcast will all be posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section or the FAQ page of the procurement website.

Yes.

Bid assurance collateral is the collateral required for a Bidder for it to be eligible to submit Bids. Bid assurance collateral in an amount of $4/REC for identified systems and $8/REC for forecast quantities is due on the Part 2 Date. Performance assurance collateral is the collateral required under the SPV Contract. The amount of performance assurance collateral is $8/REC for identified systems and $16/REC for forecast quantities.

For winning Bidders that provide bid assurance collateral in the form of cash, the bid assurance collateral automatically becomes part of the required performance assurance collateral, and thus the incremental new collateral required is the performance assurance collateral requirement net of already-submitted bid assurance collateral amount. This amount is due to be submitted within fourteen (14) calendar days of approval of results of the procurement event by the Commission.

Performance Assurance Collateral is returned to Bidders along with payment for the first delivery of RECs and invoices for the first REC delivery should include the performance assurance collateral required to be returned.

Please note that any requests for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and, as such, processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

Yes. While a seller will sign a separate contract for each system, a seller can submit a single invoice to the IPA that references several contracts for several systems. Please see Appendix 4 of the SPV Contract for a Sample Invoice Form.

For the 25-Plus Category, the minimum of 500 RECs applies to all systems presented for that Category (and not for each system).

Within 20 days of the energized date, a system must be registered with a tracking system, either GATS or M-RETs. The Seller must send to the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) the System Energized Notification Form included as Exhibit C of the SPV Contract.

Once the IPA reviews and accepts the System Energized Notification Form, the Seller can begin delivering RECs. This marks the start of the 5-year contract term.

Yes, under the SPV Contract the obligations lie with the Seller. The Contract spells out the obligation to build and deliver RECs. If, for whatever reason, the system cannot build, the Seller is still obligated to deliver RECs. The Seller has the option to assign to alternate systems—but there is no refund of performance assurance collateral. If the Seller does not deliver, this is considered an Event of Default under the contract. For a full description of Events of Default, please see Article 13 of the SPV Contract.

There are provisions in the SPV Contract that provide for some flexibility if a project’s final size is different from the size expected at the time of award. Please Article 3 of the SPV Contract where these provisions are detailed. In general, the maximum contract quantity is fixed even if system size decreases from the size at time of award. The maximum reduction in size allowable under the contract is 25%.

If the Bidder does not provide any instructions, the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit will be left to expire on the date stated as part of its terms; that is April 21, 2016. The Bidder may instead provide any special instructions for the return of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit in the Part 2 Proposal.

You may provide the information required by the Worksheet Insert #P1-2 for all systems in your Proposal, even if these systems have different Sellers. There is no requirement for the information regarding the System Owner, the Host, or the Seller to be same for all systems. Minimum Bid requirements are evaluated for the Bidder’s Proposal as a whole, and not for each Seller separately.

For RECs associated with identified systems, winning Bidders must demonstrate to the IPA within twelve (12) months of the Bid Date that the systems bid have been completed, energized, and registered in an applicable tracking system to deliver RECs to the IPA. A Bidder may request a six-month extension upon demonstration of project delays that do not otherwise jeopardize the successful completion of the project. Such extensions may be granted at the IPA’s discretion. A request for extension may be made by Seller to Buyer (the IPA) in writing in accordance with Article 14 of the SPV Contract.

No. As you point out and as explained in Paragraph I.4.9 of the SPV RFP Rules, the Maximum Contract Quantity of RECs to be delivered under the SPV Contract is determined by the winning system’s size and assumes a capacity factor 14.38%. This calculation is the same for all systems with no deviations. Additionally, please note that in the Part 1 Proposal, a Seller must certify that the size of the system is a reasonable estimate of the DC capacity output of the system and that such estimate is based on the equipment that is or will be installed, and the manufacturer’s specifications.

The IPA, the Buyer under the SPV Contract, may, but is not required to, offer to purchase, RECs from the system in excess of the Maximum Contract Quantity. The Seller may, but is not required to, sell to the Buyer RECs in excess of the Maximum Contract Quantity at the winning bid price for the system.

A Seller that intends to supply RECs associated with systems in the 25-Plus Category (i.e., systems that are 25 kW or over) must identify each such system by providing the information required under the qualification standards in the Part 1 Proposal. In particular, such Seller will provide the location of the system (or system site), will identify the owner of the system, and will identify the owner of the system site. The Seller will be required to certify in its Part 1 Proposal that the characteristics of the systems presented in the Proposal are true and accurate to the best of the Seller’s knowledge and belief.

If a Seller intends to supply RECs associated with systems in the Sub-25 Category (i.e., systems that are below 25 kW), the Seller may, but is not required to, identify each such system by providing the information required under the qualification standards.  If such Seller intends to bid a quantity of RECs that are not associated with identified systems, this quantity will be called a “forecast quantity” (also referred to as a “speculative bid”). If the bidder is awarded forecast quantities, the bidder will then have six months after the Bid Date to identify the systems and twelve months thereafter to install and energize the systems.

Please also refer to Section 3.9 of the SPV Contract regarding restrictions on the ability to change the system size and Section 3.10 of the SPV Contract regarding substitute systems.

For the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), a Bidder may choose to submit the bid assurance collateral and Performance Assurance collateral as either cash or a letter of credit. If the Bidder chooses to submit bid assurance collateral in the form of a letter of credit, no cash is required. The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, posted as Appendix 6 to the RFP Rules, will only be drawn upon for cash if the Bidder fails to abide by its undertakings under the Bidder’s Proposal.  Please see paragraph 2 of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, which sets out that the conditions for drawing upon the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit:

a) after submission of the part 1 proposal the Seller has disclosed, publicly or to a party other than those involved in the preparation of the proposal, material information relating to the proposal; or

b) the Seller or other parties involved in the presentation of the proposal have made a material omission or misrepresentation in the part 1 proposal or the part 2 proposal submitted in connection with the Procurement Event; or

c) the Seller has failed to execute the applicable supplier contract within ten (10) business days of the bid date or has failed to provide the required deposit within fourteen (14) calendar days of the Illinois Commerce Commission approving its winning bids.

If the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is not drawn upon, it will cancelled and returned to the issuing bank once the contract execution formalities have concluded.

Similarly, the Post-Bid Letter of Credit, posted as Appendix 2 to the SPV Contract, will only be drawn upon if the there is an Event of Default under the SPV Contract.  Such Events of Default include, but are not limited to, failing to complete the project or delivering RECs in the timeframe envisaged by the SPV Contract.  For a full description of Events of Default, please see Article 13 of the SPV Contract.

Assuming no Event of Default occurs and the systems are constructed as planned, then in accordance with Paragraph 9.2, the Post-Bid Letter of Credit will be returned with the first payment once RECs are delivered from the systems under contract.

There are various procurement events as approved in the IPA’s procurement plans through which Solar Renewable Energy Credits (“SRECs”) are sold and purchased.  These include Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), the Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”) and the Renewable Energy Resources RFP (“REC RFP”).

To be eligible to be presented as part of the Proposal in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), a system must be “new”, which means that it must have been energized (turned on for a period of 24 consecutive hours) on or after January 21, 2015. If the systems that you are considering presenting as part of your Proposal were energized prior to this date, then this Proposal cannot be presented under the SPV RFP.

Systems energized prior to January 21, 2015 may be presented in a Proposal presented under the DG RFP. However, we note that under the DG RFP a bidder must present systems that together are at least 1 MW and the bidder (an aggregator) must be the signatory of the contract with the utility for any winning systems.

There are various criteria for participation in the Renewable Energy Resources RFP (“REC RFP”).  You may see these criteria from last year’s RFP here: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/2015-renewable-energy-resources-section/. These include agreeing to the terms of the applicable supplier contracts with the utilities and the submission of a letter of credit to support the bids. The REC RFP is strictly for the sale and purchase of RECs and does not involve presenting particular systems as part of the Proposal. The bidder is the single signatory of the contract with the utility.

8,760 is number of hours in a year: 24 hours/day x 365 days/year.

We cannot respond to this question generally and we can only address whether self-installation or co-location with another system could preclude you from selling SRECs in the procurement events under the procurement plans of the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”).

To be eligible to be presented as part of the Proposal in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), a system must be “installed” by a “qualified person” as described in and required by Section 1-56(i) of the Illinois Power Agency Act (20 ILCS 3855/1-56(i)). The Act defines “install” to mean:

“the major activities and actions required to connect, in accordance with applicable building and electrical codes, the conductors, connectors, and all associated fittings, devices, power outlets, or apparatuses mounted at the premises that are directly involved in delivering energy to the premises’ electrical wiring from the photovoltaics, including, but not limited to, to distributed photovoltaic generation.”

In addition, systems that are co-located can be considered separate systems for purposes of bidding in the procurement event under the SPV RFP as long as each system has its own separate revenue quality meter and has its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs).

The Standard Products RFP (“STP RFP”) is to procure specific quantities of on-peak and off-peak energy in monthly periods. Energy will be procured in 25 MW blocks. Under the terms of the applicable Energy Master Agreements, suppliers deliver a constant quantity of energy to the appropriate delivery point for a Company in either the on-peak Segment or the off-peak Segment of a specific month.

To obtain login credentials to be able to submit your Proposal online, you can register for an application account here. You must select “Supplemental PV” as the category before submitting. Account credentials are distributed starting with the opening of the Part 1 Window on February 25, 2016. You can find other dates related to the SPV on the Calendar page of the procurement website.

Nothing in the Bid submission process for the Spring 2016 Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) is expected to change substantially from the prior procurement events. Please review the SPV RFP Rules posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section for more details.

The presentation and a recording of the webcast have been posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website. These files are posted under the heading “Supplemental PV Bidder Information Webcast” and are dated February 24, 2016.

FAQ-SPV-91 also states “It would also be acceptable if two or more systems were co-located, all behind the utility meter of a single customer, but each being associated with a separate revenue quality meter and each having its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs). No special documentation is required in this case beyond those required for systems below 25.”

Systems that are co-located are considered to be separate systems for purposes of presenting these as separate systems in your Proposal as long as each system has its own separate revenue quality meter and has its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs).

There are various procurement events where Solar Renewable Energy Credits (“SRECs”) could be purchased.  Only systems located in Illinois are eligible to be presented in a Proposal in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) or in the Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”).  The Renewable Energy Resources RFP (“REC RFP”) includes the possibility of purchase of SRECs from outside of Illinois.  Please see the schedule for this procurement event on the Calendar page: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/calendar/.

We cannot respond to this question generally and we can only address whether self-installation or the size of a residential system could preclude you from selling SRECs in the procurement events under the procurement plans of the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”).

There are various procurement events as approved in the IPA’s procurement plans through which Solar Renewable Energy Credits (“SRECs”) are sold and purchased.  To be eligible to be presented as part of the Proposal in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), a system must be “installed” by a “qualified person” as described in and required by Section 1-56(i) of the Illinois Power Agency Act (20 ILCS 3855/1-56(i)).  The Act defines a “qualified person” as a person who performs installations of photovoltaics, including, but not limited to, distributed photovoltaic generation, and who:

(A) has completed an apprenticeship as a journeyman electrician from a United States Department of Labor registered electrical apprenticeship and training program and received a certification of satisfactory completion; or

(B) does not currently meet the criteria under clause (A) of this paragraph (1), but is enrolled in a United States Department of Labor registered electrical apprenticeship program, provided that the person is directly supervised by a person who meets the criteria of (A) above; or

(C) has obtained one of the following credentials in addition to attesting to satisfactory completion of at least 5 years or 8,000 hours of documented hands-on electrical experience: (i) a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) Installer Certificate for Solar PV; (ii) an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) PV Systems Installer Certificate; (iii) an Electronics Technicians Association, International (ETAI) Level 3 PV Installer Certificate; or (iv) an Associate in Applied Science degree from an Illinois Community College Board approved community college program in renewable energy or a distributed generation technology.

In addition, there is a minimum bid of 500 RECs (or approximately 79.39 kW) for the SPV RFP.

While installation by a qualified person is not a requirement under the Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”), a bidder must present systems that together are at least 1 MW.

There are various criteria for participation in the Renewable Energy Resources RFP (“REC RFP”).  You may see these criteria from last year’s RFP here: https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/2015-renewable-energy-resources-section/. These include agreeing to the terms of the applicable supplier contracts with the utilities and the submission of a letter of credit to support the bids.

We assume that by “bonding requirements”, you are referring to bid assurance requirements for the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) or performance assurance under the SPV Contract. The following response is based on this assumption.

Under the SPV Contract, Sellers are required to submit as performance assurance a refundable deposit of $16/REC for forecast quantities and $8/REC for identified systems in the form of cash or of a letter of credit. Half of this deposit ($8/REC for forecast quantities and $4/REC for identified systems) is required with the Part 2 Proposal, with the remaining balance due from Bidders with Bids approved by the Commission within fourteen (14) calendar days of the announcement of the procurement results. The amount due with the Part 2 Proposal is referred to as “bid assurance collateral”. A Bidder must submit bid assurance collateral in the form of cash or of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit.

While for a given system, cash deposits are intended to be refunded along with payments for the first REC delivery, processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

It is expected that a host acknowledgment or other relevant document will be needed with the Part 1 Proposal when the System Owner and the Host are different entities or individuals.

The documentation for prior procurement events under the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) is a good starting point to familiarize yourself with the basic requirements. However, there may be changes for the upcoming procurement event.  The documentation for the upcoming procurement event will be posted in draft form on February 12, 2016 and in final form on February 23, 2016.

For questions related to the SPV Contract and the requirements of the IPA under the SPV Contract, please address your question directly to the IPA via email.

The list of systems identified in the Part 1 Proposal and the forecast quantity submitted in the Part 1 Proposal form are the basis of the Part 2 Proposal submitted by the Bidder. While the Bidder may choose not to provide bid assurance collateral for all of its identified systems and its forecast quantity, and while the Bidder may choose not to submit a Bid on a particular system, after the Part 1 Date the Bidder may not modify the systems it presented in the Part 1 Proposal or the number of RECs associated with any one system.

Bid assurance collateral for a Seller may be submitted by another party such as a developer, an aggregator, or another entity. Such bid assurance collateral may be in the form of cash of a letter of credit.  If bid assurance collateral is in the form of cash, the Seller is required to submit to certain certifications included in the Cash Certification Insert (#P2-4).  If bid assurance collateral is in the form of a letter of credit, the Seller must be identified in Paragraph 12 of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit.

Please see Article 11 of the SPV Contract, which provides the conditions under which a Seller can assign the contract to another party. Generally, the Seller may request an assignment to the IPA and the IPA will make a decision within thirty (30) calendar days.  Please note that the entity to which the SPV Contract would be assigned must be able to comply with all the requirements of the SPV Contract and in particular must provide all information required by the Cover Sheet and Appendix 1.1-Appendix 1.5.

Yes. However, please note that under the terms of the SPV RFP, for a forecast quantity, the Seller must identify systems: (i) NO EARLIER than twenty (20) business days after the Bid Date or the first day of the quarter following the Bid Date, whichever comes last; and (ii) no later than six (6) months of the Bid Date.

A Bidder that submits cash as bid assurance collateral must be aware that any requests for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and, as such, processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

Any requests for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and, as such, processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

For the SPV RFP, there are two separate letters of credit, one to be used on a pre-bid basis and submitted with the Part 2 Proposal, and one to be used on a post-bid basis if your Bids are approved by the Commission to provide performance assurance under the SPV Contract. The two letters of credit are separate and different so that there is no option to use a single letter of credit on both a pre-bid basis and a post-bid basis.

For the post-bid letter of credit, provided as Appendix 2 (formerly Appendix B) of the SPV Contract, the IPA would expect the expiration date to be as late as possible, such as a year after the effective date, understanding that the terms of the letter of credit allow for automatic extensions of the letter of credit as needed.

Requirements to participate in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) include the requirement that systems must be located in Illinois and must be distributed generation systems, which are systems that are limited in nameplate capacity to 2,000 kW, are behind the customer meter, and are interconnected at the distribution level of an electric utility, alternative retail electric supplier, municipal utility, or a rural electric cooperative.  If your system is not in Illinois, then it is not eligible under the SPV RFP.

The Illinois Power Agency’s 2016 Electricity Procurement Plan is still under development. To receive announcements regarding potential opportunities for solar systems for which you may possibly be eligible, please register to receive our announcements (https://ipa-energyrfp.com/register/).

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.

Under the SPV Contract, Sellers are required to submit a refundable deposit of $16/REC for forecast quantities and $8/REC for identified systems in the form of cash or of a letter of credit. Half of this deposit ($8/REC for forecast quantities and $4/REC for identified systems) is required with the Part 2 Proposal, while the remaining balance from Bidders with Bids approved by the Commission is due within fourteen (14) calendar days of the announcement of the procurement results.

A “distributed generation” system is limited in nameplate capacity to 2,000 kW, is behind the customer meter, and is interconnected at the distribution level of an electric utility, alternative retail electric supplier, municipal utility, or a rural electric cooperative.  Other requirements for a system to be eligible to be bid in to the SPV RFP (including metering requirements and requirements on the energized date) are detailed in the RFP Rules.  Please consult the applicable law and controlling documents of the SPV RFP in determining whether to present a particular system in your Proposal.

For the Sub-25 Category the quantity of RECs associated with a given Bid (i.e., associated with a given price) must be no fewer than 500 RECs.

For the 25-Plus Category: (i) a Bidder must present Bids for a number of identified systems to account for at least 500 RECs; and (ii) each identified system must have a single Bid price.

While there was a maximum number of RECs for a Bid in the Sub-25 Category in the first procurement event, there is no maximum expected for additional procurement events under the SPV RFP.

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

Information for identified systems in all Categories, including the 25-Plus Category, should be included in the Worksheet Insert (#P1-2) prepared for this purpose. Forecast quantities are only applicable to systems in the Sub-25 Category; the Seller must agree that under the terms of the SPV Contract, no portion of the forecast quantity can be used for systems in the 25-Plus Category.

If you have Bids approved by the Commission and the Bidder executes the SPV Contract, you may, prior to the system being energized, request under the terms of the SPV Contract to substitute one or more systems for the system identified in the SPV Contract. Conditions do apply. Please refer to Section 3.10 of the SPV Contract for the specific conditions under which such a substitution could be granted.

If a customer cancels during the Proposal submission process, there would be no penalty for failing to include this system in your Bids. However, you would not be able to replace the system and present the characteristics for such a substitute system as part of your Proposal.

A Bidder may reduce its Proposal quantity between Part 1 and Part 2 of the process, provided that all Proposals observe minimum bid requirements.

In its Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder must indicate the size for each Identified System as well as any forecast quantities of RECs. A Bidder may not include additional identified systems or increase its forecast quantity in its Proposal after the Part 1 Date.

Bids below 500 RECs in size will not be considered for selection.

No. The Bidder provides information for each system that has been identified (from the Sub-25 Category or from the 25-Plus Category) in the Worksheet Insert (#P1-2) prepared for this purpose. Entirely separately, a Bidder may include in its Proposal a forecast quantity of RECs from systems in the Sub-25 Category that are not yet identified as of the opening of the Part 1 Window by entering this quantity in Section 3 of the online Part 1 Form. The total RECs presented in the Proposal would then be the sum of the RECs from identified systems as detailed in the Worksheet Insert (#P1-2) and the RECs from the Forecast Quantity provided in Section 3.

Appendix 3 (formerly Appendix C) – Host Acknowledgment is attached to the SPV Contract. This acknowledgment is for the owner of the premises to acknowledge and agree to the installation of the system on the premises. This acknowledgment is required as part of executing the SPV Contract for Bidders with Bids approved by the Commission. A tenant would not be able to execute this document.

For purposes of the Part 1 Proposal, several documents are acceptable in terms of providing an acknowledgment from the Host. In all these cases, the documents are meant to establish that the System Owner is authorized to install the system at the address or location stated in the Proposal; such authorization is given by the owner of the site where the system is or will be installed. Generally, the documents that are acceptable for this purpose include: (i) a duly completed and signed Host Acknowledgment, provided as Appendix 3 to the SPV Contract, without the contract number filled in; or (ii) a signed copy of an agreement between the Seller and the Host, or between the System Owner and the Host, in which the Host acknowledges that the installation of a system is planned on the Host’s premises; or (iii) a letter of intent signed by the Host acknowledging that the installation of a system is planned on the Host’s premises; or (iv) another document that confers to the System Owner or the Seller site control or permission to install the system at the system location.

In your particular circumstances, we would expect that you would submit a document under (iv) that would show that the System owner has the right to install the system. This could be the long-term leases naming the System Owner and including the roof-rights sufficient for installation of the system. Please note that generally if a Bidder submits a document under (iv), the Procurement Administrator may require additional information from the Bidder, the System Owner, or the Seller regarding the nature of the document provided.

The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit requires the Seller or Sellers to be identified in Paragraph 12. The Applicant to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, identified in the preamble and in Paragraph 2, may be the Bidder, a Seller, or another entity. Payment could be required under the terms of Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for any of the reasons a) to c) in Paragraph 2, all of which related to the Seller or Sellers. Such payments would be effected by the Bank against the account of the Applicant.

The Post-Bid Letter of Credit (Appendix 2 formerly Appendix B to the SPV Contract) requires the Seller to be the Applicant.

There are two letters of credit related to the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”).

The first letter of credit, called the “Pre-Bid Letter of Credit”, may be used to provide bid assurance collateral with the Part 2 Proposal. If you elect to submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, please note that it 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 posted as Appendix 6 to the RFP Rules on the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website.

The second letter of credit, called the “Post-Bid Letter of Credit”, may be used to post performance assurance under the terms of the SPV Contract is a Bidder has Bids approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. If you elect to submit a Post-Bid Letter of Credit, please note that it must be in the form of the Standard Post-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 Post-Bid Letter of Credit is Appendix 2 to the Final IPA REC Purchase and Sale Agreement (“SPV Contract”) and is also posted separately to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website as Appendix 2 (formerly Appendix B): Post-Bid Letter Of Credit under the contract.

If you elect to submit cash for either your bid assurance collateral or your performance assurance, please note that any request for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and as such, processing of the return is subject to delays until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law. Additional instructions will be provided to Bidders with their notifications following the Commission decision on the procurement event.

A Bidder may, in its Part 1 Proposal, provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit. This allows the issuing bank to request approval from the IPA for any modifications to the letter of credit that it may require to issue the letter of credit. Such modifications should be non-material in nature or to the mutual benefit of both the IPA and the Bidder. A Bidder provides comments and proposes modifications as redlines to the standard form in the LC Comment Insert (#P1-6) and uploads this insert to the space provided in the Part 1 Form or emails this insert to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com.   Comments and modifications must be received by the Part 1 Date, October 23, 2015.

If you elect to submit a Post-Bid Letter of Credit as performance assurance, please note that it must be in the form of the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit or incorporate only modifications approved by the IPA and posted to the procurement website after the Part 1 Proposal process.

A Bidder may, in its Part 1 Proposal, provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit. This allows the issuing bank to request approval from the IPA for any modifications to the letter of credit that it may require to issue the letter of credit. Such modifications should be non-material in nature or to the mutual benefit of both the IPA and the Bidder. A Bidder provides comments and proposes modifications as redlines to the standard form in the LC Comment Insert (#P1-6) and uploads this insert to the space provided in the Part 1 Form or emails this insert to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com.   Comments and modifications must be received by the Part 1 Date, October 23, 2015.

The Final IPA REC Purchase and Sale Agreement (“SPV Contract”) includes a requirement for performance assurance. If a Bidder becomes a Seller under the SPV Contract (i.e. has bids approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission), the Seller must provide performance assurance either in the form of cash or a letter of credit within fourteen (14) calendar days after the date of being notified of the ICC decision. Performance assurance must be in an amount of $16/REC for forecast quantities and $8/REC for identified systems.

If you elect a letter of credit to post performance assurance, please note that it must be in the form of the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit or incorporate only modifications approved by the IPA and posted to the procurement website. The Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit is Appendix 2 to the Final IPA REC Purchase and Sale Agreement and is also posted separately to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website as Appendix 2 (formerly Appendix B): Post-Bid Letter Of Credit.

If you elect to submit cash for either your Bid Assurance or your Performance Assurance, please note that any request for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and as such, processing of the return is subject to delays until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law. Additional instructions will be provided to Bidders with their notifications following the Commission decision on the procurement event.

The Final IPA REC Purchase and Sale Agreement (“SPV Contract”) is posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website. The SPV Contract includes a letter of credit, the “Post-Bid Letter of Credit” provided as Appendix 2, which can be provided as performance assurance under the SPV Contract. The Post-Bid Letter of Credit is also posted separately to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website as Appendix 2 (formerly Appendix B): Post-Bid Letter Of Credit.

We will respond in two parts.

First, yes, it is correct that the letter of credit provided with the Part 2 Proposal (the “Pre-Bid Letter of Credit”) will be replaced by another letter of credit (the “Post-Bid Letter of Credit”) appended to the SPV Contract for winning Bidders. There is no possibility simply to amend the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit as the conditions for drawing on the two letters of credit are different.

Second, the amounts you quote of $4/REC for the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and $8/REC for the Post-Bid Letter of Credit are correct but only for identified systems. For forecast quantities in the Sub-25 Category, the amounts are $8/REC for the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and $16/REC for the Post-Bid Letter of Credit.

A Bidder that is using a standard contract for agreements between a System Owner and a Seller may submit a “sample” contract and the signature page for each contract.  Such a Bidder will be required to confirm that:

• For each system for which only a signature page is submitted with the Proposal, the contract form used by the System Owner and the Seller is the standard contract for which the “sample” was provided by the Bidder.
• If, for a system, the agreement between a System Owner and a Seller is not in the form of the standard contract, the Bidder will provide the entire contract to the Procurement Administrator.

The Procurement Administrator will require that the Bidder provide a written confirmation to this effect with the Bidder’s Proposal.

A Bidder must, in its Part 2 Proposal, submit bid assurance collateral in the form of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit OR cash. 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. The Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is provided as Appendix 6 of the RFP Rules. The Form of Letter of Credit is provided as Appendix B to the SPV Contract (also called the “Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit”).

Please note that, any request for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and as such, processing of the return is subject to delays until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law. Additional instructions will be provided to Bidders with their notifications following the Commission decision on the procurement event.

A Bidder may, in its Part 1 Proposal, provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit. This allows the issuing bank to request approval from the IPA for any modifications to the letter of credit that it may be require to issue the letter of credit. Such modifications should be non-material in nature or to the mutual benefit of both the IPA and the Applicant. Similarly, a Bidder may also provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit.

This item refers to a formal arrangement such as a contract that would already be in place between the Seller and the Host, or the System Owner and the Host.  Such an agreement would be sufficient but as provided in the RFP Rules, other documents may be used to satisfy this requirement as well.  All documents submitted in response to this requirement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

A Bidder that chooses to provide a Host Acknowledgement in the form of Appendix 3 to the SPV Contract to document the Host’s agreement to the installation of the system completes Appendix 3 leaving the contract number for the Renewable Energy Credits Purchase and Sale Agreement with the Illinois Power Agency (the “Agreement”) blank. Upon execution of a contract with the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”), the contract number field may be completed.

Sample documents that Bidders may use in the preparation of their Proposals and that will be posted on October 15 include:

• The Host Acknowledgment and Certification appended to the SPV Contract (Appendix 3). This form will be required as part of the execution of SPV Contract and can be submitted in advance with the Proposal (except for filling in the contract number).
• An alternative Host Acknowledgment.
• A sample letter of intent between a System Owner and a Seller for purposes of showing the agreement of the System Owner to give title to the Seller of the RECs from one or more systems.

There is no template for a letter of intent between a System Owner and a Host at this time.

While Bidders can be assured that these samples are acceptable for purposes of presenting the Proposal, Bidders are not required to use these samples. Bidders may instead develop their own documents to satisfy the requirements of the Proposal and such documents will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

If, for a given system, the System Owner and the Host are different entities or individuals, so that the Host must agree to the installation of the system, then the Bidder must document the Host’s agreement. This documentation must be provided with the Part 1 Proposal.

No. As stated in Article 15.2, a Force Majeure Event cannot be based on the IPA’s ability to purchase RECs at a price below the Purchase Price.

Yes, you may request an extension of this six month period. As noted in Article 13.2.5, it is an Event of Default only if Buyer does not extend this period. Please note that extensions are only granted at the IPA’s discretion.

If the Date of Initial REC Delivery is December 15, 2015 then the Delivery Term Start Date shall be January 1, 2016. As stated in Article 8.2, the Seller may invoice for RECs Delivered prior to the Delivery Term Start Date on or before the 20^th Day of the first Contract Quarter of the Delivery Term (i.e., January 20, 2016). The Seller may include in the first invoice instructions for the return of its Performance Assurance.

A Bidder must, in its Part 2 Proposal, submit bid assurance collateral in the form of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit OR cash. 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. The Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is provided as Appendix 6 of the RFP Rules. The Form of Letter of Credit is provided as Appendix B to the SPV Contract (also called the “Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit”).

Please note that, any request for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and as such, processing of the return is subject to delays until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law. Additional instructions will be provided to Bidders with their notifications following the Commission decision on the procurement event.

A Bidder may, in its Part 1 Proposal, provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit. This allows the issuing bank to request approval from the IPA for any modifications to the letter of credit that it may require to issue the letter of credit. Such modifications should be non-material in nature or to the mutual benefit of both the IPA and the Applicant. Similarly, a Bidder may also provide comments on or propose modifications to the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit.

This item refers to a formal arrangement such as a contract that would already be in place between the Seller and the Host, or the System Owner and the Host. Such an agreement would be sufficient but as provided in the RFP Rules, other documents may be used to satisfy this requirement as well. All documents submitted in response to this requirement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

A Bidder that chooses to provide a Host Acknowledgement in the form of Appendix 3 to the SPV Contract to document the Host’s agreement to the installation of the system completes Appendix 3 leaving the contract number for the Renewable Energy Credits Purchase and Sale Agreement with the Illinois Power Agency (the “Agreement”) blank. Upon execution of a contract with the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”), the contract number field may be completed.

Sample documents made available to Bidders that they may use in the preparation of their Proposals at this time include:

• The Host Acknowledgment and Certification appended to the SPV Contract (Appendix 3). This form will be required as part of the execution of SPV Contract and can be submitted in advance with the Proposal (except for filling in the contract number).
• An alternative Host Acknowledgment.
• A sample letter of intent between a System Owner and a Seller for purposes of showing the agreement of the System Owner to give title to the Seller of the RECs from one or more systems.
• There is no template for a letter of intent between a System Owner and a Host at this time.

While Bidders can be assured that these samples are acceptable for purposes of presenting the Proposal, Bidders are not required to use these samples. Bidders may instead develop their own documents to satisfy the requirements of the Proposal and such documents will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

If, for a given system, the System Owner and the Host are different entities or individuals, so that the Host must agree to the installation of the system, then the Bidder must document the Host’s agreement. This documentation must be provided with the Part 1 Proposal.

The evaluation of Bids in the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”) has two steps. In the first step, all Bids that fail to meet or beat the benchmarks are eliminated. In the second step, the Procurement Administrator evaluates the Bids that meet or beat the benchmarks. Only bids that meet or beat the benchmarks can be identified as winning Bids.

The Illinois Public Act (“Act”) calls for the Procurement Administrator to notify potential bidders that the Procurement Administrator may enter into post-bid price negotiations. However, the Supplemental PV Procurement Plan as approved by the Commission specifies that no such post-bid negotiations will occur.

The Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) sponsors various procurement events for the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits.  Individual system owners are not precluded from participating directly.  However, both for the Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”) and for the Supplemental Photovoltaic RFP (“SPV RFP”), there is a minimum capacity that must be put up for bid.  The minimum for the DG RFP is 1,000 kW while the minimum for the SPV RFP is 79.39 kW.  In either case, a single system of 15.75 kW does not qualify.

You may be able to participate through a group of similar system owners or through an aggregator.  The list of companies that have won in the SPV RFP (and thus that aggregated at least 79.39 kW of systems) is provided here:  https://ipa-energyrfp.com/download/supplemental_pv_2015/June%202015%20Supplemental%20Photovoltaic%20RFP%20Results.pdf .  The list of winners in the DG RFP will also be posted when those results are available.

While neither the Procurement Administrator nor the IPA endorses any particular company or aggregator, we note that the Illinois Solar Energy Association has a list of preferred vendors and offers some information for individual system owners to participate through an aggregator.  Please see their website:

http://www.illinoissolar.org/IPA-Existing-Procurement

If the IPA grants an extension for a system and said system is completed in the required timeframe, no additional collateral will be owed by the Bidder as a result of the extension.  Please note extensions are only granted at the IPA’s discretion.

Changes to a system location under contract with the IPA would be handled by the IPA directly.   Article 14 of the Draft REC Purchase and Sale Agreement posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the website contains Notices and Contact Information for the IPA.

Please see the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the IPA website here for the documents and contracts used in the June 2015 procurement. Results from the June 2015 procurement and links to other useful information are also provided. We will send an announcement once materials for the November 2015 procurement event are posted.

The IPA’s 2015 Supplemental Photovoltaic Procurement Plan, defines an aggregator as a third-party (i.e., non-system owner) that (i) owns or plans to acquire either unconditioned title to or rights to legally transfer renewable energy devices through contracts with multiple system owners, and (ii) is willing to contract with IPA and accepts standard Illinois terms as well as procedures for contract administration. Additionally, aggregators are required to pre-qualify with the IPA by meeting certain provisions. At a minimum, an aggregator must demonstrate that the aggregator is:

• Registered to do business in the State of Illinois;
• Able to ensure meter data is collected from aggregated systems; and
• Registered with GATS and/or M-RETS, or will be upon contract award.

We cannot provide engineering or installation advice with respect to the distributed generation systems but we can provide additional information regarding the rules of the procurement event.

One condition for co-located installations to be “distributed generation” is for each installation to be behind the customer meter (please review all conditions for such installations to be distributed generation). For these installations to be considered separate systems that can be bid separately in the procurement events, each installation or system must have its own separate revenue quality meter and each must have its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs).

It would be acceptable if separate Bids are offered for two or more systems that are co-located on the same site and that will be associated with separate Revenue Quality Meters and each interconnected into a separate meter associated with separate utility accounts. Each of these could qualify separately for the sub-25 kW category if each were less than 25 kW in nameplate capacity (DC rating). It would also be acceptable if two or more systems were co-located, all behind the utility meter of a single customer, but each being associated with a separate revenue quality meter and each having its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs). No special documentation is required in this case beyond those required for systems below 25 kW.

Systems that are co-located can still be considered to be separate systems for purposes of bidding in the procurement events as long as each system has its own separate revenue quality meter and has its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs). If the new modules to which you refer in your question satisfy those conditions then they can be part of a bid in the procurement event.

The 2015 Procurement Plan for the IPA (http://www.illinois.gov/ipa/Pages/Current_Approved_Plan.aspx), as well as the Commission’s Order in Docket Number 14-0588 (http://www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/files.aspx?no=14-0588&docId=222864) provide information regarding bid categories and the general process. Details will become available when the RFP documents are posted. The RFP Rules and other documents are expected to be posted to the Renewable Energy Resources Section of the procurement website by September 1, 2015.

A word version of both the Draft (AIC) DG Renewable Energy Credit Agreement and the Draft (ComEd) Master DG Purchase and Sale Agreement have been posted to the Renewable Energy Resources Section of the procurement website under the “Fall 2015 Distributed Generation Renewable Energy Credit Agreements” heading.

Under the SPV RFP, the system requirements include that the system must be new, meaning that it must have been energized after January 21, 2015. As such, your home system does not qualify. Under the DG RFP, the minimum bid size is 1 MW. While your system could be part of a larger bid by an aggregator, your system alone does not qualify.

The system requirements applicable to all procurement events under the Supplemental Photovoltaic Plan are the same and include that the system: 1) must be new, meaning that it must have been energized after January 21, 2015; 2) must have a revenue quality meter; 3) must be interconnected with a regulated utility, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative in Illinois; 4) must be registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS; and 5) must be installed by Qualified Persons as this term is defined in the law. For further information, please consult the Final SPV RFP Rules from the June 2015 procurement event posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website. Updates may be made when the RFP for the November 2015 is issued.

Please note that the budget and products to be procured change with each procurement event. For the upcoming November 2015 procurement, the budget is $10,000,000 and three products will be recognized, namely RECs from 1) sub-25 kW systems, for systems below 25 kW in nameplate capacity (DC rating); 2) 25-500 kW systems, for systems greater than 25 kW but no more than 500 kW; and 3) over-500 systems, for systems above 500 kW but no more than 2,000 kW.

To qualify for the sub-25kW category, additional capacity would have to be in the form of a separate system that is itself less than 25 kW in nameplate capacity (DC rating).

For example, it would be acceptable if separate Bids are offered in the SPV RFP for two or more systems that are co-located on the same site and that will be associated with separate Revenue Quality Meters and each interconnected into a separate meter associated with separate utility accounts. Each of these could qualify separately for the sub-25 kW category if each were less than 25 kW in nameplate capacity (DC rating). It would also be acceptable if two or more systems were co-located, all behind the utility meter of a single customer, but each being associated with a separate revenue quality meter and each having its own identifier in the applicable tracking system (GATS or MRETs).

If instead you are envisioning progressively adding capacity to a system with a single revenue quality meter and identified as a single generation source in the applicable tracking system, then each stage would not be a separate system. Thus, even if an addition were less than 25 kW, such an addition would not be a separate system that could be bid in separately to the SPV RFP. Furthermore, we note that if the initial system (without any of the additional stages) was below 25 kW and such a system was part of a winning bid in the SPV RFP, a change in system size that takes the system at 25 kW or above is a change that would not be acceptable under the terms of the SVP contract. The SPV contract holds that a change in the final system size may not result in a change of Size Category.

The IPA and each counterparty are obligated to maintain confidentiality of individual transaction information under the contract between the IPA and the counterparty. The IPA cannot provide any additional information or discuss any other contract related matters with other parties besides the counterparty to the contract. That being said, speaking generally, any invoice received by the IPA for activities prior to June 30, 2015 should be paid out of the IPA’s Fiscal Year 2015 appropriation (and thus not subject to Illinois State’s current Fiscal Year 2016 budget stalemate) and processed by the Comptroller accordingly. However, any invoice for activities on or after July 1, 2015 cannot be processed by the Comptroller until an appropriation for Fiscal Year 2016 is enacted.

For identified systems, a Bidder must submit bid assurance collateral in the form of Cash or a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit in an amount of $4/REC. The number of RECs associated with each identified system was provided to you in your bid form as part of your Part 1 Notification and should be used in your calculation. Note, for Bidders submitting forecast quantities, the amount of bid assurance collateral required is $8/REC for forecast quantities.

Bidders must follow the instructions provided as an attachment to their Part 1 Notification in order to submit bid assurance collateral via ACH.

In order to submit bid assurance collateral via ACH, bidders must first request to receive payment instructions from the IPA by email to charles.kudia@illinois.gov and sanjay.patel@illinois.gov. A valid fax number for the paying entity is required in the email to the IPA. Once the request has been received, the IPA will provide via fax instructions for the submission of bid assurance collateral, including the information you requested in addition to the IPA’s W-9.

Bid assurance collateral posted will not be returned prior to a decision of the Commission on the procurement event. The treatment of bid assurance collateral after the Commission decision depends on whether the Bidder has Bids approved by the Commission and on the nature of the bid assurance collateral (as cash or as a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit).

For example, if the Bidder has no Bids approved by the Commission, or if the cash tendered as bid assurance collateral exceeds the cash deposit due under the SPV contract (e.g., collateral posted for 2,000 RECs of a speculative quantity but only 500 RECs of this speculative quantity are bid and won), the Bidder may request the return of cash. Alternatively, the Bidder may elect to maintain the balance of the cash on deposit with the IPA for use as collateral in a future procurement event under the SPV RFP. Any request for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency. If the Bidder has Bids approved by the Commission, the cash tendered as bid assurance collateral may be used for purposes of the cash deposit under the SPV contract (provided that additional cash or a Letter of Credit is provided for any balance due).

Under the SPV Contract, the Seller may make a request to the IPA for the transfer or assignment of Seller’s rights and obligations to another entity (the “Transferee”).  In its request, Seller must name the Transferee, provide the relationship between Seller and Transferee (if any), and must provide all necessary documentation to show that Transferee meets all conditions specific to a Seller under this Agreement.

If the assignment or transfer is for purposes of pledging or assigning the revenues under this Agreement to a lender or other financing party as security for the project financing or tax equity financing of the System, or to an affiliate of Seller, consent shall be deemed automatic if Seller remains the counterparty to the Agreement.

Please see Article 11 of the SPV Contract for details regarding assignment under the SPV Contract.

Yes, it is acceptable to e-mail this documentation to the Procurement Administrator at IPA-EnergyRFP@nera.com.

There are two forms of the Worksheet Insert (#P1-2) available in the zip folder “IPA SPV Inserts to Part 1 Form” posted under the “Final Supplemental PV RFP Documents” heading on the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of ipa-energyrfp.com. One version of the Worksheet Insert provides 25 columns for Bidders with 25 or fewer systems, while the second version is provided for Bidders with 25 systems and more. Bidders are welcome to use either version of the Worksheet Insert. There is no rule which prohibits a Bidder from submitting multiple of the 25 column Worksheet Inserts to account for more than 25 systems.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 05-27-2015.

Yes, this is acceptable provided that you explain in the Justification of Omissions that the system is not yet registered.

In the case that the Seller is a Company, please provide the Company’s name in the first field of Section J, Name of Seller, and then provide information for the Representative in the remaining fields.

Yes, this is acceptable.

It is acceptable to submit multiple Letters of Intent as separate documents or as one combined document as part of a Bidder’s Part 1 Proposal. The Letters of Intent may be provided by email to the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com or by upload to the online form.

There is no specific time for when the system may be registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS. However, the earliest date a System can be energized is January 21, 2015.

Under the SPV Contract, all systems must be energized and registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS by the Guaranteed Energized Date, which is generally 12 months from the Bid Date unless it is extended by the IPA.

There is no specific time for when the system may be registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS. However, the earliest date a System can be energized is January 21, 2015.

Under the SPV Contract, all systems must be energized and registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS by the Guaranteed Energized Date, which is generally 12 months from the Bid Date unless it is extended by the IPA.

Each bidder may develop a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) that meets their business needs while providing evidence of the viability of the proposed system to participate in the procurement event. While there is not explicit language required for the LOI, key components could include (but not be limited to):

1. Affirmation of the relationship between system owner and aggregator/bidder
2. Affirmation that the system owner will either unconditionally transfer title of RECs to aggregator/bidder or provide the right to legally transfer the RECs to the IPA.
3. Affirmation that the aggregator/bidder is acting as the sole representative of the system owner (in other words the system is not being used in bids by multiple bidders).
4. Affirmation that the system owner authorizes the aggregator/bidder to submit the LOI as part of the proposal

The Procurement Administrator will assess each bidder’s Part 1 Proposal materials in the RFP process, including any letter of intent that is provided with the Part 1 Proposal.

Your understanding is correct. In the Part 1 Form, you are only required to indicate the number of forecast quantity of RECs you intend to bid.

It is acceptable if separate Bids are offered for two Systems that are co-located on the same site and that will be associated with separate Revenue Quality Meters and interconnected into two meters associated with separate utility accounts as provided in your example.

No. Each Bidder may submit only a single Proposal. A Proposal may include multiple Bids, which are provided separately for each Category.

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

The IPA does not have specific documentation that is required between original REC owners (or system owners) and aggregators for participating in the procurement event, and the IPA does not require Aggregators to provide any documentation beyond what is required through the Part 1 and Part 2 Proposals (an illustrative copy of the Part 1 Proposal and of the Part 2 Proposal may be found at the following link: https://ipa-energyrfp.com/supplemental-pv-procurement-section/).

Should the Bidder have a winning Bid, then the Seller under the SPV contract must be able to execute the SPV Contract and provide the required documents, completed forms, and disclosures contained therein. A condition found in Section 4.1.6 of the SPV Contract (Prerequisites for Purchase) provides as follows:

Seller has rights to the RECs to be Delivered by Seller to Buyer’s PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS account and such rights include Seller’s rights to Deliver and convey title of such RECs to Buyer such that, upon Delivery, all rights and ownership of Delivered RECs shall belong to Buyer

Should the Seller fail to obtain such rights, the Buyer would be under no obligation to purchase any RECs under the contract, and the Seller’s performance assurance may be forfeited.

A copy of that SPV Contract and all associated submissions and forms may be found under the “Final Supplemental PV Contract Document” at the following link: https://ipa-energyrfp.com/supplemental-pv-procurement-section/

A Bidder may not “identify” systems after the Part 1 Date. Such systems initially included as forecast quantities of RECs will carry the heightened collateral requirements consistent with forecast quantities of RECs. These systems may next be “identified” by the Bidder after the execution of the SPV Contract (should such systems be part of a winning Bid). Similarly, a Bidder may not include additional identified systems or increase its forecast quantity in its Proposal after the Part 1 Date.

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

There is no penalty for a Bidder reducing its proposal quantity between Part 1 and Part 2 of the process, provided that all Proposals observe minimum bid requirements (in which case, If the minimum bid requirements are not observed, no financial penalty would be assessed, but such Bids would not be given consideration).

In its Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder must indicate the size for each Identified System as well as any forecast quantities of RECs   A Bidder may not include additional identified systems or increase its forecast quantity in its Proposal after the Part 1 Date. The Proposal itself (submitted after the conclusion of the Part 2 Date) may include a number of RECs supported by the bid assurance collateral submitted with the Part 2 Proposal. A Bidder may decrease the quantity (so long as the quantity remains greater than 500 RECs, which is the minimum bid size) between the Part 2 Proposal and the Bid Date.

Bids below 500 RECs in size will not be considered for selection.

Yes, a Bidder may submit multiple Bids at different price points as described. Bids are not due by the Part 1 Date or the Part 2 Date, but on the Bid Date. A Bidder must submit its Bids between 8 AM and 12 PM (noon) Central Prevailing Time on the Bid Date.

For the 25-Plus Category, a “Bid” is submitted at a price per REC specific to an identified photovoltaic system. A Bidder must present Bids for a number of identified systems to account for at least 500 RECs. Each identified system has a single Bid price. A different Bid price may be submitted for each identified system.

Alternatively, for the Sub-25 Category, a “Bid” is submitted at a fixed price per REC for a quantity of no fewer than 500 RECs. Such RECs may be associated with identified systems, with a forecast (or “speculative”) quantity, or a combination of both. If a Bidder is including both a forecast quantity of RECs and identified systems in the Sub-25 Category in its Proposal, then the sum of the forecast quantity and the RECs associated with identified systems must be at least 500 RECs. A Bidder may submit multiple Bids (with each Bid at least 500 RECs) resulting in more than one Bid price, but any price would be associated with no fewer than 500 RECs.

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

No. Consistent with the IPA’s Supplemental PV Procurement Plan, the November procurement event features size category procurement targets of 15% of RECs from systems 25 kW to 500 kW in size (the “25-500 Product”), and 35% of RECs for systems 500 kW to 2 MW in size (the “Over-500 Product”). In all procurement events, including the November 2015 procurement event, 50% of RECs must come from systems below 25 kW in size (Sub-25 Product).

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

In some cases, yes. Bidders are required to complete the Part 1 Form and the Part 2 Form online, and some information (such as contact information) entered in the Part 1 Form will be automatically pre-populated in the Part 2 Form.

No, Bidders will not be informed about whether non-selected Bids were unable to meet the confidential benchmark price.

Bid assurance collateral is the collateral required before the Bidder may submit Bid(s) in the procurement event. Bid assurance in the amount of $4/REC (and $8/REC for forecast quantities) is due by all qualifying Bidders with the Part 2 Proposal on the Part 2 Date. This collateral is returned to losing Bidders, and is to be replaced by performance assurance for winning Bidders after the procurement event.

Performance assurance collateral is the collateral required under the SPV Contract, which will be refunded with the Seller’s first REC payment after the System has been Energized, registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS and has Delivered REC(s) to the IPA. Under the SPV Contract, performance assurance is required from Bidders who win Bids in the RFP. Performance assurance is in the amount of $8/REC for identified systems ($16/REC for forecast quantities).

For winning Bidders who provide the bid assurance collateral in the form of cash, the bid assurance collateral automatically becomes part of the required performance assurance collateral, and thus the incremental new collateral required is the performance assurance collateral requirement net of already-submitted bid assurance collateral amount. This amount is due to be submitted within fourteen (14) calendar days of ICC approval of results of the procurement event.

Performance Assurance Collateral is returned to Bidders along with payment for the first delivery of RECs, and invoices for the first REC delivery should include the performance assurance collateral required to be returned.

Please note that any requests for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and, as such, processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

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

Yes, there is an option to save an unfinished form and return to it at a later time. Forms will not be reviewed by the Procurement Administrator until they are submitted by pressing the “Submit” button, at which time the form will be submitted and the Bidder will be locked out of the account and unable to further revise information provided in the form.

Identified systems must be identified in your Part 1 Proposal. However, Bidders may indicate that they are submitting a Bid for a forecast quantity of RECs from systems in the Sub-25 Category in the Part 1 Proposal.

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

The System Owner is the individual or entity that has title to RECs from the system unless the System Owner has entered into an agreement to provide to another party unconditioned title to the RECs or the right to legally transfer RECs to the IPA under the SPV Contract. The System Location should be the street address, city, state, and ZIP code where the system is physically located.

Please review “Appendix 8: Glossary of Terms” posted under the “Final Supplemental PV RFP Documents” heading on the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website, which contains additional definitions.

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

That is correct. For the Sub-25 Category, a Bid is a price per REC for a quantity of no fewer than 500 RECs; such RECs may be associated with identified systems, with a forecast quantity, or with a blend of both. For each Bid, all RECs must be offered at the same uniform price.

However, you may name a different price for each Bid subject to the constraint that each Bid is for at least 500 RECs.

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.

Bidders do not know what the benchmarks are, as both the benchmark development methodology and the price benchmarks themselves are kept confidential.

The concepts contained in the benchmarks were discussed at a high level at the April 14, 2015 workshop. See: http://www.illinois.gov/ipa/Documents/Supplemental-PV-Workshop-slide-4-14-15.pdf at pages 60-64 for more information.

Bids are submitted on the Bid Date listed in the SPV RFP Calendar posted to the “Calendar” page of the procurement website. On that date, a Bidder’s Bids must be received between 8 AM and 12 PM (noon) Central Prevailing Time.

The Procurement Administrator provides electronically to each Bidder qualified pursuant to a successful Part 1 Proposal the Bid Form in Microsoft Excel format as well as a set of instructions for purposes of submitting Bids. The Bid Form is the exclusive method for submitting a Bidder’s Bids. A Bidder must submit the Bid Form to the Procurement Administrator through a secure file transfer interface according to the instructions provided by the Procurement Administrator upon qualification.

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

No. A potential Bidder may submit a Part 1 Proposal and be qualified pursuant to a successful Part 1 Proposal, and then decide not to proceed to submit a Part 2 Proposal. There is no penalty for not submitting a Part 2 Proposal in this case.

Bid assurance collateral posted will not be returned prior to a decision of the Commission on the procurement event. The treatment of bid assurance collateral after the Commission decision depends on whether the Bidder has Bids approved by the Commission and on the nature of the bid assurance collateral (as cash or as a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit).

For example, if the Bidder has no Bids approved by the Commission, or if the cash tendered as bid assurance collateral exceeds the cash deposit due under the SPV contract (e.g., collateral posted for 2,000 RECs of a speculative quantity but only 500 RECs of this speculative quantity are bid and won), the Bidder may request the return of cash. Alternatively, the Bidder may elect to maintain the balance of the cash on deposit with the IPA for use as collateral in a future procurement event under the SPV RFP. Any request for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency. If the Bidder has Bids approved by the Commission, the cash tendered as bid assurance collateral may be used for purposes of the cash deposit under the SPV contract (provided that additional cash or a Letter of Credit is provided for any balance due).

If the Bidder provided a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit as bid assurance collateral, the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit will expire on the date stated as part of its terms. Alternatively, the Bidder may: (i) provide any special instructions for return of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit in the Part 2 Proposal; or (ii) provide an amendment to the Illinois Power Agency to amend the Expiration Date of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to use this same Pre-Bid Letter of Credit for participation in a future procurement event under the SPV RFP (at this time, an amendment to the amount of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit may be made as well).

Additional instructions will be provided to Bidders with their notifications following the Commission decision on the procurement event.

In responding to your question, we are interpreting where you stated “contract start date” to be the “Delivery Term Start Date”.

The date of your first REC Delivery to Buyer in accordance with the SPV Contract is known as the “Date of Initial REC Delivery.” This date is the date that the first RECs are transferred from the Seller’s account to the Buyer’s account, regardless of the month of REC creation. Should RECs be created prior to the Delivery Term Start Date and delivered as part of the Initial REC delivery, such RECs will be purchased through the SPV Contract. (Eligible systems for this procurement may not be energized prior to January 21, 2015 so the earliest possible vintage of RECs would be January, 2015.)

As stated in Section 2.3 of the SPV Contract, any RECs that are Delivered into Buyer’s account between the “Date of Initial REC Delivery” and the “Delivery Term Start Date” are deemed to be received by Buyer on the Delivery Term Start Date and as such will be purchased through the SPV Contract. Should RECs be created prior to the Delivery Term Start Date and be Delivered into Buyer’s account, any such RECs will be purchased through the SPV Contract.

Please see Section V.2 of the RFP Rules. The “bid assurance collateral” is an amount due with the Part 2 Proposal. The amount of bid assurance collateral required is $8 per REC of any forecast quantity included in the Proposal and $4 per REC for identified systems included in the Proposal. Forecast quantities are only possible for systems in the Sub-25 Category. A Bidder must submit bid assurance collateral in the form of cash or of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and the Bidder must make this election in the Part 2 Form.

If a Bidder elects to submit cash as bid assurance collateral, the Bidder must make the payment by one of the following three (3) accepted methods: (i) by check payable to “Illinois Power Agency”, following all instructions supplied by the Procurement Administrator;  (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. The Illinois Power Agency is not able to accept wire transfers. The Procurement Administrator makes available to Bidders additional instructions for submitting cash as bid assurance collateral with the Part 1 Notification.

Please note that any requests for return of cash must be in the form of an invoice to the Illinois Power Agency and, as such, processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

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. Bidders may submit comments or propose modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit in their Part 1 Proposal. The Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is provided as Appendix 6 of these RFP Rules. A list of acceptable modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit will be posted to the procurement website.

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

Thank you for your comments. If systems are not identified by the Part 1 Date, a Bidder may offer a forecast quantity of RECs for systems in the Sub-25 Category. Further, there will be an additional procurement event in March 2016.

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

Presentation materials and the audio recording from the bidder information webcast are posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section of the procurement website as soon as they become available: click here.

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

This spreadsheet is not available.

No, the Bid price cannot and need not be submitted in Part 1 Window or Part 2 Window of the RFP process. A Bid in the SPV RFP is the price at which the Seller offers to supply a REC of a product, and a bidder is not required to submit this price until the Bid Date.

All bidders that submitted Part 1 Proposals will be notified on the Part 1 Notification date as to whether the bidder has qualified pursuant to a successful Part 1 Proposal.   While this formal notification is provided on the Notification date, the Procurement Administrator generally acknowledges receipt with the results of an initial review on the day the materials are received or the next business day. The initial review states either that the Part 1 Proposal is complete and is being considered, or the initial review lists items of the Part 1 Proposal that are incomplete or require clarification. If the Part 1 Proposal is incomplete or requires clarification, the Bidder will be offered the opportunity to correct or explain the deficiency as time allows. If the Bidder does not correct or adequately explain the deficiency within the time allowed, the Part 1 Proposal may be rejected. If the Part 1 Proposal is complete, the Procurement Administrator sends a notice that the Part 1 Proposal is complete and is being considered.

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

In responding to your question, we are assuming you are asking whether the System is required to be certified by an Illinois State entity prior to registering with a REC tracking system.

The answer is no. Unlike other states, there is no State certification process required for purposes of registering your system with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS.

Yes, there are no requirements that would specifically exclude non-profits, schools and churches from participating in the SPV RFP as long as the entity that is the bidder is able to meet the requirements of the SPV RFP and the Seller is able to perform the obligations under the SPV Contract.

Please note, however, that only systems meeting the statutory definition of “distributed renewable energy generation device” are eligible, and that whether at a home, business, nonprofit, school, church, or any other site, any such photovoltaic system must be located on the customer’s side of the customer’s electric meter. A full definition of “distributed renewable energy generation device” can be found in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act [20 ILCS 3855/1-10]. Also note that other funding sources (such as grants offered by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation) may place restrictions on the resale of RECs. Bidders are advised to consult the guidelines for other funding sources to ensure that the RECs from the system would be eligible for sale to the IPA.

The Performance Assurance requirement provides the Buyer with assurance that the Seller will Energize and register the System by the Energized Guaranteed Date, and that the Seller will identify System(s) associated with a Forecast REC Quantity by the Guaranteed System Identification Date.

This requirement is intended to provide a disincentive for bidders to bid on quantities of RECs in the procurement event (that could be speculative or associated with identified systems) that are unlikely to come to fruition, and is distinct from the Buyer’s ability to pay for RECs.

No, all RECs within a single Bid must be offered at the same uniform price. The bidder will be required to execute a separate SPV Contract for each winning Bid based on a Forecast REC Quantity. For a System subsequently identified under an SPV Contract for a Forecast REC Quantity, RECs from the System shall be paid the purchase price associated with such SPV Contract.

Under the SPV Contract, the Performance Assurance required is equal to $8/REC multiplied by the Maximum Contract Quantity under the SPV Contract, or if the SPV Contract is based on an award for speculative bids, then $16/REC multiplied by the remaining Forecast REC Quantity under such SPV Contract.

The Seller under the SPV Contract will be the individual or entity responsible for completing and providing the required information under the SPV Contract, including the associated exhibits. Seller must have rights to the RECs to be Delivered to the IPA and such rights include Seller’s rights to Deliver and convey title of such RECs to IPA such that, upon Delivery, all rights and ownership of Delivered RECs shall belong to the IPA.

An Identified System is a system for which the Bidder has some or all information required by the Worksheet Insert (#P1-2). For example, for a system to be identified, you must be able to indicate the address and size of the System.

Yes, Seller may invoice Buyer immediately following REC Delivery provided that Seller may only submit one invoice per Contract Quarter under the SPV Contract. For REC Deliveries made in a Contract Quarter, the Seller is required to invoice for such REC Deliveries by the 20^th Day of the immediately succeeding Contract Quarter. For example, if Seller completed its REC Delivery for the Contract Quarter of January through March 2016 on March 15, 2016, Seller is required to invoice Buyer by April 20^th, but may invoice Buyer as early as March 16^th.

Yes, a System that qualifies as “new” may begin generating RECs once it has been Energized and registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS. A System is considered “new” if it is Energized on or after January 21, 2015. Systems Energized prior to January 21, 2015 are not eligible to participate in the procurement event. The IPA will purchase RECs generated by “new” systems prior to the Effective Date of the SPV Contract through the SPV Contract with the Seller, provided that the overall number of RECs that Buyer is obligated to purchase does not exceed the Maximum Contract Quantity under the SPV Contract.

Participation in the SPV RFP is not meant to replace rebates or other programs. Systems that participate—or have participated—in grant, incentive, rebate, or tax credit programs are not precluded from participating in the SPV RFP. However, it must be the case that the owner of a system participating in such a program still is able to offer to sell the RECs from the system to the IPA through the SPV RFP.

The SPV RFP under the IPA Public Act 98-0672 includes a category for systems under 25 kW. The IPA plan contains an aggregator requirement for bids in the sub-25kW category, which means bids in this category would include RECs from a variety of systems. The program addresses this requirement by requiring that the minimum bid quantity be of 500 RECs, which roughly translates to 79.39 kW.

Please note that there are other requirements for systems to be bid into the program including that the system: 1) must be new, meaning that it must have been energized after January 21, 2015; 2) must have a revenue quality meter; 3) must be interconnected with a regulated utility, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative in Illinois; 4) must be registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS; and 5) must be installed by Qualified Persons as this term is defined in the law.

No. Winning Bidders will have 12 months to demonstrate to the IPA that the systems associated with winning bids have been completed, energized, and registered in an applicable tracking systems (PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS) to deliver RECs to the IPA.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 05-08-2015.

Your understanding is correct. The IPA Public Act 98-0672 contains an aggregator requirement for bids in the sub-25kW category, meaning bids in this category would include RECs from a variety of systems. The program addresses this requirement by requiring that the minimum bid quantity be of 500 RECs.

Please note that there are other requirements for systems to be bid into the program including that the system: 1) must be new, meaning that it must have been energized after January 21, 2015; 2) must have a revenue quality meter; 3) must be interconnected with a regulated utility, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative in Illinois; 4) must be registered with PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS; and 5) must be installed by Qualified Persons as this term is defined in the law.

Please see the link to the presentations on this page of the IPA’s website: http://www.illinois.gov/ipa/Pages/Renewable_Resources.aspx#RECProcurementEvents

It is not a requirement to have a system located in ComEd’s or Ameren’s Zone to bid in the SPV RFP. In order to be eligible, a project must, among other restrictions, be interconnected with a regulated utility, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative in Illinois. Please see documents or the webcast posted to the Supplemental PV Procurement Section for more information.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 04-24-2015.

While the contractual terms and RFP documents are still in development, we can provide the following requirements for RECs that would be purchased by the IPA through the Supplemental PV (“SPV”) procurement. For bidding in the SPV RFP, these requirements include, but are not limited to, RECs that: (i) are generated by a solar photovoltaic system that qualified as distributed generation; (ii) are generated by a system energized January 21, 2015 or later; (iii) generated by a system that is interconnected with a regulated utility, municipal utility, rural electric cooperative in Illinois; (iv) are tracked in one of PJM Environmental Information System (“EIS”)’s Generation Attribute Tracking System (“GATS”) or the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (“M-RETS”); (v) are generated by a system installed by “qualified persons” (as this term in defined in the Act for this procurement); and (iv) are generated by a system on the customer side of a revenue qualify meter.

Please note that, in particular, the RECs must be Illinois RECs and RECs from other states are not eligible.

There is no mismatch or inconsistency. For sub-25kW systems, the minimum bid size is 500 RECs and all such RECs must be offered at the same uniform price.   The SPV contract is structured so that there is one contract for each identified system. When a participant bids a given quantity (of 500 RECs or more) of sub-25kW systems at a uniform price, the specific purchase price of the contracts for each and every system will be the same. There will be a distinct contract for each sub-25kW system but the price for all contracts resulting from a single bid will be the same.

As the law requires enforcement of this provision through “contractually enforceable mechanisms,” the information or evidence required will be determined in the final SPV contract and RFP documents. On a preliminary basis, it is expected that:

— In its Proposal, the bidder would certify either that the system has been installed by a qualified person or will be installed by a qualified person.

— In the SPV contract, as a condition of receiving payment for RECs, the Seller would certify that the Seller has reviewed and understands the provisions of Section 1-56(i) of the Illinois Power Agency Act pertaining to the requirement the systems be “installed” by a “qualified person” (20 ILCS 3855/1-56(i)(1)), and that the system was in fact installed by a “qualified person” as those terms are used in the Act.

— Under the contract, the IPA maintains the right to inspect/audit books and records of the Seller regarding this certification. Should this certification be found to be erroneous, this can be considered an event of default under the SPV contract, which can lead to withholding of payments and termination.

In addition to the conditions that you reference above, an aggregator that serves as an intermediary between individual system owners and the IPA will be expected to:

1) enter into contracts with individual system owners so that the aggregator has a contractual right to transfer to the IPA, with clear title, RECs issued from generation of the systems;

2) is willing to contract with the IPA through the SPV REC contract and to accept standard Illinois terms as well as procedures for contract administration.

Please note that while a firm may have individuals who are “qualified persons” on staff, the firm itself is not a “qualified person.” It is not sufficient for only the Project Manager to be a qualified person (unless the Project Manager performs all necessary steps of the installation as defined below). Each individual who performs the operations included in the definition of “Install” must be a “qualified person”.

Please review the definitions of Section 1-56(i)(1) below.

A “qualified person” means a person who performs installations of photovoltaics, including, but not limited to, distributed photovoltaic generation, and who: (A) has completed an apprenticeship as a journeyman electrician from a United States Department of Labor registered electrical apprenticeship and training program and received a certification of satisfactory completion; or (B) does not currently meet the criteria under clause (A) of this paragraph (1), but is enrolled in a United States Department of Labor registered electrical apprenticeship program, provided that the person is directly supervised by a person who meets the criteria under clause (A) of this paragraph (1); or (C) has obtained one of the following credentials in addition to attesting to satisfactory completion of at least 5 years or 8,000 hours of documented hands-on electrical experience: (i) a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) Installer Certificate for Solar PV; (ii) an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) PV Systems Installer Certificate; (iii) an Electronics Technicians Association, International (ETAI) Level 3 PV Installer Certificate; or (iv) an Associate in Applied Science degree from an Illinois Community College Board approved community college program in renewable energy or a distributed generation technology.

“Directly supervised” means that there is a qualified person who meets the qualifications under clause (A) of this paragraph (1) and who is available for supervision and consultation regarding the work performed by persons under clause (B) of this paragraph (1), including a final inspection of the installation work that has been directly supervised to ensure safety and conformity with applicable codes.

“Install” means the major activities and actions required to connect, in accordance with applicable building and electrical codes, the conductors, connectors, and all associated fittings, devices, power outlets, or apparatuses mounted at the premises that are directly involved in delivering energy to the premises’ electrical wiring from the photovoltaics, including, but not limited to, to distributed photovoltaic generation.

The SPV contract is structured in such a way that there is one contract for each identified system for which a bid is submitted. For forecast REC quantities for yet-to-be-identified sub-25kW systems bid through the SPV RFP proposal process (“speculative bids”), there is one initial contract per bid. However, once the systems are identified for the forecast REC quantity, each such system would have its own contract.

For sub-25kW systems, the minimum bid size is 500 RECs and all such RECs must be offered at the same uniform price.   The bid may include RECs from identified systems, or a forecast REC quantity, or both, but all RECs in the bid must be at the uniform price. For systems in the 25kW and over category, the minimum bid size is also 500 RECs. However, a participant can specify a different bid price for each system.

Thus, a participant is able to enter multiple bid prices for multiple systems in the 25 kW and over category and each such system would have its own contract. A participant is only able to enter a single price for multiple systems in the sub-25kW that together account for 500 RECs or more; however, each such system would eventually have its own contract.

Consistent with Section 1-56(i)(7) of the Illinois Power Agency Act, “the names of the successful bidders and the average of the winning bid prices for each contract type and for each contract term shall be made available to the public within 2 days after the supplemental procurement event.” As such, the Procurement Administrator will first make this list of winning bidders available on the procurement website after the conclusion of the first procurement event with a Bid Date planned for June 18, 2015.

For aggregators (i.e., bidders who are not bidding strictly on behalf of systems they own), this list will consist of winners in procurement events under the SPV RFP that consent to have their names and contact information posted to the website as a pre-qualified aggregator.

Please note that because Section 1-56(i)(7) also contains a requirement to “maintain the confidentiality of all other supplier and bidding information,” certain information cannot be made public. This includes the names of aggregators that have pre-qualified in the RFP process but do not have bids approved by the Commission, bidders’ individual bid prices, and the benchmark prices applied to the procurement events.

The pre-qualification and registration of all bidders for participation in the SPV RFP, including aggregators, will take place on the timeline provided in the calendar posted to the procurement website for the SPV RFP (see https://ipa-energyrfp.com/supplemental-pv-procurement-section/). A bidder will pre-qualify by successfully meeting the requirements of the Part 1 Proposal. A bidder will register by successfully meeting the requirements of the Part 2 Proposal. The pre-qualification and registration of aggregators is not distinct from, but rather is integrated with, meeting the requirements for a successful proposal under the SPV RFP.

The Part 1 Proposal consists of an online form to be completed as well as the submission of documents required by the Part 1 Form. No participation fee or application fee is required.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 04-07-2015.

As specified in the Supplemental Procurement Plan, credit requirements include a refundable deposit per REC of $16/REC ($100/kW) for “speculative” systems and $8/REC ($50/kW) for identified systems.  Half of the deposit will be required before the bid date, with the remaining balance due from winning bidders within 14 days of the announcement of the procurement results.  It is expected that the refundable deposit can be provided as a cash deposit or as a letter of credit.

Calendars for the schedule of events for each of the procurement events can be found here.

In order to submit Bids in the IPA Supplemental PV Procurement, Bidders enter their Bids in an Excel spreadsheet that will be provided to them and that they will transfer to the Procurement Administrator through a secure interface during a particular time window on the Bid Date.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 04-07-2015.

While Public Act 99-0002 (signed into law on March 26, 2015) features a significant transfer of funds from the Renewable Energy Resources Fund to the General Revenue Fund, it also specifically and intentionally preserves $30 million in the Renewable Energy Resources Fund to cover contracts stemming from this procurement. Therefore the budget for this procurement will not be affected.

While the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Order approving the IPA’s Supplemental Photovoltaic Procurement Plan declines to adopt a specific standard that meters must meet, it does require that the IPA’s Plan include references to “revenue-quality” meters, with “revenue-quality” defined as achieving accuracy ranges that the IPA determines are necessary to receive SRECs in the applicable utility’s service territory.

Please refer to the IPA “Revenue-Quality” Metering Accuracy Standard and Acceptable Technologies, which are posted here.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 04-03-2015.

Yes, suppliers must be registered to do business in Illinois. This requirement pertains to all RFPs with the State of Illinois where a State Agency is the counterparty to the contract. Suppliers can register through the Illinois Secretary of State. Please see www.cyberdriveillinois.com.

Yes, this is a viable procurement. While Public Act 99-0002 (signed into law on March 26, 2015) features a significant transfer of funds from the Renewable Energy Resources Fund to the General Revenue Fund, it also specifically and intentionally preserves $30 million in the Renewable Energy Resources Fund to cover contracts stemming from this procurement. Therefore the budget for this procurement will not be affected.

We expect that the contract will be between the aggregator and the IPA (and that the aggregator will have separate contracts with the system owner that give the aggregator title, or the right to convey title, to the RECs from the systems). Note that the contract party must agree to, and be bound by, all the terms and conditions of the contract and associated state-required forms.

Unlike standard offer programs in other states, prices for RECs or expected ranges are not announced. Instead, bidders determine the price per REC they wish to bid and the prices paid for RECs come from the competition among participants in the bidding process as outlined in Section 1-56(i) of the Illinois Power Agency Act.   To be evaluated, bids must meet or beat confidential benchmark prices developed by the procurement administrator in consultation with the Agency, Commission Staff, and the procurement monitor. These benchmarks are confidential and will not be provided to bidders.

The system size is based on a DC capacity rating in kW (see p. 12 of the IPA’s Supplemental Photovoltaic Procurement Plan, which may be found here: https://www.icc.illinois.gov/downloads/public/edocket/398633.pdf).

Yes. Due to the requirements of the state Comptroller’s office, unless Buyer receives an invoice, Buyer will not be able to process payments. Thus, you will need to issue an invoice for the return of performance assurance. You may invoice for the return of performance assurance specific to your invoice for the first REC delivery.

Please note that processing of requests for return of cash will be delayed until a Fiscal Year 2016 State of Illinois budget is officially adopted, or an appropriation for the Illinois Power Agency is otherwise approved into law.

This FAQ has been updated since it was originally posted on 04-03-2015.

Under the draft REC Purchase & Sale Agreement there is no specific date regarding when the RECs must be delivered to the Buyer’s account in the applicable tracking system during a contract quarter, but RECs must be deposited prior to the Buyer receiving an invoice and must have been deposited sometime during the contract quarter for which the invoice is issued. If Seller does not deliver RECs in a contract quarter, Seller will not be able to invoice or be paid for that contract quarter.

No, there is no application fee or bid fee for the SPV RFP. There is only the bid deposit requirement.

Yes, speculative bids are only allowed for the <25kW size category (see p. 16 of the IPA’s Supplemental Photovoltaic Procurement Plan, which may be found here: https://www.icc.illinois.gov/downloads/public/edocket/398633.pdf).