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Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice Renewable Energy Certificates Registry Southwestern Power Administration 1. This is a sources sought notice. This is not a request for proposal, a request... Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice Renewable Energy Certificates Registry Southwestern Power Administration 1. This is a sources sought notice. This is not a request for proposal, a request for quote nor a request for full qualifications packages. This information is for market research and planning purposes only. The purpose of this sources sought is to conduct market research to identify if responsible sources exist, and to assist in determining if this effort should be set-aside for small business concerns. The proposed North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code is 221122. The Government will use this information to determine the best acquisition strategy for this procurement. The Government is interested in all small businesses to include 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, HUBZone, and Women-Owned Small Business concerns with the capability to perform this service. 2. Responses to this Sources Sought/RFI shall be limited to five (5) pages in a single PDF document and should include the following information (item numbers (1) through (4) below). Additional pages, cover letters, and extraneous materials are NOT desired. Materials, documents, web links, etc. incorporated by reference in responses will not be accessed by the Government for inclusion; all responses must be self-contained, to address the following items. (1) Firm name, address, point of contact, phone number, and e-mail address. (2) Firm Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and CAGE Code. In order to receive a federal contract, you must have an active registration in SAM. (3) Firm business size in relation to NAICS code 221122, which has a small business size standard of 1100 Employees in annual average gross receipts over the past five (5) years. Identify whether your firm is a Large/Small business. If small, identify small business type(s) (HUBZone, SDVOSB, 8(a), WOSB, etc.) (4) Experience. Demonstration of the firm’s experience as a prime contractor executing the work below in section 3. Identify if your product meets the requirements outlined in “REC Registry Requirements”. 3. Requirement Background: As one of four Power Marketing Administrations in the United States, Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) markets renewable hydroelectric power from Corps-owned multipurpose water resource projects located in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The power is marketed to 78 municipal utilities, 21 rural electric cooperatives, and 3 military installations in those four states as well as in Kansas and Louisiana. Those customers distribute the power to approximately 10 million end users in the six-state area. The estimated average annual energy of all 19 projects is 4,757 gigawatt-hours. For SWPA to implement a renewable energy certificate (REC) program for its customers, SWPA will require an account with a REC tracking system or registry. SWPA’s key objective in implementing a REC program is subscribing to a REC tracking system or registry to enable the creation of RECs and facilitate the management and retirement of RECs. Overview: Concerns about climate change have driven a nationwide push toward clean, renewable energy production such as hydropower. Many states have adopted renewable portfolio standards which require companies to provide a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources by a specified year. Kansas, Missouri, and Texas in SWPA’s marketing area have adopted renewable portfolio standards. Other states have adopted non-binding renewable energy goals. RECs are tradable, non-physical commodities in the energy market that represent the benefits associated with 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of generated renewable energy. RECs enable the REC owner to claim the environmental benefits – the reduced carbon footprint – of that clean energy. There are two main markets for renewable energy certificates in the United States – compliance markets and voluntary markets. Compliance markets are created in states with renewable portfolio standards. Electric utilities in these states demonstrate compliance with their requirements by purchasing RECs. Voluntary markets are ones in which customers choose to buy renewable power out of a desire to use renewable energy. Renewable energy generators located in states that do not have a renewable portfolio standard can sell their RECs to voluntary buyers. A tracking system (or registry) is a database, in this case a web or cloud based electronic service, with basic information about each MWh generated from generation facilities registered in the database. Electronic tracking systems allow RECs to be transferred among account holders much as in online banking. The database tracks certain information for each MWh, including facility location, generation technology, facility owner, fuel type, capacity, the year the facility began operating, and the month/year the MWh was generated. Each REC is issued a unique serial ID number and can only be held in one account at a time. Scope of Work: To implement a REC program, SWPA must subscribe with a REC tracking system or registry to enable the creation of RECs and facilitate the management and retirement of RECs. REC Registry Requirements: A REC registry suitable for use by SWPA must meet the following requirements: 1. Privacy: User information will be confidential and accessible only through secured user login credentials. 2. Multiple Users: account allows SWPA to create additional users within the organization that each have their own unique user ID and password. Also, allows for setting certain privileges based on the user’s need. 3. IT Compliance. Must follow SWPA Information Technology requirements for web-based service platforms and data storage. The REC registry web site must be accessible through Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. See https://www.energy.gov/management/pf-2021-36-chief-information-officers-supply-chain-risk-management-program for more information. 4. REC Account. The REC registry will provide SWPA an account and login credentials for its web-based or cloud-based service. That account will facilitate the registration of SWPA’s 19 projects in the region and the management of all RECs related to generation from SWPA’s 19 projects. 5. REC Creation/Issuance. Must provide for creation of RECs from the renewable energy generated at SWPA’s 19projects located in the states of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. When the REC registry account is created, SWPA will provide the most recent two years of generation data from its projects for REC creation. Subsequently, SWPA will provide the meter data from the Corps projects on a monthly basis for the creation of the RECs through a tabular format that can be uploaded to the registry through the web accessible application. Alternatively, the registry will have the capability to receive the generation data directly from Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) or Southwest Power Pool (SPP) on a monthly basis to facilitate the REC creation. SWPA understands that a release form from SWPA will likely be required for the upload of data from MISO or SPP to the registry. The number of RECs will represent the number of MWhs of net generation from SWPA’s 19 projects. Once a REC is created, it will remain in SWPA’s registry account until transferred, retired, or exported on behalf of a SWPA customer. Issue one electronic Certificate for each MWh of energy generated by those Generating Units registered. A Certificate created and tracked within the registry will represent all renewable attributes from one MWh of renewable generation. At a minimum fields that will be included on each certificate are: a. Serial Number(s) b. Account c. ID d. Generator Fuel Type e. Vintage Date f. Location g. Quantity h. Eligibilities 6. REC Transfer/Transaction. Must provide the ability for SWPA to transfer RECs to SWPA customer accounts, including export to other REC registries. Once the RECs are created within SWPA’s registry account, the registry will allow SWPA to transfer RECs to a customer’s account on a periodic monthly basis. SWPA will determine the number of RECs available for transfer to each customer and will communicate that information to customers participating in the REC program. SWPA will facilitate the transfer of the RECs from SWPA’s registry account to the customer’s registry account. Must have option to transfer active certificates to 1) Another organization, 2) Another active account, 3) to a compatible tracking system. From initiation of transaction by SWPA to received and active certificates by the customer should take no longer than 7 business days on average. Transactions will be configured to prevent duplication. 7. REC Retirement. Must provide ability for SWPA to retire RECs on behalf of SWPA customers. Once the RECs are created within SWPA’s registry account, the registry will allow SWPA to retire RECs on a customer’s behalf on a monthly basis. SWPA will determine the number of RECs available for retirement for each customer and will communicate that information to customers. Upon the communicated desire of a customer to retire their designated RECs, SWPA will facilitate the retirement of those RECs. Once retired, a REC can no longer be transferred or exported. Retirements certificates will provide additional attributes based on its type. Types of voluntary retirement will include: a. Municipal Renewable Portfolio Standard (Compliance) (MUN) b. Federal Renewable Energy Requirement (FDR) c. State-Regulated Utility Renewable Portfolio Standard / Provincial Utility Portfolio Standard (Compliance) (RPS) 8. REC Export to Other Registries. Must be able to export RECs to other registries. Some SWPA customers may participate in a different registry than SWPA and may wish their designated RECs to be exported to that registry. Once the RECs are created within SWPA’s account with the registry, the registry will allow SWPA to export RECs to a customer’s account in a different registry on a monthly basis. SWPA will determine the number of RECs available for export to those customers and will communicate that information to the customers. Upon the concurrence of each customer, SWPA will facilitate the export of the RECs to the customer’s desired registry. 9. Reporting Capabilities. Must provide reporting capabilities so that SWPA can easily produce information on REC activities by project or customer on a monthly or other user-specified timeframe. Such reports are necessary to provide to the customers at periodic (SPRA) meetings or on request by customers. 10. Registry Accessibility. Must be recognized by states which have renewable portfolio standards and be able to function in both compliance and voluntary markets. 11. State Compliance: The registry must be recognized by states which have renewable portfolio standards including MO, KS, LA. 12. Account Administrator. SWPA will designate an Account Administrator for the account with the REC registry who will be SWPA’s main point of contact with the registry. The Account Administrator will work with the REC registry in the creation of the REC registry account and the subsequent creation and management of RECs associated with SWPA project generation. The Account Administrator will also have the ability to designate Account Users to access and utilize the REC registry account. 13. Scope. Based on past power production and future estimates, SWPA anticipates the creation and retirement of between 12-15 million RECs in its first full year of implementation and between 4-5 million RECs per year thereafter. The first year’s expanded scope is due to the reclamation of RECs from the prior two years. Points of Contact: Brooke Butcher; brooke.butcher@swpa.gov Erica Wilson; erica.wilson@swpa.gov