The Part 2 Window of the Illinois Power Agency’s (IPA) Fall 2017 Procurement Wind and Solar Requests for Proposals (RFPs) opened on Aug. 15. On Aug. 14, IPA notified bidders regarding whether or not their proposals met the qualification standards for Part 1 proposals. Along with the notifications for successful proposals, IPA sent several electronic documents necessary for the submission of Part 2 bids. The documents include: 1) the bid form, which includes a unique identifier for each project, 2) instructions for completing, encrypting, and submitting the bid form, 3) an invitation to a training session on the bid submission procedure, and 4) confidential information for submission of the bid form, including a username, a password, and a security code unique to each bidder.

The Wind and Solar RFP Process and Rules outline the requirements for Part 2 submissions: bid assurance collateral, certain certifications, information to prepare the Renewable Energy Credits (REC) contracts, and the bid, which consists of the annual quantity and price per REC. The window for the Part 2 proposals and bid assurance collateral closes on Aug. 23, 2107. Regarding the bid assurance collateral, the RFP rules revised the financial guarantee requirements from the June 14 draft proposal requirements. The RFP rules allow bidders to submit financial guarantees in the form of letters of credit or cash as bid assurance collateral. The RFP rules list the revised amounts for bid assurance collateral as follows:

1. Ameren Illinois Company requires $4,000 per MW for solar and $1,600 per MW for wind, subject to a $35,000 minimum

2. Commonwealth Edison Company requires $10,000 per MW for solar and $4,000 per MW for wind, subject to a minimum of $35,000

3. MidAmerican Energy Company requires $30,000 regardless of the project size

Bidders must submit bids on Aug. 31, one week following submissions of the Part 2 proposals and bid assurance collateral. IPA lays out the full procurement schedule as follows: