10-Specifications.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS

Renewable Energy for Harris County

SCOPE

Harris County is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to provide renewable energy for Harris County.

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

A pre-proposal conference is scheduled on May 18, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. CST. Attendance is not mandatory, but all vendors should attend in order to have a better understanding of the requirements of this RFP. Should you wish to attend, you must RSVP to Jeremy Woodard at Jeremy.Woodard@harriscountytx.gov by Friday, May 15, 2026, no later than 12:00 p.m. CST. By RSVP request, you will be provided with the conference line number and access code to dial in to attend the meeting. Persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations should contact the Office of the Purchasing Agent at (713) 274-4400 at least two (2) days prior to the conference.

It is the responsibility of each firm to examine the entire RFP, seek clarification in writing, and review their submittal for accuracy before submitting. Once the submission deadline has passed, all submissions will be final. Questions relating to the RFP must be submitted through Bonfire. The deadline for submission of questions relating to this RFP is detailed in the Event Details in Bonfire. All questions submitted in writing prior to the deadline will be compiled and answered in writing.

BACKGROUND

Harris County is the nation’s third-largest county, and one of the largest energy consumers in the state of Texas, consuming approximately 350,000 Megawatt-hours (MWhs) annually. Harris County is leading the energy transition in the region and is working to reach its goal of reducing carbon emissions associated with operations. One component of this strategy includes considering long-term options for purchasing generation from a renewable asset.

SPECIFICATION

The purpose of this solicitation is for Harris County to select a project or projects from one (1) or more renewable energy developers and a long-term supply agreement for renewable energy.

Offsite Renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Offtake Opportunities Given the significant load and consistent load profile of the County, Harris County is interested in securing renewable energy offtake agreement(s) to procure an estimated eighty (80) to one hundred (100) Mega- Watts (MWs) of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) and forty (40) to fifty (50) MWs of wind power. Harris County is interested in evaluating offtake opportunities from:

a) Solar PV projects

b) Wind assets

c) Geothermal assets

Note: Harris County is not interested in standalone battery storage but would evaluate solar and/or wind assets combined with battery storage.

Additionally, Harris County has determined that projects shall meet the requirements outlined below:

Harris County is comfortable with a term of fifteen (15) years or longer.

Planned and existing assets located in Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Open to settlement at any ERCOT Hub.

Open to as-generated production as well as a firm production profile output.

Financial settled PPAs, or Physical PPAs that could potentially be sleeved to a selected (creditworthy) retail electric provider.

Shall include Project Specific energy and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

Open to projects with battery storage coupled with solar or wind, but not a requirement for consideration.

Open to pro rata split from a larger asset.

Harris County is UNABLE to enter the following:

Build/develop – transfer structures.

Direct debt financing structures.

Specific Contract Provisions Please provide the proposed contract language for the below provisions:

Production guarantee (solar PV) Availability guarantee Seller/buyer curtailment Willingness to offer a price floor on Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP) for settlement purposes Seller’s development posting dollar per megawatt hour.

Expected/guaranteed Commercial Operation Date (COD) and associated Delay damages.

Pre- & post-COD requested off-taker posting if any, and posting instruments accepted.

Proposed language to handle potential price impacts associated with potential import tariffs, the Internal

Revenue Service (IRS) implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and/or adjustments in component pricing that can impact final PPA price, given long lead times from PPA execution to COD.

Payment Structure Details Prepaid PPA – Harris County is interested in identifying a unique financing structure that shall allow the County to leverage its low cost of capital to prepay (essentially providing a lower cost of capital for the long-term asset financing) at COD to lower the overall energy cost to the County. The County has envisioned this shall be via a Prepaid PPA at the commercial operation date of the project, where the county pays for all or substantially all the long-term PPA costs (power & RECs preferably) in advance. The developer shall still be required to manage construction finance, etc., but the PPA offtake agreement would be fully, or majority funded at COD, ideally creating a lower energy cost for the County and a lower finance cost for the developer/long term project owner.

Please provide the following prepaid details for terms of fifteen (15) years and longer:

Dollar per megawatt hour prepaid PPA prices.

Prepaid term MWhs (P50 expected production).

Total Prepayment amount due at COD.

Percentage (%) of the expected annual PPA spend & term PPA spend that are included in the prepayment.

Prepayment shall be at COD.

Quarterly or monthly true up between actuals and prepaid forecasted quantities.

No firm delivery – as generated availability.

Developer to determine the appropriate discount rate for the prepayment amount.

Additional Information Requested Please submit the following information with your response:

Asset P50 8760 production profile.

Specific geographic location of the asset or county at a minimum.

Details on interconnection queue status.

Status on component sourcing and potential risks in delays/price adjustments.

Minimum offtake requirements in MWs.

Harris County Energy Consultant Harris County has engaged Energy Edge Consulting as the County’s Energy Consultant to work with renewable energy developers to broker a transaction and negotiate a contract on behalf of the County.

Energy Edge is expected to be compensated by developer at a market rate of one percent (1%) of the notional value of the renewable energy contract, to be paid at commercial operation date of the project or Harris County’s off take start date if there is an existing project.