105. JOFOC FAR Part 13.5 Redacted.pdf

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)

FAR 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

U.S. Department of Energy, WAPA, Headquarters, Lakewood, Colorado.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The purpose of this action is to execute a firm-fixed-price contract for the implementation of a replacement Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Energy Management System (EMS) for grid control from Open Systems International, Inc (OSI) for WAPA’s Rocky Mountain and Desert Southwest (RMR/DSW) regions.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs.

WAPA’s RMR and DSW regions require OSI proprietary software, third-party hardware, third-party software, and labor to convert from its existing system to OSI’s system, as well as the assistance necessary to operate and maintain the OSI solution including training for end users, developers/modelers, SCADA support, and OPS regional trainers.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

41 U.S.C. § 3304(b)(2)(A) authorizes use of noncompetitive procedures, in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued development of a major system. The proprietary software is deemed to be available only from the original source and will be procured through procedures other than competitive procedures because it is likely that award to a source other than the original source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Federal Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

WAPA has four regions: Sierra Nevada (SNR), Upper Great Plains (UGP), Rocky Mountain (RMR) and Desert Southwest (DSW). In FY20, WAPA selected OSI’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Energy Management System (EMS) for grid control to replace its existing systems in all regions, using evaluation criteria in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 (contract 89503020CWA000007). WAPA’s research and evaluation of potential SCADA/EMS vendors exceeded 15 months including Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Quotes (RFQ) components. The referenced contract included the bulk of required perpetual licensing for all regions, as well as the implementation costs for SNR, which is currently implementing OSI’s solution. The UGP implementation project (contract 89503021CWA000010) is also underway at WAPA. The referenced contract was the result of RFQ 89503019QWA000038, which explicitly stated that subsequent follow-on awards would be made for the remaining regions as funding became available in future fiscal years.

This requirement, WAPA’s RMR/DSW implementation, is the final follow-on award. WAPA RMR and DSW are the last two regions that will implement OSI’s solution.

To minimize the total cost of ownership and increase operational efficiencies, it is in WAPA’s best interest to standardize its SCADA/EMS on OSI's systems. A duplication of cost and effort, that could not be recovered through competition, would occur if EMS/SCADA platforms, other than OSI’s, were incorporated or remained in WAPA's infrastructure. Standardization reduces the overall cost of training, allows a comprehensive and consistent cybersecurity posture, and provides flexibility for one WAPA region to assist another region during adverse events such as wildfires, flooding, or storm damage.

WAPA has already made a considerable investment with OSI that would be lost if WAPA does not complete a WAPA-wide implementation as planned. The initial competitive contract 89503020CWA000007 included WAPA-wide OSI software licensing in the amount of $2,566,153.00, of which $851,230.00 was specifically for RMR/DSW’s licensing. As such, it is advantageous for WAPA to purchase OSI’s software, hardware, and services to leverage existing infrastructure, experience, and training investments already in place.

OSI is the sole developer of their Monarch™ suite of SCADA/EMS applications, which was implemented as WAPA's control system following full and open competition during which OSI was selected in 2019. No other vendor possesses the necessary capability or expertise to convert WAPA’s existing SCADA/EMS systems into a working, supportable OSI solution since the Monarch™ suite is their intellectual property. All work is performed by OSI, and they do not utilize any subcontractors or outside system integrators for the implementation of their solution from development through final cutover.

6. A description of efforts to ensure that offers were solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

This contract is a direct follow-on to that award, using a phased regional implementation approach, as WAPA has already purchased all software licensing to meet WAPA’s needs. In FY19, WAPA issued RFQ 89503019QWA000038 to replace the current SCADA/EMS systems, in all WAPA regions, with a Commercial-Off-The Shelf (COTS) software solution and integration from a single vendor. This RFQ was issued using full and open competition to solicit from as many sources as practicable with the responses including four (4) large businesses. As previously mentioned, OSI was selected and awarded a contract for WAPA-wide licensing and implementation at the first region, SNR.

A Sources Sought notice was published in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2 on SAM.gov and FedConnect to identify sources that were certified Implementation Service Partners (ISP) with OSI for the next regional implementation at RMR/DSW. The notice was published on 02/12/2024 under identifier 89503024QWA000194 with a response date of 02/27/2024. Nine (9) responses were received by the cutoff date, of which three (3) vendors had expressed interest in becoming OSI ISPs. No responses to this notice were received by any companies with the full ability to meet this requirement.

Based on the information received through market research, the published pre-solicitation notice, and WAPA’s experience working with OSI on the existing contract, WAPA intends to award directly to OSI for the RMR/DSW implementation. Since RMR & DSW share a SCADA system, this will complete the WAPA-wide common SCADA/EMS project and maximize the overall value to the agency.

7. The anticipated dollar value of the proposed acquisition including all options, if applicable and a determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

8. A description of the Market Research (MR) conducted and the results or a statement of the reason MR was not conducted.

Market research was conducted by searching through FPDS-NG, SBA SDBS, and SAM, as well as consultation with WAPA IT and SCADA personnel, both of which resulted in no acceptable vendors, other than OSI, to perform this next implementation of the OSI Monarch system for the RMR/DSW regions. Additional market research was conducted through a Sources Sought notice posted to the GPE on beta.SAM.gov. As referenced in Section 6, the pre-solicitation synopsis resulted in no vendor responses from vendors with the ability to meet this requirement. Three (3) vendors responded that they had the capability to adjust to work with OSI solutions; however, a representative OSI confirmed that none of the vendors that responded were ISP. Only ISPs are capable of implementing OSI Monarch.

While other companies such as GE, ABB, and Siemens do have SCADA/EMS systems, OSI has already determined to be the best value to WAPA for the common SCADA/EMS project as a result of RFQ 89503019QWA000038. Based upon market research performed, there are no existing contracts available to meet this requirement. OSI is the only contractor capable of implementing their Monarch software and associated hardware at DSW and RMR as part of WAPA's common SCADA/EMS solution project.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

All facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition are discussed previously.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

IT Strategists - 125 Rickey Blvd., Unit 1485, Bear, DE 19701 KDK Technologies - 616 Windham Way, McDonough, Ga 30253 Vega Systems - 42678 Hollyhock Ter, Ashburn, VA 20148 Fognigma - 13873 Park Center Rd, Ste 329, Herndon, VA 20171 SRR International - 4152 West Blue Heron Blvd, Suite#226, Riviera Beach, FL 33404 Onspring - 10801 Mastin St. , Suite 400, Overland Park, Kansas 66210 AMEG Enterprises - 5170 Golden Foothill Parkway, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 Visvero - 40 N Main Street,| Washington, PA 15301

Siemens- 4400 Alafaya Trail, Orlando, Florida 32826-2301 EN Global - 2448 E. 81st St., Suite 3300, Tylsa, OK 74137 Innovative Werks- 800 W 5th Ave, Suite 203C, Naperville, IL. 60563 Deltek - Herndon 2291 Wood Oak Drive Herndon, VA 20171-2823 Leckenby and Associates LLC - 2905 Willow St Apt 2, Yakima WA 98902 Logic Finder, Inc - 7901 168th Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052 Infosys - 3326 160th Avenue SE, Suite 300, Bellevue, WA 98008 /GE Vernova - 58 Charles St, Cambridge, MA 02141 Jessica Dapelo Enterprises, Inc., - 140 North Ocean Avenue, Patchogue, NY 11772

11. A statement of actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

OSI was previously selected to be the best value to the Government during the competitive evaluation of a WAPA-wide common SCADA/EMS system as part of RFQ 89503019QWA000038. All barriers to competition were removed at that time by conducting a full and open evaluation of all proposed solutions for WAPA’s common SCADA implementation. WAPA has already obtained the licensing for all regions and the DSW/RMR implementation with OSI will complete the project goal of having one unified solution across WAPA.

Certification

The information contained in this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.