FY20 NGAP 47PA0420R0021 Ebony Atkinson Questions and Answers.doc

47PA0420R0021 Ebony Atkinson Questions and Answers Received by the Due Date and Time Specified in the Solicitation Q1) We are looking forward to the opportunity you have provided to serve the VA hospitals. I have a couple questions on the VA Hospital RFP for the 4 North Carolina hospitals behind Dominion PSNC and Piedmont Natural Gas. 1) Do you have monthly volumes available for these locations? 2) Is burnertip billing required for the North Carolina hospital accounts?

A1) GSA will provide monthly volumes for these accounts in an updated Exhibit 1 once GSA sets a date for these auctions and an Exhibit 1 is released that includes detailed account information for those accounts. Burnertip billing is required for all accounts included in the soliciation including the North Carolina accounts.

Q2) I am wondering if you could please send us the meter numbers for the two Eversource Massachusetts accounts included in the Exhibit 1 file?

A2) Yes. GSA will release updated Exhibit 1 files that include detailed account information including meter #s (if available from the end-use customers) as it sets specific auction dates.

Q3) If we previously serviced customers in a utility but do not currently have any active customers in that utility would be able to submit a bid in for accounts in that utility?

A3) Offerors should review the evidence of technical acceptability requirements in Section C.1 of the solicitation and note that failure to meet any of the factors will constitute a technically unacceptable offer.

Q4) I cannot find anything in the solicitation that discusses the conference calls that GSA has held in the past. Is that call scheduled for this opportunity?

A4) No. GSA will not be holding a call to discuss the solicitation requirements with suppliers but has specified due dates in this solicitation for any supplier questions or clarifications. GSA will address those in a Q&A document that will be released prior to the Offeror technical proposal due dates.

Q5) Could you please tell me if this is a new requirement, or if there is a current or previous contractor who has performed similar services? If available, can you please send along the incumbent contract or task order number?

A5) The majority of the accounts included in the Exhibit 1 files are currently being served by third-party natural gas suppliers who were awarded natural gas supply contracts under previous GSA solicitations. The only accounts that are currently not being served by third-party natural gas suppliers who were awarded natural gas supply contracts under previous GSA solicitations are the Syracuse VA in National Grid NY and GSA Franconia D VA0247AN in WGL VA.

Q6) Can you please explain why the requirements have changed from Citygate to Burnertip? This is not a standard product for larger commercial accounts, which a significant amount of GSA installations are. We are able to offer burnertip for the Choice rate ready or single billed accounts, but it is not available to large commercial end users. For accounts over 15,000 DTH/year, will it be possible to bid Citygate pricing, or would the GSA consider evaluating both CG & Burnertip offers?

A6) Per sections A.7, A.10, A.12, C.2 (4) and C.3 (9) of the solicitation, “Pricing shall be to the burnertip for each account and Contractor billed volumes must match burnertip volumes at the meter.” This applies to all accounts included in this solicitation.

Q7) If burnertip only pricing is still required, will the awarded supplier be able to list the fuel loss as a separate line item on the invoice? See example below:

Swing Fixed Price 102 dth @ $3

LDC Fuel -2 dth @ $3

A7) No. Per Section A.12 of the solicitation, “Pipeline and LDC Line losses are to be included in the pricing submitted as Contractor billed volumes must match burnertip volumes at the meter.

Q8) Will the required local GDA indices be listed on the updated exhibits before the time of auction?

A8) No. Per Section A.10 of the solicitation, “Once the applicable pricing point has been chosen and documentation provided to the account manager, Contractors will not be allowed to switch for the remainder of the contract.” As the winning supplier will choose the applicable pricing point, GSA will not be providing the local Gas Daily Average indices in the Exhibit 1 files.

Q9) If a supplier is not able to provide the GDA plus $0.10 incremental pricing for a specific area, is the GSA willing to accept any other indices and/or adders?

A9) No.

Q10) In North Carolina, we deliver to the city gate only but in section A.7 it specifies to the burnertip. Can you please specify for the Carolina accounts?

A10) GSA understands suppliers deliver to the LDC citygate for all included accounts in this solicitation. Per sections A.7, A.10, A.12, C.2 (4) and C.3 (9) of the solicitation, “Pricing shall be to the burnertip for each account and Contractor billed volumes must match burnertip volumes at the meter.”

Q11) The account list provided has some account numbers that seem inconsistent with the LDC format. If any come back invalid, will there be a contact to run down the correct account numbers?

A11) Yes. Also note that once GSA will release updated Exhibit 1 files that include detailed account information as it sets specific auction dates.

Q12) Will monthly usage data be made available for any of the accounts where the LDC does not provide HU’s?

A12) Yes. GSA will provide twelve months of usage data for all included accounts.

Q13) For your 25% swing product, our company will not proactively true up the customer for 25% swing, however we reserve the right to true up in case of a Material Deviation: If there is a Material Usage Deviation, Buyer will be responsible for the losses and costs, including the costs of obtaining and/or liquidating the applicable volume, based upon the difference between the applicable Contract Quantity and Actual Quantity. “Material Usage Deviation” means any deviation in Actual Quantity at the Service Location(s) stated in the related Transaction Confirmation from Contract Quantity (or, as applicable, estimated Contract Quantities) stated in that Transaction Confirmation of +/- 25% or more.

A13) All bids must be compliant with the pricing products, terms and conditions specified in this solicitation. If your firm is unable to meet any of the requirements specified in this solicitation, GSA recommends your firm not submit a technical proposal.

Q14) Will you add a 10% swing product option?

A14) Per Section A.10 of the solicitation, “During each month of delivery for the term of the contract, the Government may over or under burn the published volumes as specified by month for each account listed in Exhibit 1.” Also note that GSA used 25% as an example in Section A.10. GSA may require other bandwidth percentages and those will be listed in the updated Exhibit 1 files.

Q15) Please confirm if the included accounts are Tax Exempt?

A15) The accounts included in this solicitation are exempt from state and local taxes. Per Section C.2 (5) the government is not exempt from state Gross Receipts Tax (if applicable). The Government will cooperate with the Contractor to complete any necessary tax exempt forms.

Q16) What are the usage impacts from COVID-19?

A16) At this time, the facilities included in this buy do not expect any significant impact to operations or facility shutdowns associated with COVID-19.

Q17) A.15 NATURAL GAS REGULATORY CHANGES –Our company does not monitor for price decreases mid-contract, however, if we are willing to implement price decreases if the GSA makes us aware of them.

A17) Suppliers are expected to make a good faith effort to notify the government if regulatory changes occur during the term of an awarded contract which could potentially increase or decrease the contract price. Alternatively, the government may notify the supplier if it receives information regarding a regulatory change which could potentially increase or decrease the contract price. Per Section A.15, any increases or decreases in the contract price shall be accomplished through a bilateral contract modification.

Q18) A.20 MATERIAL CHANGE – Our Company buys and sells at the portfolio level and not for each individual customer. A Portfolio trade statement can be made available.

A18) Regardless of how and at what level suppliers handle their internal transactions, GSA will require the level of detail specified in A.20 and FAR 52.212-4(l) regarding any material change claims and calculations.

Q19) Section A7, “Payment and Billing”, states that the Contractor shall base all invoicing on metered quantities at the customer meter and all bills must be in dth or mmbtu volumes. Section C2, Note (4) states that Contractor billed volumes must match burner tip volumes at the meter. For some LDCs, burner tip volumes at the meter will not be burner tip DTH. For example, the burner tip consumption could be MCF. Could the GSA please clarify its intent for invoicing metrics?

A19) GSA understands that burnertip volumes may be in different units of measurement for different utilities. Per Section A.7, suppliers are required to convert those volumes, if not in dths or MMBtus, and bill the Government at burnertip volumes in the dth or mmbtu equivalent volume.

Q20) A.7. Payment and Billing. What is meant by having to include any price components on the invoice other than the awarded price as itemized line items?

A20) Per Attachment 3 – Price Component Confirmation Table, the only allowable pass through will be applicable taxes. Per Section C.2 (5) of the solicitation the Government is not exempt from applicable state Gross Receipts Tax. If a state Gross Receipts Tax is applicable it should be listed on the invoice on a separate line item.

Q21) Our firm may not be able to provide burner tip pricing in all markets.

A21) All bids must be compliant with the pricing products, terms and conditions specified in this solicitation. If your firm is unable to meet any of the requirements specified in this solicitation, GSA recommends your firm not include markets in Attachment 4 and your technical response where your firm is unable to meet this solicitation’s requirements.

Q22) GSA is asking for a different pricing point for the Firm AMRs and Interruptibles. GSA wants us now to bill based on usage and not deliveries. What I would like is to ask them to be very specific when asking what price they want.. I would like them to be specific in the auction. For example, they should state “storage included pricing at the burnertip in dth”, or “priced in Mcf at the burnertip”. Since they are asking for burnertip pricing, it introduces the issue of mcf vs dth, depending on what utility.

A22) GSA understands that burnertip volumes may be in different units of measurement for different utilities. Per Section A.7, suppliers are required to convert those volumes, if not in dths or MMBtus, and bill the Government at burnertip volumes in the dth or mmbtu equivalent volume. Additionally, Per Attachment 3 – Price Component Confirmation Table, the only allowable pass through will be applicable taxes Q23) A2 Delivery Point - Please clarify the statement that the LDC takes ownership of the gas at the citygate? The title is passed to facility, so it seems as if the ownership is passed to the facility as well.

A23) Section A.2 refers to the fact the LDC takes ownership of the gas from the supplier once it is delivered to the LDC by the supplier.

Q24) A7 Payment and Billing - On accounts that are not dual billing, the Contractor does not, in most cases, receive a copy of the LDC invoice in order to proceed with the invoice. Will GSA be providing each LDC invoice to the Contractor in order for the Contract to make sure the invoice volume matches the LDC invoice?

Q24) No. Per Section A.3 of the solicitation the Contractor is required to be fully familiar with the LDC’s billing policies and procedures and the Contractor is required to make sure their billed volumes as included on the LDC invoices are burnertip volumes.

Q25) A13. Service Interruption - Typically, the LDC issues a notice to alert all parties of an upcoming event. Duration is usually not known at the point of the notice. The notice may come a day in advance, the day of, or even hours before the event starts. Is this section indicating that upon a notice, the contractor should drop the nomination to zero? Then pass on the notice to the contracting officer, facility, and Contract rep? Then if the Contracting officer approves a sale, the Contractor would then try to reinstate a nomination? Nominations have deadlines, and if the Contracting Officer’s response falls outside the deadlines, the gas may not be able to be reinstated.

A.25) GSA is releasing an updated version of this solicitation (Amendment 1 version). The second paragraph in A13 has been changed to indicate that contractors receive direction from the utility regarding their responsibilities during interruptions, curtailments, entitlements, or OFOs.

Q26) A10 Price point at burnertip versus A2 delivery point at citygate - The solicitation references that the facility will take title to gas at the city gate. (Section A2 and FAR 52.212-4 (n) Title) yet the price will be on usage (Section A10). If the price is set at the burnertip, the facility will have title to gas that they are not paying for. The industry standard is to set pricing at the point the title transfers. Since most of the facilities hold the LDC transport agreement in the facility name, it has always made sense to price at city gate where title transfers. Does the government want to take title of a product that they do not pay for?

A26) Section A.2 refers to the fact the LDC takes ownership of the gas from the supplier once it is delivered to the LDC by the supplier. GSA understands suppliers deliver to the LDC citygate for all included accounts in this solicitation. Per sections A.7, A.10, A.12, C.2 (4) and C.3 (9) of the solicitation, “Pricing shall be to the burnertip for each account and Contractor billed volumes must match burnertip volumes at the meter.” Therefore, GSA will only pay for gas used at the burnertip which by definition means they will not pay for additional gas as billed volumes will match burnertip usage.

Q27) A12 Line losses - Since the Contractor holds title on the Pipeline, the line loss has to be included in the price, but since the facility holds title on the LDC shouldn’t the facility bear the LDC line loss and the price be set at the citygate?

A27) No. Per Section A.12 and Attachment 3 – Price Component Confirmation Table, line losses are to be included in bid prices.

Q28) Material Change A20 - The solicitation is written as if the Contract Officer is notifying the Contractor of a Material change. What happens if the Contractor notifies the Contact officer? Does a Contractor have to wait until the contract year end to submit notification even if the event happens early in the contract year? The solicitation states that the tolerance of 25% will be based on the aggregate annual volumes. It seems to indicate that different month’s volumes can offset a material change event. Are you asking the contractor to take on the additional risk of the price change each month? Is the intent, to pass on more risk to the Contractor, even during a Material Change?

It goes on further to outline that if the Contracting Officer notifies the Contractor in writing within 15 days of a Material Change that the contractor will pay any costs imposed by the LDC for penalties and fines. LDCs invoke penalties on a monthly basis. If the Material change occurs for example on the 5th day of the month, and the contractor is notified on the 19th of the month, the contract may not have enough time in the balance of the month to eliminate the LDC penalties. The contractor could cut flow to zero and still have LDC penalties. The contractor would be paying penalties for something they could not rectify. Is the intent of the government to pass on penalties that cannot be remedied by the Contractor due to a Material Change?

A28) In the event that the Contractor identifies the materials change, the GSA Contracting Officer and the end use facility should be notified immediately. The aggregate annual volume will be measured from the first month of a reported significant change in usage. Twelve months from the discovery, the Government will review the aggregate volume for the pricing group to determine if a materials change has occurred. Alternatively, if a supplier notifies GSA of a material change at the end of the twelve month period, the Government will review the aggregated volume for the pricing group at that time to determine if a material change has occurred. Note that a pricing group may include one account or multiple accounts.

The contractor is responsible for nominating and balancing each account monthly. In the event of penalties caused by a materials change, any incurred penalties may be negotiated in the final settlement.

Q29) Evaluation – Commercial Items (Oct 2014) - (b) Options. What options are being considered under this solicitation?

(c) What is meant by “part of the offer”? I am assuming this would mean that if GSA asked for three facilities to be bid together at one price, that GSA could award one of the facilities and not the others. Each facility will have its own economics. And this would possibly lead to an award that is not economical to the Contractor. For instance, two large facilities with heavy weighted summer usage, and one small facility with heavy weighted usage in the winter. An award of the small facility and not the two larger ones could leave the Contractor with a permanent loss. Would GSA consider giving the contractor the option to revise pricing for the one small facility for award?

A29). Only one pricing product, either Pricing Product I or Pricing Product II, will be requested for each account included in the auctions. Additionally, per Section D.2 of the GSA solicitation, “GSA will make award(s) to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror. This means that if an award is made, GSA will award the lowest price regardless of what term it is for.

Suppliers can choose to bid on one, all or none of the auction events. However, the supplier’s bid price will apply to all accounts included in each auction RFP they bid on. For example, if a particular RFP includes five accounts the bid price will apply to all five accounts. Suppliers will not be allowed to “cherry-pick” accounts within RFPs.

Q30) Is the requirement for suppliers to bill at citygate or burnertip volumes?

A30) Per sections A.7, A.10, A.12, C.2 (4) and C.3 (9) of the solicitation, “Pricing shall be to the burnertip for each account and Contractor billed volumes must match burnertip volumes at the meter.”

Q31) What pricing components should be included in supplier bid prices?

A31) Per Section C.2 of the solicitation, Attachment 3 - Price Component Confirmation Table is included and incorporated into the terms and conditions of this solicitation and any resulting contract

Q32) If suppliers have clarifications or exceptions to GSA’s solicitation or terms and conditions should they be submitted with technical proposals?

A32) No. Per Section C.2 of the GSA solicitation, All questions and clarifications regarding technical proposal submissions and pricing products as well as any proposed exceptions to the terms of this solicitation must be submitted in writing to GSA no later than 3:00 PM EDT on June 19, 2020. Offers should not include questions, clarifications or exceptions with their technical proposal submittals as doing so may result in the proposal being deemed technically unacceptable.

Q33) If GSA requests more than one term (i.e. 12 ,24, 36 month pricing) for an account or group of accounts, which price will be awarded?

A33) Per Section D.2 of the GSA solicitation, “GSA will make award(s) to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror. This means that if an award is made, GSA will award the lowest price regardless of what term it is for. Also note that per Section D.2 of the GSA Solicitation, “The Government may, at its discretion and for any reason, choose not to make an award after receiving pricing or request that offerors re-price the solicitation's natural gas requirements at a later date.

Q34) f a supplier has submitted a technical proposal in response to previous GSA natural gas supply solicitations do they still have to submit new technical proposals?

A34) Yes. Even if an offeror has submitted a technical proposal in response to a previous GSA natural gas supply opportunities, the offeror will still need to submit a technical proposal in response to this opportunities in order to be considered for bid opportunities conducted under this solicitation.

Q35) Is the bid structured such that the suppliers have to bid on all RFPs in all states and utilities GSA runs auctions for under this solicitation?

A35) No. Suppliers can choose to bid on one, all or none of the auction events. However, note that the supplier’s bid price will apply to all accounts included in each auction RFP they bid on. For example, if a particular RFP includes five accounts the bid must apply to all five accounts. Suppliers will not be allowed to “cherry-pick” accounts within RFPs.

Q36) Will GSA provide annual usage for each account broken down on a month to month basis?

A36) Yes. GSA will provide additional information including the auction date or dates, EnelX RFP#s, service start and end date requested for each account, LDC account numbers, service addresses, tariff rate and detailed monthly usage data in the Exhibit 1 files provided to approved bidders in advance of each auction event.

Q37) When will detailed Exhibit 1 files with more detailed data including monthly usage be provided?

A37) GSA will be providing updated Exhibit 1’s on a continuous basis between late June and mid September as new auction events and opportunities are scheduled.

Q38) Will GSA be providing daily volumes in addition to monthly volumes for the included accounts?

A38) No. Only monthly volumes will be provided.

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