FBO_Posting_Limited_Source_Justification.docx

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION FOR FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE PROGRAM

Upon the basis of the following justification, prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(c), I, as the Contracting Officer, hereby approve the use of sources limited to fewer than those required in FAR 8.405-2 pursuant to the authority of FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B).

Identification Numbers: PR-OARM-19-00820

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Cincinnati Acquisition Division (CAD), Cincinnati, Ohio, proposes to enter into a GSA task/delivery order on the basis of other than full and open competition for the Office of Mission Support, Administration & Resources Management, Office of Administration, Safety and Sustainability Division (SSD).

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

This is a limited source justification, Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) acquisition for the procurement of a task/delivery order under Schneider Electric’s GSA Contract GS-21F-020CA as a result of EPA transition out of an Interagency Agreement with the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Technical Information Service (NTIS) task order NTIS-2333-1, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advanced Metering Project”, awarded to Schneider Electric USA, Inc. which was competed using full and open competition ordering procedures. This task/delivery order will provide EPA with uninterrupted services while a study is conducted to determine the best path forward for future analysis. During this period EPA will evaluate the following: 1) The number of comparable/capable vendors to provide the Agency a COTS system for Advanced Metering; 2) Level of Service (Quality) to provide similar services (software on the EPA server w/ security adherence and suite of software to perform the same function of PME for operational management of our 3 largest laboratories); 3) Cost analysis (magnitude of order) to replace existing hardware & software with a comparable vendor; and 4) Impact on laboratory operations with replacement of existing system (time + day to day functionality).

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

The web-based Schneider Electric Enterprise Energy Management Information System (EEMIS) and Power Monitoring Expert (PME) software allows EPA to monitor the agency utility level advanced utility meters and has been in use at EPA since December 2005. The Standard Edition we currently have includes Dashboards, Trend Analysis Reporting, Data Quality, and Administrator modules.

Schneider Electric will continue to provide support to have EPA host EEMIS and PME systems. The contractor will provide all the personnel, facilities, tools, and supplies necessary for performing the required services. The contractor will provide the necessary security services, expertise, methodology framework, functional, technical, integration, and management services, and deliverables, to host the EPA EEMIS and PME systems.

Schneider Electric is also responsible for monitoring the operation and performance of the systems and the network infrastructure that support the EEMIS and PME systems. They install, upgrade, and maintain hardware, operating systems, software, service packs and patches as necessary. They also manage files and volumes on the servers and monitor and track system resources such as memory, CPU utilization, and server load levels.

Schneider Electric will continue to monitor the website update process and provide other configuration changes and file changes, as needed. Provide routine maintenance and administration for the website. The estimated value of this requirement is $_________ for the performance period.

4. An identification of the LSJ rationale, and if applicable, a demonstration of the contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a)(1), as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i) (B) – Only one source is capable of responding due to the unique or specialized nature of the work.

Schneider Electric of Boston, MA is uniquely qualified to provide these services to the EPA based upon the following:

EPA had an Interagency Agreement with the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Technical Information Service (NTIS) task order NTIS-2333-1, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advanced Metering Project”, which was awarded to Schneider Electric using full and open competition ordering procedures in December 2005. EPA is transitioning out of the Interagency Agreement at the request of the Department of Commerce (DOC).

Schneider Electric is the sole proprietor of the web-based Enterprise Energy Management Information System (EEMIS) and Power Monitoring Expert (PME) software that allows EPA to monitor the agency utility level advanced utility meters. The Standard Edition we currently have includes Dashboards, Trend Analysis Reporting, Data Quality, and Administrator modules. The current vendor supports the EPA with the existing software system and hardware infrastructure, which performs essential and statutory nationwide functions including facility operation, maintenance, optimization, advanced utility metering data acquisition for reporting EPA facilities, analyzing the validity of the data, determining the proper functioning of the advanced utility meters, providing data reporting metrics and providing knowledge and expertise to the STSB and other clients, where appropriate. Schneider Electric has the proprietary knowledge and expertise of the existing system and that makes them uniquely qualified to support the system’s operations and functionality. In addition, they hold exclusive thorough knowledge of federal advanced utility metering federal protocols, utility meter configurations, and customized meter-to-server communication to the Agency.

The knowledge transfer and learning curves associated with transitioning to a new vendor which would provide a new system is a risk to the Agency at this time. The risk includes, but is not limited to: operation, management, optimization of the Agency’s three (3) largest laboratories; adherence to EPAct 2005, EISA 2007, Executive Order 13834 and the data acquisition of the Agency’s utility metering daily/ weekly/monthly data acquisition of Department of Energy reporting facilities. The acquisition of mandated information could be compromised and/or lost if advanced utility data is delayed or halted altogether. In addition, the Agency would lose the Agency’s utility metering daily/weekly/monthly data acquisition for Department of Energy reporting. The Agency would not be able to adhere and keep pace with OMB and DOE requirements. This would also create concerns regarding EPA’s ability to support sustainability as well as energy/water conservation and management to comply with annual federal energy and water reduction targets. Information in the existing system is relied upon by a variety of functions within the Agency in order to analyze, identify and develop strategic and operational opportunities.

The current vendor’s performance has been satisfactory or better and they maintain an active contract on the GSA schedule.

5. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The EPAs Office of Administration Resources Management entered into an Interagency Agreement with the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Technical Information Service (NTIS) task order NTIS-2333-1, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advanced Metering Project”, which was competed using full and open competition ordering procedures.

Using historical Schneider Electric task order pricing, plus the current Schneider Electric Authorized GSA schedule GS-21F-020CA, best value pricing was determined. In addition, Schneider Electric was contacted directly in order to determine if it utilizes third party resellers in an effort to ascertain cost realism analysis for comparison. As a result of this research, it was confirmed the web-based Enterprise Energy Management Information System (EEMIS) and Power Monitoring Expert (PME) software that allows EPA to monitor the agency utility level advanced utility meters is not available from other vendors, and that Schneider Electric is the sole source provider, therefore eliminating the ability to conduct a comparative price analysis.

The probable costs for continued support with Schneider Electric is reflected in the IGCE. To the extent practicable, the premise in development of the IGCE was to provide a price for traditional software service support costs for EEMIS and PME, but with the understanding that due to the aging and unpredictable existing hardware, we factored costs for additional technical consultation as well as a contingency for replacement of a few meters per year due to their increasing age. FAR 8.404(d) requires ordering activities to perform a price evaluation in accordance with FAR 8.405-2(d). The latter provision requires ordering activities to consider the level of effort and mix of labor in determining best value. The labor mix and LOE reflected in the IGCE is based on historical usage for these support services incurred in the current contract. The labor rates for the required labor categories are established in Schneider Electric’s GSA Schedule, which have already been determined to be fair and reasonable by GSA. Given that Schneider Electric is the only vendor for the required support and that it would not be economically feasible to purchase, install and implement an entirely new system (see Section 7 below), and based on the demonstrated need for technical support as reflected in the IGCE labor categories and level of effort estimates, and on the reasonableness of the labor rates as determined by GSA, EPA has determined that the order will represent the best value to the Agency. Moreover, in accordance with FAR 8.405-4, EPA will seek additional discounts for all the items and labor associated with this requirement.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders, and the results of the research, or a statement why market research was not conducted. A statement must be made that the supplies and services are available from the FSS.

Market research was conducted among GSA schedule holders in July 2019, and are reflected in the Market Research Report for this acquisition. The Schneider Electric software products and labor categories used at EPA are available on GSA schedule as confirmed on GS-21F-020CA. Internet searches were conducted using GSA schedules for comparative value analysis. Of the vendors on GSA schedule who provide web-based Enterprise Energy Management Information System (EEMIS) and Power Monitoring Expert (PME) software that would allow EPA to monitor the agency utility level advanced utility meters. asset management solutions, none offered any support for the existing Schneider Electric software products or services installed at the Agency.

7. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

Based on the market research conducted, the work to install EEMIS and PME on EPA servers will have to be recreated. That is not only a year of time lost but also $_______ of start-up costs that will be lost. Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) will also need to be replaced at the sites which would be an additional $_______ (33 RTUs at $______). Additional costs will be incurred with each existing meter that is not compatible with a new system’s RTUs, those meters will also have to be replaced $________ (15 meters at $_______). An additional two (2) years of service would be required which would make any new contract at least a 3-year contract $______ (24 months at $______). The total minimum cost for a 3-year contract with a new contractor would be approximately $________.

Furthermore, while the use of Schneider Electric software products has restricted rights of U.S. Government end users (the software is a “commercial item” as that term is defined in 48 C.F.R. 2.101, July 2019, there are no such restrictions on data rights for EPA. To ensure risks have been considered in order to remove barriers to further competition, data rights for proprietary software was considered for this requirement (as well as types of software categories). Unrestricted data rights allow for EPA to export any data created in the performance of work under contract into other EPA systems such as the financial system. Once obtained, the data can be migrated to a complementary asset and inventory management software product such as financial systems software. Should the EPA require a subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services, the requirement can be competed without need for exceptions to competition requirements for Federal Supply Schedule orders. Market research will continue to be conducted for any future requirements in order to avoid the continued noncompetitive acquisition of the requirement. Given the Schneider Electric’s software has been in use since 2005, and given the typical useful life of an enterprise system is 10 years, the determination to remain with the Schneider Electric system was made for this requirement, with the risk too high for the Agency to migrate and transform the IT infrastructure to a competitive product.

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

The Agency will continue to evaluate the agency’s energy data software platform needs as the smart buildings program evolves. Collectively, these mitigation efforts ensure that most of the annual money associated with EPA’s advanced metering system is spent via competitive means. In addition, the evolving nature of EPA’s energy data and enterprise software requirements will continue to be reevaluated as new national building systems are rolled out. In addition, the Agency will continue to monitor the marketplace to determine if Schneider Electric allows third-party access to its source codes for their software products.

The ordering activity Contracting Officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the Contracting Officer’s knowledge and belief and evidence that the supporting data that form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by technical/program personnel.

Certification

Project Officer: Rafael Hernandez

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

_______/s/_____________ __________ Signature Date

Contracting Officer: Scott Tharp

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this LSJ does not exceed $700K, this review serves as approval.

_______/s/_____________ __________ Signature Date