Attachment 2 - Sole Source Justification for BPAT Equivalent ATC Data Subscription.pdf

CUI//PROCURE

JUSTIFICATION FOR

OTHER THAN FULL & OPEN COMPETITION

PROJECT NAME:

BPAT Equivalent ATC Data

The following Justification for Other than Full & Open Competition (JOFOC) is prepared in accordance with FAR Subpart 6.302.

1. ORGANIZATION:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Executive Director Acquisition Services Division 888 1st Street, NE Washington, DC 20426

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC’s Mission is to ensure reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy for consumers. Fulfilling this mission involves pursuing two primary goals:

Ensure that rates, terms and conditions are just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential.

Promote the development of safe, reliable and efficient energy infrastructure that serves the public interest.

In an effort to support the first goal, the Commission protects consumers through market oversight and surveillance; assuring compliance with tariffs, rules, regulations, and orders; detecting, auditing, and investigating potential violations; and developing and formulating policies and regulations to address emerging issues. The Commission employs various methods in these activities, including:

Developing surveillance procedures to detect potential manipulation, anticompetitive behavior, and other anomalous activity.

Identifying potential subjects of nonpublic investigations.

Analyzing trading and other complex data related to manipulation or other improper conduct.

Analyzing long-term electric market trends.

Issuing, coordinating, and developing proposed policy reforms to address emerging issues affecting wholesale and interstate electric energy markets.

In support of these objectives, the Commission contracted OATI in 2013 to receive e-Tag data under Commission Order 771 via an OATI-developed web interface, webFERC, and data/database transfer. In 2019, the Commission contracted OATI to acquire Available Transfer Capability (ATC) and Total Transfer Capability (TTC) data. Since the initiation of those contracts, Commission staff has developed processes using the data in its efforts to monitor for the exercise of market power and market manipulation in the electricity markets.

The data the Commission receives under those contracts does not include data from the Bonneville Power Administration's Transmission system (BPAT). BPAT operates the largest and most integral transmission system in the Pacific Northwest. The BPAT data was not included in the 2019 ATC/TTC contract because it does not conform to the basic NAESB template for standard ATC data; that is why the BPAT data is deemed "Equivalent" ATC and "Equivalent" TTC data rather than ATC and TTC data.

Because transmission customers' requests for transmission service in BPAT are accepted and denied based on the Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data, Commission staff needs access to that data to perform appropriate monitoring of the electric market on the BPAT system.

In this procurement, the Division of Analytics and Surveillance (DAS) in the Office of Enforcement (OE) is requesting access to the complete BPAT's Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data available to OATI.

BPAT Equivalent and Equivalent TTC data was not included in the initial contract for data transfer of industry ATC and TTC data.

3. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT & VALUE:

Acquire an annual subscription from Open Access Technology International, Inc (OATI) to append BPAT Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data via a new data transfer to existing FERC databases. The Commission has contracted OATI since 2013 to acquire eTag data (under Order 89603018P0047); and Transmission Service Request (TSR) and Available Transfer Capacity (ATC) subscriptions data (under Order 89603018P0076). The Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data is needed for staff to form a more complete view and enable analysis and monitoring of power sales and transmission usage in the Pacific Northwest.

ANTICIPATED DOLLAR VALUE: $84,854.00 (includes base year & 4 option years)

4. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2) in accordance with: (mark only one authority)

[ ] FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies and services will satisfy Agency Requirements;

[ ] FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and compelling urgency;

[ ] Other, define below:

5. DEMONSTRATE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

The Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) is an Internet-based system for obtaining services related to electric power transmission in North America. It is the primary means by which high-voltage transmission lines are reserved for moving wholesale quantities of electricity. The OASIS concept was originally conceived with the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and formalized in 1996 through Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Orders 888 and 889. OASIS “nodes” are secure, web-based interfaces to each transmission system’s market offerings and transmission availability announcements.

Each OASIS node is to be the single point of information dissemination to the market as well as the customer portal for TSR as well as ATC Audit data. OATI is the largest commercial provider of OASIS nodes, servicing over 70 Transmission Providers, which represent 85% of the market. Based on staff research, no other vendor in the market provides this level of TSR and ATC data coverage. Additionally, no other vendor has access to the BPAT’s Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data.

6. SOURCES SOUGHT EFFORTS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_1992 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Energy_Regulatory_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Energy_Regulatory_Commission

The Commission currently accesses and analyzes eTag, TSR, and ATC Audit data received from OATI via a database to database transfer. In a March 2013 open competition, the Commission selected OATI to provide eTag data to the Commission under the access requirements formulated in Order No. 771. Since then, Commission staff has invested significant resources developing processes to ingest the eTag data into FERC’s databases and subsequently analyze the data. In 2019, the Commission contracted with OATI to acquire TSR and ATC data to expand FERC's ability to monitor and analyze power sales and transmission usage in the markets. Since then, Commission staff has invested significant additional resources in expanding its processes to include the new data streams from OATI. The proposed addition of BPAT Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data will leverage the Commission staff’s existing investment. The automated processes built have taken many years to develop and the use of another vendor at this point would result in significant additional cost to Program Offices. Integration with existing data transfer processes also provides greater ease of use when combining BPAT Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data with existing eTag, TSR, and ATC data processes. Furthermore, Commission staff has trust, a high degree of satisfaction, and a thorough understanding of complicated eTag, TSR, and ATC data structures which is facilitated by accessing the data via OATI’s data transfer solutions.

BPAT posts the Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data for a limited time on its OASIS site. In order to perform comprehensive and robust analysis, staff needs access to time series of this data over periods of one or more years. Purchasing the data in a complete database from OATI will save a significant amount of staff time downloading, standardizing and aggregating the data in preparation for analysis and ensure the quality and consistency of the data.

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR & REASONABLE PRICING:

OATI’s eTag data services were previously acquired through open competition. The service they have provided met or exceeded previous contract specifications. Staff determined fair and reasonable value by reviewing previous contract pricing. The prior contract included setup costs which would be incurred again by using new vendors with a new system. Further, staff has attempted over the previous several years to replicate the services that would be provided under this offering and determined developing such a process from scratch would be cost prohibitive.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED & RESULTS:

Staff review during the initial contracting period for eTag data determined that no other options were commercially available. Similarly, OATI is the only commercial vendor that collects Oasis data for nearly all transmission providers and balancing area authorities. As such, it is unlikely any other vendor could provide comparable commercial offering.

9. ANY OTHER FACTORS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

In the development of the Commission’s market monitoring and surveillance programs, Staff has built screening routines around OATI’s current eTag, TSR, and ATC data services. OE staff would use the supplemental BPAT Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data in conjunction with OATI's eTag, TSR and ATC data already provided by OATI. Even if BPAT-specific Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data were available from an alternative vendor, changing the source would likely require significant effort to reprogram those routines. Additionally, the existing eTag, TSR, and ATC data provided by OATI will likely be easier to join to the BPAT-specific Equivalent ATC and Equivalent TTC data also offered by OATI as opposed to another commercial vendor.

10. A LISTING OF THE SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN THE

ACQUISITION.

N/A

11. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SERVICES REQUIRED.

N/A

12. CERTIFICATIONS & APPROVALS: (Signatures are required)

Technical & Requirements Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance that are included in this document are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Denise Tabbs Date IT Policy & Resources Management Division

Contract Specialist Certification:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Hyunsue Kim Date Contract Specialist Acquisition Services Division

Contracting Officer Certification:

Kimberly Lewis Date Contracting Officer Acquisition Services Division

Competition Advocate Approval (required over $100,000.00):

I have reviewed the Justification and find the document adequately addresses the requirements of FAR Subpart 6.302-1.

Marc G. MacKeigan, Competition Advocate Date Acquisition Services Division

Legal Review: (required over $500,000.00) I have reviewed the Justification and find the document adequate to support Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Attorney Advisor Date Office of General Council

Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) Certification: (required over $1M)

Anton C. Porter Date Executive Director Office of the Executive Director