Enclosure No. 1 - RFP Cover Letter, Instructions, & Notices.pdf

RFP No. 6-B143-P-00251-00 Enclosure 1

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

No. 6-B143-P-00251-00

Enclosure No. 1

Financial Management and Procurement Services

Procurement Department Argonne National Laboratory

9700 South Cass Avenue, Bldg. 201 Lemont, IL 60439

This document consists of three (3) parts:

• PART I: Cover Letter

• PART II: Instructions for Preparation of Proposals

• PART III: Notices to Offerors

Enclosure 1 Part I:

COVER LETTER

September 18, 2026

Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 6-B143-P-00251-00 based on Argonne Statement of Work for

“Equinox AI System” dated September 1, 2026.

To All Prospective Offerors, UChicago Argonne, LLC, operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne” or the “Laboratory”) under a prime contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is responsible for acquiring the item(s)/service(s) that are the subject of this Request for Proposal (RFP). To meet this requirement, Argonne seeks to procure a complete, scalable, rack-scale AI computing environment capable of supporting AI-focused workloads. The contemplated system solution, referred to herein as Equinox, must provide end-to-end system capability, including compute resources, networking, software, system management, storage integration, facilities interfaces, installation, testing, acceptance, documentation, maintenance, support, and consideration for potential future expansion. The Equinox system is intended to expand DOE and Argonne AI computing capacity and provide a sustainable foundation for future AI-enabled scientific computing and will be located at Argonne’s Lemont, Illinois facility.

You are invited to submit proposals to meet this requirement. Each proposal must include a complete proposal for the Base System, as defined below, and may also include one or more Alternative Commercial Structure (ACS) approaches. The Base System is the primary procurement requirement under this solicitation. Offerors are not required to submit any ACS approach in order to be eligible for award of the Base System, and submission of an ACS approach does not obligate the Laboratory to make award on that basis. Your attention is directed to the enclosed documents, which constitute the requirements of this RFP and should be fully complied with in preparing your proposal.

Enclosures

Enclosure No. 1: RFP Cover Letter, Instructions for Preparation of Proposals, and Notices to Offerors.

This enclosure provides instructions for preparation of your proposal.

Enclosure No. 2: Articles and General Provisions applicable to any resultant agreement/contract.

This enclosure is provided for your information and review and represents the anticipated contractual vehicle, including standard terms, provisions, and the statement of work.

Unless otherwise notified during any subsequent negotiations, these documents will be included in any resultant agreement. Any request for deviation from or waiver of the terms or conditions contained herein must be submitted in writing with your proposal and must identify the specific term or condition to be altered, changed, or deleted, together with the basis for the request. Such exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory.

However, a large number of exceptions, or one or more significant exceptions that do not provide benefit to the Laboratory, may result in rejection of your proposal as unacceptable.

2A. Draft Purchase Order.

2B. Appendix "A", Argonne Terms and Conditions (For Commercial Goods and

Services), ANL-71-COM, dated October 22, 2025.

[Excluding FAR 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities and FAR 52.222-

26, Equal Opportunity]

2C. Appendix "B", Argonne Statement of Work entitled, “Equinox AI System”, dated

September 1, 2026.

2D. Appendix D-8-C, Intellectual Property Provisions Commercial Supplies and

Services Requiring Delivery of Data, ANL-562IP, dated December 12, 2023.

2E. Appendix “E”, Moderate Risk On-Site Supplemental Conditions, (ANL-366M), dated October 1, 2024.

2F. Appendix “E.1” B240 – TCS Supplement to ANL366, ANL-366TCSB, dated

November 3, 2025

The following Lease-to-Ownership (LTO) documents may apply. See LTO notes below.

2G. Appendix (TBD), Master Lease to Ownership Agreement (Vendor), ANL-829-

MLAV, dated TBD.

2H. Appendix (TBD), Sample Lease to Ownership Order (Vendor), ANL-830-LTOV, dated TBD.

2I. *Appendix (TBD), Master Lease to Ownership Agreement (Non-Vendor), ANL-

826-MLANV, dated TBD.

2J. *Appendix (TBD), Sample Lease to Ownership Order (Non-Vendor), ANL-827-

LTONV, dated TBD.

2K. Appendix (TBD), Sample Lease Payment Schedule, dated TBD.

Lease-to-Ownership (LTO) Agreement

Enclosures 2G through 2K set forth the anticipated lease-to-ownership financing structure and related terms, if applicable to the final award structure.

If lease-to-ownership financing is used, the applicable financing entity must execute a Master Lease to Ownership Agreement (MLA) in a form acceptable to the Laboratory. The applicable LTO Order will establish the final transaction-specific leasing terms and will govern in the event of any conflict between the LTO Order and the MLA.

The Vendor designated agreement documents are intended primarily for transactions in which the lessor is also the equipment vendor or supplier, or a captive financing affiliate of the equipment vendor, and provides the lease-to-ownership arrangement directly to Argonne. The Laboratory anticipates that these documents will be the more commonly applicable forms for proposals submitted in response to this solicitation.

*The Non-Vendor designated agreement documents are intended primarily for transactions in which the lessor acts as a third-party financing source and is not itself the equipment vendor or seller under the purchase order. Under these forms, the lessor purchases the equipment from the vendor and then leases and ultimately resells the equipment to Argonne. These documents would be executed by the Offeror’s selected financing source.

The Laboratory’s current acquisition planning contemplates a conventional system-purchase award structure, with LTO financing used, as appropriate, for eligible equipment costs. As a condition of award for any purchase-based proposal requiring LTO financing, the Offeror shall provide, or cause to be provided, a binding LTO financing commitment available to the Laboratory on terms acceptable to the Laboratory.

For proposals based on a purchase structure, the proposed LTO arrangement shall provide for a term of forty-eight (48) months. The Offeror shall include in Enclosure No. 3 all financing information and pricing required by this solicitation, including its best proposed interest rate and any other terms necessary for the Laboratory to evaluate the financing approach.

However, if the Laboratory determines that a different award structure is in its best interest, the LTO-related documents identified above may be omitted from the final award package.

Where LTO financing is applicable, the Laboratory reserves the right to obtain financing from another source if it determines that doing so is in the Laboratory’s best interest. In that event, the financing arrangement and related documentation shall not diminish, alter, or impair the equipment provider’s obligations for warranty, maintenance, support, service, or performance under the resulting agreement. The Laboratory may exercise this right at any time from issuance of the resulting Purchase Order through the date payment to the equipment provider becomes due. The Laboratory currently anticipates finalizing any applicable financing prior to system acceptance.

Enclosure No. 3: Pricing Proposal Forms, dated September 18, 2026 (Complete, Sign, and Return).

This enclosure provides the pricing format to be used when submitting your pricing proposal(s).

3A. Base System Purchase Price Proposal Form

[This pricing proposal form is mandatory for every Offeror.]

3B. Offeror-developed Alternative Commercial Structure Price Proposal

[Enclosure No. 3B shall consist of the Offeror's ACS pricing submission prepared in the Offeror's own format; see the Price Proposal instructions in Enclosure No.

1, Part II below.]

Enclosure No. 4: Evaluation Criteria, dated September 18, 2026

This enclosure sets forth the proposal evaluation criteria and their relative importance, which will be used to determine whether a submitted proposal is acceptable and to support the Laboratory’s best-value tradeoff award decision.

Enclosure No. 5: Pre-Award Information – Representations and Certifications, ANL-70B, dated

January 13, 2025. (Complete, Sign, and Return).

[Excluding FAR 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance and FAR 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity]

This enclosure must be completed in its entirety, signed, dated, and returned with your proposal. It is considered essential, and no award will be issued without receipt of a properly executed Representations and Certifications. Please note that your company is also encouraged to have an active registration in www.SAM.gov prior to award.

http://www.sam.gov/

Enclosure No. 6: Tax Exemption Certificate, valid through March 1, 2031

This is the Laboratory’s current tax exemption certificate, provided for your reference.

Enclosure No. 7: SaaS Questionnaire, dated June 09, 2026 (Complete and Return, if applicable).

This enclosure must be completed and submitted if the proposed solution includes any cloud-hosted service, cloud communication, software-as-a-service component, or other externally hosted operational dependency.

Note that this is a request for proposal, not a contract/agreement. The Laboratory intends to issue an award resulting from this solicitation based on the best-value tradeoff methodology. This RFP is not intended and shall not be construed to commit the Laboratory to pay any cost incurred in connection with any proposal or to procure or contract for any supplies/services. The Laboratory reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals if that is determined to be in the best interest of the Laboratory. Award may be made without discussion; therefore, your proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms.

Please acknowledge receipt of this RFP by return email to atkinson@anl.gov.

Sincerely, Court Atkinson Procurement Specialist E-Mail Address: atkinson@anl.gov mailto:atkinson@anl.gov

Enclosure 1 Part II:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS

Proposal Submission Format:

The proposal shall be submitted in three (3) parts:

• Part I – Technical Proposal

• Part II - Business Management Proposal

• Part III – Price Proposal.

Each part shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of and concurrently with evaluation of the other. In no instance shall Part I, Part II, and/or Part III be bound together or presented in such manner as to make them not severable. The Technical and Business Management Proposals shall not contain any reference to pricing. The Technical Proposal must disclose your project approach in as much detail as possible including, but not limited to, the requirements of the Technical Proposal instructions.

Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the Offeror’s lack of cost consciousness. Proposals should be prepared with maximum economy, consistent with this procurement, to ensure that the resources of both Offerors and Laboratory evaluators are efficiently utilized.

Electronic Submission

EMAIL SUBMITTAL OF PROPOSAL IS REQUIRED.

Proposals shall be e-mailed with each part attached as a separate file:

• one file for Part I - Technical Proposal;

• a second file for Part II – Business Management Proposal; and

• a third file for Part III – Price Proposal.

DO NOT INTERMINGLE THESE DOCUMENTS.

Submissions not conforming to all the requirements of this solicitation may result in rejection of your offer.

If file sizes require multiple emails, the Offeror shall clearly label each email and attachment with the RFP number, Offeror name, proposal part, and sequence number.

Proprietary Information

Offerors should indicate on the first page and on each subsequent page of their proposal only those pages, sections, paragraphs, or areas, which they consider to be proprietary (do not mark the entire proposal proprietary). Offerors should refer to the enclosure entitled “Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications,” second page “Notice”. UChicago Argonne, LLC operator of Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne or Laboratory) assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked data and may use or disclose such data for any purpose.

General Proposal Baseline and Structure Requirements

A responsive proposal must include a complete proposal for the required Base System in accordance with the Statement of Work. For purposes of this solicitation, the Base System is the mandatory proposal baseline and consists of sixteen (16) NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 rack-based compute racks, together with all associated equipment, software, networking, management, installation, integration, documentation, and support necessary to provide an operational, production-capable resource. The Base System proposal shall represent a complete initial deployment and shall not depend on later delivery of additional compute racks, later installation of expansion infrastructure, or another future phase in order to satisfy the required production capability.

The required Base System proposal must satisfy the applicable technical, operational, facilities, security, support, acceptance, and production-readiness requirements set forth in the Statement of Work. The Laboratory reserves the right, during discussions, negotiations, or prior to award, to reduce the number of racks to be acquired in order to balance budget, schedule, facilities, and mission needs.

In addition to the required Base System, an Offeror may submit one or more clearly identified Alternative Commercial Structure (ACS) approaches in accordance with the SOW, provided each ACS approach is separately organized, complete, and independently evaluable. Any such additional approach shall not replace, modify, or substitute for the required Base System proposal unless expressly requested by amendment to this solicitation. Standalone ACS proposals are not permitted and will not be considered. Any proposal that does not include a complete Base System proposal will be considered non-responsive.

Part I – Technical Proposal:

General Requirements Enclosure No. 4 identifies the technical and related criteria that will be used to evaluate the merits of proposals in response to the Statement of Work (SOW). The Technical Proposal shall address all requirements set forth in the SOW and all other applicable technical provisions of this RFP.

To facilitate the Laboratory’s review, the Technical Proposal shall be presented as an integrated narrative and should also include a clear point-by-point response to the requirements and evaluation areas contained in the RFP and SOW.

Responses must provide sufficient technical detail to demonstrate how the Offeror will satisfy each requirement and should not rely solely on conclusory statements such as “Offeror complies,” except where such a response is appropriate.

Minimum Technical Proposal Content The Technical Proposal should include, at a minimum, the following sections, which collectively address the requirements of the Equinox SOW:

1. Executive summary

2. Proposed system technical solution

3. Proposed Base System and future expansion approach

4. Delivery schedule, manufacturing readiness, and supply-chain plan

5. Compute-rack and pod architecture

6. High-speed East-West network architecture

7. North-South Juniper/Apstra Ethernet network architecture

8. Software required for system operation and optional software offerings, including a description of each component and its packaging (e.g., licensing, delivery mechanism, and update model)

9. Facilities requirements, including power, cooling, space, floor plan, and data-center interfaces

10. Installation scope, responsibilities, and proposed demarcation points

11. Project management and implementation plan

12. Maintenance, support, and lifecycle management

13. Assumptions, exceptions, risks, and Laboratory dependencies

14. External dependencies and cloud independence

15. Alternative Commercial Structures approach (if proposed)

16. Confirmed understanding and acceptance of the joint development of the Acceptance Test Plan, including explicit acknowledgment that successful completion of the agreed tests is a prerequisite for Argonne’s formal acceptance and payment for the system

Required Identification of Proposal Elements The Technical Proposal shall clearly distinguish between:

• mandatory requirements and proposed compliance,

• preferred or recommended approaches,

• optional features,

• assumptions,

• dependencies,

• exceptions,

• risks,

• and proposed alternatives, if applicable.

Implied Scope The Offeror shall not rely on implied scope. All products, services, licenses, software components, interfaces, installation activities, support obligations, management components, and dependencies required for a functioning solution shall be explicitly identified. Service offerings must include a complete description of the services provided, including applicable technical support terms.

Alternative Commercial Structure Approach (if proposed) If the Offeror proposes an Alternative Commercial Structure (“ACS”) approach, it shall be submitted in addition to, and separately from, the required Base System proposal. Each ACS approach shall be clearly identified, self-contained, and sufficiently detailed to permit independent evaluation by the Laboratory.

Each proposed ACS approach must be production-capable and must include, incorporate, or otherwise clearly provide a compliant Base System. Each ACS approach shall satisfy the applicable mandatory requirements of the Statement of Work, including requirements relating to mission suitability, technical functionality, facilities compatibility, installation, integration, acceptance, operations, support, security, operational transparency, and interoperability.

The Technical Proposal for any ACS approach shall describe, at a minimum:

• the technical architecture and any differences from the required Base System proposal;

• the operational and service-delivery model;

• the installation, integration, and transition-to-service approach;

• the support model and operational responsibility framework;

• the security model, remote-access approach, and operational dependencies;

• any external, vendor-operated, or third-party technical dependency;

• any assumptions, constraints, exclusions, or limitations affecting performance or mission suitability; and

• how the ACS approach satisfies the applicable mandatory requirements of the Statement of Work.

If an ACS approach satisfies a requirement through a different operating, support, service-delivery, or ownership model than the required Base System proposal, the Offeror shall clearly identify that difference and explain how the requirement is satisfied. Offerors are advised that, for a conventional system acquisition, the Laboratory expects the Base System to be operated by ALCF following acceptance, whereas an ACS approach may propose a different operating model if clearly described and otherwise acceptable to the Laboratory. If the Offeror considers any requirement not applicable to a proposed ACS approach, the Offeror shall identify that requirement and provide the basis for that position.

Business, organizational, contractual, ownership, and related commercial information associated with any proposed ACS approach shall be provided in the Business/Management Proposal, and pricing information shall be provided in the Price Proposal.

Dependencies Where the Offeror proposes any solution dependency, including but not limited to dependencies on remote services, vendor-operated platforms, external telemetry endpoints, cloud-hosted management, cloud control planes, or externally hosted operational systems, the Offeror shall clearly identify and explain that dependency. The system must be capable of operating within the Laboratory environment without operational dependency on externally hosted services.

Cloud Services / SaaS Questionnaire If the proposed solution or any proposed approach includes any cloud-hosted service, software-as-a-service (SaaS) component, cloud communication, externally hosted management platform, external telemetry endpoint, cloud control plane, or other externally hosted operational dependency, the Offeror shall clearly identify and describe that dependency in the Technical Proposal. In such cases, the Offeror shall also complete and submit Enclosure No. 7, SaaS Questionnaire, with its proposal.

Offerors are advised that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) treats cloud services as an extension of the Laboratory’s information system. Accordingly, any proposed use of cloud services may require review by the Argonne Cyber Security Program Office (CSPO) and the DOE Argonne Site Office to determine whether the proposed service meets applicable DOE and Argonne cyber-security requirements. Failure to disclose applicable cloud or externally hosted dependencies, or failure to provide a completed Enclosure No. 7 where required, may adversely affect the Laboratory’s evaluation of the proposal and may render the proposal ineligible for award.

Bill of Materials The Offeror shall submit, as a separate attachment to the Technical Proposal and containing no pricing information, a complete Bill of Materials (BOM) for use in any resulting award as the applicable order BOM. The BOM shall include an itemized listing of all equipment, software, licenses, accessories, and other deliverable items proposed.

Contractor part numbers, manufacturer part numbers, SKUs, and applicable hardware or software version or revision information shall be included, as appropriate.

The BOM shall clearly distinguish:

• items required for the Base System;

• items associated with any proposed additional capability or phased expansion;

• optional items, if any; and

• items associated solely with any alternative commercial structure approach.

Part II – Business/Management Proposal:

Part II shall include, at a minimum, the following information for a responsive Business/Management Proposal. To facilitate the review of proposals, the information presented should follow the format and sequence outlined below.

A. Financial Condition and Capability Contractor shall provide their most recently completed quarterly or yearly financial statements, inclusive of notes to the consolidated financial statements, in addition to any other supporting documentation that demonstrates the financial health or viability of Offeror’s organization. Financial statements should contain prior period(s) information. Audited Financial Statements are preferred but not required. Unaudited financial statements may result in additional inquiry and/or required supporting evidence.

Where the Offeror proposes lease-to-ownership financing, vendor-arranged financing, third-party financing, or another alternative commercial structure, the Offeror shall also provide sufficient information to allow the Laboratory to assess the financial viability, contractual practicality, and performance risk of the proposed arrangement, including the identities and roles of any financing entities, special-purpose entities, lessors, affiliates, or major subcontractors.

B. Organizational and Performance Information

The Offeror should provide sufficient information regarding its organizational structure, relevant experience, major subcontractors or integration partners, and ability to perform the required work. The Laboratory may consider such information in making a contractor responsibility determination.

C. Acceptance Period of Proposal

Offeror shall provide a statement that the proposal will remain valid for acceptance for a minimum period of seventy-five (75) days after the closing date set for receipt of proposals.

D. Authorized Representatives

Offeror shall provide the names, titles, email address, and telephone numbers of the person(s) authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Offeror with the Laboratory.

E. Pre-Award Information Include a fully completed and signed “ANL-70B Representations and Certifications” with your proposal. A copy of the required Representations and Certifications is included as Enclosure No. 5 to this RFP. In addition, the Offeror is encouraged to register in the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/) prior to submitting a proposal.

F. Exceptions and Deviations

Offeror shall provide comments describing whether or not they accept proposed agreement, its schedule articles, statement of work and general/specific terms and conditions. The exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions taken must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation(s).

Such exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing benefit to the Laboratory may result in rejection of your proposal(s) as unacceptable.

G. Alternative Commercial Structure Information (if proposed)

If the Offeror proposes an Alternative Commercial Structure approach, the Business/Management Proposal shall include sufficient business, organizational, contractual, and financial-viability information to permit the Laboratory to assess responsibility, accountability, and practicality of the proposed arrangement.

Such information shall include, as applicable:

• identification of the entity or entities that will own, finance, operate, manage, maintain, or support the proposed solution;

• the roles and relationships of any affiliates, lessors, financing entities, special-purpose entities, major subcontractors, or service providers;

• the proposed allocation of contractual, operational, administrative, maintenance, and support responsibilities among those entities;

• if the proposed ACS approach includes Contractor operation, vendor-managed services, or another non-Laboratory operating model for the Base System, the associated allocation of operational responsibility, support responsibility, access, accountability, and service handoff obligations;

• the proposed term structure and any renewal, extension, termination, transition, or end-of-term provisions relevant to responsibility and contract administration;

• the proposed ownership, title, custody, and control arrangements during and after performance, as applicable;

• any material third-party dependencies or approvals required for performance; and

• any other information necessary for the Laboratory to assess the organizational and business practicality of the proposed ACS approach.

The Business/Management Proposal shall not include pricing, rates, or other cost information, which shall be provided only in the Price Proposal.

Offerors are advised that any proposed Alternative Commercial Structure (ACS) approach may require additional or revised intellectual property, data rights, software licensing, access, or related terms and conditions beyond those reflected in the Laboratory’s standard commercial contract documents. The Offeror shall identify any such requirements, assumptions, restrictions, or proposed terms in its Business/Management Proposal and shall describe the basis for them sufficiently to permit Laboratory evaluation.

Part III – Price Proposal:

For the required Base System, the Laboratory anticipates a firm-fixed-price commercial acquisition structure. The Offeror shall complete and submit Enclosure No. 3A, Price Proposal Form - Required Base System. Submission of Enclosure No. 3A is required for all Offerors and is required for a proposal to be considered responsive.

https://www.sam.gov/

The Offeror shall provide pricing for all items required by Enclosure No. 3A. As reflected in Enclosure No. 3A, the Laboratory reserves the right, prior to award, to reduce the number of compute racks included in the required Base System, and Offerors shall provide the corresponding price adjustments requested therein. The Offeror shall also furnish any narrative information necessary to explain or clarify the proposed pricing, including, as applicable, assumptions, contingencies, qualifications, financing conditions, and other relevant pricing considerations.

The Offeror shall not assume that any proposed financing arrangement will alter the underlying equipment provider’s obligations for delivery, warranty, maintenance, support, or performance.

If the Offeror proposes additional capability, phased deployment, or future expansion pricing, such pricing shall be separately identified from the required Base System pricing and shall clearly state the associated quantities, assumptions, dependencies, delivery timing, and any pricing conditions or validity limitations. Optional items, if any, shall also be separately identified and shall not be included in the required Base System total unless expressly stated.

Alternative Commercial Structure Approach (if proposed)

If the Offeror submits one or more Alternative Commercial Structure (ACS) approaches, the Offeror shall, in addition to the required Enclosure No. 3A for the Base System, submit a separate Enclosure No. 3B for each proposed ACS approach. Because proposed ACS approaches may vary materially among Offerors in business model, pricing structure, ownership model, service delivery model, and related commercial terms, Argonne is not prescribing a preformatted pricing form for ACS submissions. Each Offeror shall prepare its own Enclosure No. 3B format for each proposed ACS approach, provided that each submission is clearly labeled, separately organized, complete, and sufficiently detailed to permit meaningful evaluation by the Laboratory.

Each ACS pricing submission shall correspond to one specific ACS approach. If the Offeror proposes more than one ACS approach, a separate Enclosure No. 3B shall be submitted for each such approach. Submission of Enclosure No.

3B does not relieve the Offeror of the requirement to submit a complete Enclosure No. 3A for the required Base System proposal. Standalone ACS submissions are not permitted. Each Enclosure No. 3B shall be signed and dated by a person authorized to bind the Offeror. By such signature, the Offeror certifies that the Enclosure No. 3B submission constitutes its authorized price proposal for the identified ACS approach and that the prices, terms, assumptions, and related pricing information set forth therein are submitted for purposes of evaluation, negotiation, and potential incorporation into any resulting award.

Each Enclosure No. 3B shall clearly explain the proposed commercial model and shall provide sufficient transparency for the Laboratory to understand and evaluate the expected cost, pricing mechanics, assumptions, dependencies, and contractual implications of the proposed ACS approach. At a minimum, each ACS pricing submission shall identify, as applicable:

• non-recurring charges;

• recurring charges;

• usage-based charges;

• reserved-capacity charges;

• minimum commitments;

• implementation, installation, onboarding, transition, or activation charges;

• support and service charges;

• financing-related charges;

• third-party pass-through charges;

• renewal pricing or renewal-pricing methodology;

• early termination charges or methodology;

• end-of-term purchase, return, removal, migration, deinstallation, or transition costs;

• pricing assumptions, exclusions, contingencies, utilization assumptions, escalation provisions, indexing mechanisms, or later-adjustment provisions;

• any pricing dependent on third-party arrangements, financing entities, cloud or external services, volume commitments, consumption levels, term commitments, or other external conditions; and

• the total anticipated cost to the Laboratory over the initial evaluated term, together with the basis used to calculate that amount.

The Offeror shall clearly identify any pricing element that is estimated, contingent, indexed, variable, usage-dependent, subject to later adjustment, dependent on utilization, or dependent on third-party commercial arrangements. The Offeror shall also clearly describe any pricing element or contractual feature that could materially affect the Laboratory’s total cost, flexibility, transition rights, continuity of operations, or end-of-term obligations.

Enclosure 1 Part III:

NOTICES TO OFFERORS

I. Explanation to Prospective Offerors

Any prospective Offeror desiring a clarification, explanation, or interpretation of any of the solicitation materials including the statement of work, etc. must request it in an email to atkinson@anl.gov by 4:30PM CST on September 23, 2026, to allow a reply to be provided to all prospective Offerors. Any information given to a prospective Offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all prospective Offerors as a written addendum or amendment to the solicitation if such information is necessary for submission of an offer, or if the lack of the information would be prejudicial against any other prospective Offeror. Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of an agreement will not be binding.

II. Submission of Offers

Offers shall be submitted via e-mail to atkinson@anl.gov by 4:30 PM, CST on October 5, 2026. Please reference the RFP number 6-B143-P-00251-00 in the subject line.

ATTENTION: Court Atkinson Procurement Specialist Email: atkinson@anl.gov

Proposals will be accepted by electronic delivery only, primarily via e-mail; however, cloud-hosted download links are acceptable when file size requires an alternative to e-mail transmission.

A. Required Identification on Proposal

The first page of the proposal must show:

1. The solicitation number.

2. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of the Offeror

3. Name, title, and signature of person authorized to sign the proposal. (Proposals signed by an agent should be accompanied by evidence of that agent’s authority unless that evidence has been previously furnished to the issuing office.)

B. Late Proposals and Revisions

Any proposal received at the email designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers will not be considered unless it is received before award is made and it is determined by Argonne to be in the best interest of the Laboratory.

C. Proposal Modifications Offerors may submit modifications to their proposals at any time before the solicitation closing date and time, and may submit modifications in response to an amendment, or to correct a mistake at any time before award.

D. Revised Proposals After Closing Following the solicitation closing date, Offerors may submit revised proposals only if requested or allowed by the Laboratory Procurement Official.

E. Withdrawal of Proposals Proposals may be withdrawn by email notice received at any time before award.

III. Selection and Award

A. Basis for Award The Laboratory intends to award an agreement(s) resulting from this solicitation to one or more responsible Offeror(s) whose proposal(s) conforms to this RFP and is determined to represent the best value to the Laboratory through a best-value tradeoff conducted in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in Enclosure No. 4.

A proposal may be eliminated from consideration if the proposal is so grossly and obviously deficient as to be totally unacceptable (e.g. should the proposal not represent a reasonable initial effort to address itself to the essential requirements of the RFP or clearly demonstrate that the Offeror does not understand the requirements of the RFP).

B. Responsibility Determination

As part of the evaluation process, the Laboratory will conduct a determination of contractor responsibility. In connection with this determination, the Laboratory may obtain, from available sources, information regarding an Offeror’s experience and past performance, and may consider such information in its evaluation.

C. Discussions, Clarifications, and Negotiations

The Laboratory may request oral presentations, written clarifications, discussions, revised proposals, facility surveys, demonstrations, financing clarifications, or other information as may be necessary to assist in the evaluation process.

The Laboratory reserves the right, however, to:

• make a selection without discussion with any Offeror;

• reject any and all offers;

• waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received;

• request best and final offers or proposal revisions from some, all, or none of the Offerors;

• negotiate one or more aspects of technical scope, commercial structure, delivery schedule, support, financing, options, or terms and conditions with one or more Offerors.

Accordingly, each initial proposal should be submitted on the most favorable terms the Offeror can provide to the Laboratory.

D. Competitive Range

If discussions are deemed necessary and the Laboratory Procurement Official determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Laboratory Procurement Official may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

E. Alternative Commercial Structures Approach The Laboratory may evaluate clearly identified alternative commercial structure approaches submitted within a proposal. The Base System is the primary procurement under this solicitation. Submission of an ACS approach is optional and is not required for award of the Base System. Submission of an ACS approach does not guarantee that any ACS approach will be considered for award, and award of the Base System does not obligate the Laboratory to award any ACS approach. To be eligible for consideration, an ACS approach must be associated with the same Offeror’s complete and compliant Base System proposal and must provide sufficient transparency to permit meaningful technical, operational, business, risk, and cost evaluation. No ACS approach will be selected for award unless the associated Offeror’s required Base System proposal is determined to represent the best-value underlying Base System procurement and the ACS approach itself is also determined to provide the best overall value to the Laboratory. The Laboratory may reject any alternative approach that, in its judgment, introduces unacceptable risk, insufficient transparency, unacceptable operational dependency, unclear accountability, or material inconsistency with the Laboratory’s mission, security, operational, or contractual requirements.

IV. Amendments To Solicitation

If this solicitation is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged. Offerors shall acknowledge, in writing, receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by the date and time specified in the amendment(s).

V. Proposal Preparation Cost

This Request for Proposal does not commit the Laboratory to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal, and such costs shall not be paid.

VI. Reserved Rights

The Laboratory reserves the right, consistent with applicable procurement requirements and its prime contract obligations, to:

• amend, postpone, suspend, or cancel this solicitation;

• request additional information from any Offeror;

• seek clarification of any proposal;

• award all, part, or none of the contemplated scope;

• negotiate with one or more Offerors;

• and make no award if determined to be in the best interest of the Laboratory.