Energy Advisory RFP Pre-Proposal Questions and Answers.pdf

21260911165001 – Professional Services RFP Opportunity for Energy Advisory Services

Questions and Answers Submitted via eContracts

1. Question Subject: Minimum experience requirements

Question: Section 3 states that applicants must demonstrate experience as the prime contractor serving municipalities, governments, or institutions with annual usage of at least 300,000 MWh of electricity, 1 million MCF of natural gas, and 3 million gallons of vehicular fuel. Would the City consider an applicant that meets the electricity and natural gas experience requirements but does not have prior vehicular-fuel procurement experience at the stated threshold?

Answer: Yes.

2. Question Subject: Subcontractor/JV experience

Question: If an applicant does not independently meet one of the three minimum experience requirements, may the experience of a proposed subcontractor or joint-venture partner be used to satisfy that requirement?

Answer: Yes, we will review such a proposal.

3. Question Subject: Single client vs. multiple clients

Question: Must each minimum experience threshold be demonstrated through a single qualifying client, or may an applicant demonstrate the required experience through a combination of qualifying municipal, governmental, or institutional clients whose aggregate usage meets or exceeds the applicable threshold?

Answer: A combination of clients can meet this requirement.

4. Question Subject: Fee structure

Question: For electricity, natural gas, and vehicular-fuel procurement services, does the City have a preference between a direct-pay consulting fee paid by the City and an embedded fee structure paid through the selected energy supplier, provided the consultant remains supplier-neutral and the fee is fully transparent to the City?

Answer: The City prefers a direct-pay consulting fee paid by the City, but will review alternative proposals.

5. Question Subject: Supply contracts

Question: Can the City please provide information related to its current energy supply contract service periods, including the expiration month for each current/existing agreement (for electricity, natural gas, steam and fuels)?

Answer: Electricity expires 10/31/2031, natural gas currently expires 5/31/2027 but we have an active RFP out to select the next vendor, steam is procured through Vicinity Energy annually, and vehicle fuel expires 6/30/2030.

6. Question Subject: Current provider details

Question: Is the City able to share the name of its current provider of this energy advisory service?

Answer: It is Enel X.

7. Question Subject: Fee structure

Question: Is the City seeking a proposed not-to-exceed fixed fee for (only) Year 1 of the agreement?

Answer: The City is seeking a fixed fee proposal for the duration of the contract (initial award term of one year plus 4 optional one-year renewals, at the discretion of the City).

8. Question Subject: Fee structure

Question: Does the City pay its current provider of this service under a fixed, not-to-exceed fee structure?

Answer: Yes, the City pays its current provider of this service under a fixed, not-to-exceed fee structure.

9. Question Subject: Hedging strategy

Question: What’s the city’s current strategy? Are they with another consultant, and what is the preferred fee structure? Straight consulting fee, embedded fee?

Answer: The details are laid out in the opportunity. The current vendor is winding down their tenure; they will end right before the new contract begins. The City’s main strategy is around electricity hedging, as well as hedging natural gas, diesel, and gasoline. The City prefers a direct-pay consulting fee, but will review alternative proposals.

10. Question Subject: Vehicle fuels

Question: How important are vehicle fuels?

Answer: The City’s supplier completes vehicle fuel pricing, so the City views vehicle fuel advising as an optional service. Electricity is the most important, followed by natural gas, then vehicle fuel.

11. Question Subject: Hedging strategy

Question: What is the process of swaps and hedges?

Answer: The City is structured as a load serving entity (LSE) with our electricity supplier as our load serving supplier. We have a separate supplier for natural gas.

12. Question Subject: Hedging strategy

Question: If you hedge vehicle fuels, do you do that with your supplier?

Answer: Yes.

13. Question Subject: Pre-proposal meeting

Question: Can the deck be sent out, or was already contained in the RFP?

Answer: Yes, it will be posted to the opportunity page.

14. Question Subject: Hedging strategy

Question: It looks like you’re hedged from a power perspective until July 27th and whoever your advisor is wouldn’t come on until April. Are you planning to hedge before?

Answer: The City will enter into additional hedges if the market is favorable. The City’s hedging strategy is tied to the electricity supply contract, not to the services. Hedging approval in future fiscal years is also subject to City Council approval.

15. Question Subject: Renewable Energy Scope

Question: Please clarify the scope of renewable energy services requested. The City has one active PPA and another coming online. What percentage of the City's total load do these represent? Please also confirm whether the 100% renewable by 2030 goal is the target the selected consultant will be supporting. What ongoing administration and commercial support do the two executed PPAs require?

Answer: As part of this contract, the awardee would provide advising services related to renewable procurements and how they fit into the City’s overall hedging strategy. The current and in-progress PPAs represent around 30% of the City’s total load. The 100% renewable by 2030 goal is the target that the consultant will be supporting. The two executed PPAs require monthly support to confirm that volumes received into our PJM subaccount match invoiced volumes, verifying that minimum production guarantees are met, and providing reporting on PPA cost avoidance compared to our market hedges.

16. Question Subject: Peak Load Management

Question: Is peak load management within the scope of this RFP? We understand demand response is handled under a separate agreement. Will that agreement remain entirely separate, or should the selected consultant coordinate with it?

Answer: Yes, peak load management is within the scope of this RFP. The Demand Response agreement will remain separate and these should be thought of as separate programs. The City performs peak load management for its larger facilities.

17. Question Subject: Cost of Carry

Question: What is the City's municipal cost of carry rate, expressed in $/MWh?

Answer: The City’s blended supply rate for FY26 including Gross Receipts Tax was $70.78/MWh.

18. Question Subject: Award structure

Question: Will the contract be awarded to a single firm, or does the City contemplate multiple awards?

Answer: The contract will be awarded to a single firm.

19. Question Subject: Fee structure

Question: Should applicants propose pricing for all four option years, and will escalation be permitted?

Answer: The City will only accept fixed-fee pricing that will remain the same throughout the life of the contract (initial one-year award term plus four optional renewal years at the City’s discretion).

20. Question Subject: Hedging strategy

Question: What hedge positions does the City expect to hold at contract commencement?

Answer: The City currently holds electricity hedges for FY27 and FY28. Natural gas hedges are in place for FY27 and will be pursued for FY28 once contract execution is complete with the new natural gas vendor and if the market is favorable. Hedges for vehicle fuels are in place for FY27 and will be pursued for FY28 if the market is favorable.

21. Question Subject: Utility data

Question: Does the City currently use a bill payment provider or capture and store cost and consumption data in a utilities invoice data platform?

Answer: The City pays utility bills internally but contracts with a utility bill management platform that stores utility data.

22. Question Subject: Scope of work

Question: Can you expand on the City's expectations for this task in the scope of work:

Overall contract performance tracking/monitoring and account reconciliation

Answer: This refers to tracking the performance of hedges and monitoring any billing adjustments or reconciliations as applicable.

23. Question Subject: General requirements

Question: Can you provide additional detail on this Sustainability scope item: Quarterly electricity, natural gas, and vehicle reports shall summarize of all items identified in Section II.C.1 above?

Answer: Section II.C.1 was mislabeled – this should have read: “Quarterly electricity, natural gas, and vehicle reports shall summarize all items identified in the Service Requirements section.”

24. Question Subject: Minimum experience requirements

Question: Does a current, executed contract whose services begin November 1, 2026 satisfy the requirement that applicants "have provided" consulting services at the stated thresholds? May the three thresholds (electricity, natural gas, vehicle fuel) be met by different clients?

Answer: The thresholds may be met by different clients. The City would prefer a minimum of one year of experience but will review the proposal.

25. Question Subject: RFP

Question: Appendix A (General Provisions) and Appendix B (Participation Range Memo and Solicitation & Participation Form) are blank in the posted RFP. Can the City post them, along with the SBE/LBE participation ranges for this contract?

Answer: Appendix A (General Provisions) can be found as a separate attachment in the opportunity titled “General Consultant Services GP.” Appendix B relates to the separate attachments titled “OEO Range Memo - 9.1.2026” and “Local Business Entity Cert.” For any technical problems, please reach out to econtractphilly@phila.gov.

26. Question Subject: Hedging strategy

Question: Is the City open to financial swaps for vehicle fuel or electricity, or will hedging remain physical through suppliers and the LSP? Does the City currently have any agreements in place that would support financial hedging?

Answer: Hedging will remain physical.

27. Question Subject: Renewable support

Question: Can the City share an estimate of annual hours expected for the hourly renewable energy and energy project work?

Answer: Approximately 24 hours annually.

28. Question Subject: Reports

Question: Are hard copy reports still required, and if so, how many copies?

Answer: No, electronic copies are sufficient.

29. Question Subject: Scope

Question: Does the City intend to include other agencies within this contract's scope (the RFP mentions possible joint electricity purchasing), or would that be a separate engagement?

Answer: The City may add additional agencies as part of our purchasing strategy which would be included in this contract’s scope.

30. Question Subject: Letters of authorization

Question: Will the City provide letters of authorization or data access for PECO interval data and the LSP settlement data needed for the transition?

Answer: Yes, if needed.

31. Question Subject: Municipal Energy Master Plan

Question: What baseline years apply to the Municipal Energy Master Plan's emissions and energy-use reduction targets, and does the City track progress against them in a format it would like the consultant's reporting to match?

Answer: The City’s Municipal Energy Master Plan emissions goal is based on a 2006 baseline, and the energy use reduction targets are based on a 2016 baseline. Updates to the City’s goals are reported every two years and can be found on the City’s website. The consultant’s reports do not need to match this format.