20030813ElectQsandAs.doc

PRE-SOLICITATION CONFERENCE

F05604-03-R-0011

F.E. WARREN ELECTRIC UTILITY PRIVATIZATION

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. The notice of source selection says the period of source selection ends 10-26-04. Can we assume that this is the anticipated contract start date?

Answer: The date 10-26-04 is the anticipated date when the Source Selection Authority (SSA) will either direct the Contracting Officer to award a contract, if the Utilities Privatization (UP) effort supports contract award, or not award a contract, because the UP results do not support an award. The basis for this decision is outlined in the solicitation. The transition period would begin immediately upon any contract award.

2. SubCLIN AD Performance Bonds appears to require bonds only from deregulated utilities. Can you please remove all requirements for bonding? No other DoD privatization effort has required such an expensive item.

Answer: The mandate for Performance Bonds, previously shown in the draft RFP, Schedule B-2 has been deleted.

3. Lines 224 and 240 of Draft RFP seem to specify municipal standards. Are other standards acceptable?

Answer: The verbiage for paragraph C.3.2 has been changed to read, “Subject to applicable legal requirements, unless otherwise provided for in this contract, the Contractor shall perform the required service in accordance with the Contractor's proposed Quality Management Plan (QMP) submitted in response to the solicitation and any subsequent revision thereto. The Contractor shall perform its contract services in accordance with state utility regulatory commission and industry standards and regulations, as applicable."

4. What is the current price for the energy commodity from the suppliers? Also in order to bid on the energy commodity we need the hourly consumption data for the past year.

Answer: The requirement shown in the draft RFP for offerors to propose a price for the utility commodity has been removed from the final RFP.

5. Lines 420-423 say that regulated utilities don’t have to propose required times for service restoration or credits for meeting the time. Can a non-regulated utility propose non-regulated costs and still meet this requirement? Can a regulated utility propose non-regulated tariffs and meet this requirement? It seems that all bidders should be on equal footing in this regard.

Answer: The required response times are reflected in paragraph C.8 of the RFP. For regulated utilities governed by a state or local utility commission, that regulatory body already mandates a response time. Therefore, the final RFP wording in paragraph C.8 remains unchanged.

6. Please provide a copy of the Installation Emergency Restoration Plan.

Answer: Regarding the final RFP paragraph C.8; F.E. Warren AFB does not currently have an Emergency Restoration Plan.

7. C.3 and J1.5.2 talk about installing new secondary meters as part of transition. However, Table C lists four master meters to be installed. Are these included? What specifications will the Government require on these master meters?

Answer: Table 6 of Section J will be changed through an Amendment to the solicitation to reflect “KWh” as shown in table 5 above. The previous title of master meter will be deleted.

8. Please provide CDRLs referenced throughout RFP.

Answer: The formal requirement for CDRLs has been removed and replaced by a list of “Submittals” in the final RFP. This list is shown as attachment J-50 in the solicitation.

9. Please define Urgent Service requirement per C.8.3 in regards to electrical service. The section seems specific regarding leaks and plumbing.

Answer: The solicitation defines “Urgent Service” in paragraph C.8.3 of the final RFP. The RFP template was written to address all utilities and the examples are not all-inclusive, but are provided only for illustration.

10. Line 592 says utilities must have 50,000 customers or require Government approval for R&R, 1) will Government consider reducing this to 10,000 customers; and 2) will Government consider eliminating the numbers and specifying normal utility industry practice?

Answer: The parenthetical statement in the draft RFP paragraph C.11.2.1 was removed and is not reflected in the final RFP.

11. C.13.6.2 calls for joint inventory of non-fixed equipment, spares and personal property. However, C.5.12 says there is no tools, vehicles or equipment available. Which is correct?

Answer: Your reference to C.5.12 should read C.5.1.2. In the final RFP, paragraph C.5.1.2 states, in part, “unless listed in the final bill of sale, government owned tools, vehicles and equipment that are not a physical part of the utility system and are used by the Government for systems operation and maintenance will remain the property of the Government.” The Joint inventory required in C.13.6.2 must be accomplished to determine, in part, if any personal property will be transferred to the contractor through the bill of sale.

12. Where is the Section J-43 on Specialty Skills Training?

Answer: Attachment J-43 now appears in the final RFP

13. Please provide Service Contract Act Wage Determination applicable.

Answer: The U.S. Department of Labor Wage Determination(s) applicable to the solicitation appears as an attachment to the final RFP.

14. Please provide specific demarcations locations for connections between secondary voltages and buildings.

Answer: Demarcation will be at the service disconnect if there is no meter, at the meter if there is a meter, and at the points illustrated in the Right of Way document in special circumstances. If a specific situation is discovered that is not addressed by the right of way document, the offerors are obligated to notify the Government and request clarification.

15. The solicitation states that all new meter shall have demand registers. Do you really want this for residential housing?

Answer: Residential meters will not require demand registers. RFP Section J, Para J1.3 will be altered, in part, by amendment to read as follows:

“All electric meters installed by the Contractor will be kWh meters unless demand registers are specifically set forth in the RFP Section J in Table 5 or 6. Table 6 will also be amended to clarify the requirement.”

16. Please provide a copy of the current one-line drawing of the electrical system.

Answer: The one-line drawing is available in hard copy and will be made available upon request.

17. Please provide peak demands, energy and kVAR for the past 36 months.

Answer:

a. F.E Warren does not have adequate kVAR data to respond because the current metering does not capture kVAR or power factor.

b. However, the following information is provided for historical purposes only. Please be aware that offerors are not required to include a price for the commodity.

c. Over a 36-month period, the highest demand seen was 7,344 Kw during a one-hour period.

d. The peak monthly usage in the last 36 months was 4,203,000 Kwh.

e. The peak 12-month usage in the last 36 month was 45,477,00 Kwh.

18. How often are relays tested and calibrated. When was the last test conducted?

Answer: Relays are tested and calibrated by Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). F.E Warren CE personnel are not involved in testing relays.

19. When was the last infrared inspection conducted? Please provide a summary of any problems found that were not corrected.

Answer: F.E Warren has never accomplished an infrared inspection.

20. What is your interval of power transformer testing? What was the last date of turns ratio tests, megger tests, doble tests and oil samples?

Answer: F.E. Warren does not have any interval of power transformer testing. The turns ratio, megger, doble, and oil samples tests were last done in 1997. No further testing is scheduled.

21. Please provide the date of the last pole tests and treatments. Please provide a list of any poles recommended for replacement that have not been conducted yet.

Answer: F.E Warren does not test or treat poles. However, the poles are inspected every five years. Last inspection revealed only one pole requires replacement. This pole will be replaced before contract award.

22. Please provide a copy of the base's master plan.

Answer: The F.E Warren General Plan and the Facility Excellence Plan is available on CD Rom and will be provided upon request. This information is also available in the Bidders’ Technical Library.

23. How are outage records kept? Please provide a copy of the last three years.

Answer: Each outage is recorded on an Air Force Form 269 and is available on CD Rom upon request and is also included in the Bidders Technical Library. (your copy is enclosed)

24. Please provide a summary of results from the last voltage drop study and sectionalizing study.

Answer: F.E Warren does not have a voltage drop study or sectionalizing study on file.

25. The Section J inventory of the main substation from WAPA has items listed that are contiguous with the portions being kept by the Air Force (grounding grid, etc.). Please check this and clarify if this is what you desire; and if so provide a definition of the demarcation between these.

Answer: The government will retain the Grounding Grid at the substation and the RFP will be amended as follows:

“Section J, Paragraph J1.2.2, Table 1 will be amended, in part, to change the subtitle of “Substations” to read, “Substation” and to delete Grounding Grid from the Substation Inventory.”

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