QUESTIONS_AND_ANSWERS___TELECONFERENCE.doc

GSA NEW ENGLAND ELECTRICITY PROCUREMENT

SOLICITATION GS-00P-13-BSD-0969

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM 07/31/13 TELECONFERENCE

ATTENDEES

GSA Energy Division Contracting Officer - Ken Shutika

GSA Region 1 – Paul King GSA Region 1 – John Gilbert

World Energy – Janet Loop World Energy – Kyle Mason

SAIC – Chris McCall

Con Ed Solutions – John Clark

Constellation Energy – David Selawski

Direct Energy – Dave Gilbert

Dominion Retail – Jake Thomas

Easy Energy – Margaret Campbell

Freedom Energy Logistics – Gus Fromuth Freedom Energy Logistics – Howard Plant GDF Suez - Barbara Rodriguez

GDF Suez – Trisa Seawell

GDF Suez – David Uhl

GDF Suez – Robert Deshazo

Hess Corp - Kevin George Hess Corp - Victoria Bukreeva Hudson Energy - Andrew Schlesinger

Hudson Energy - Geno Cortina

Liberty Power - Elizabeth Guerra

Liberty Power - Keena Hammond

South Jersey Energy Services – Victoria Marchese South Jersey Energy Services – Ed McFadden

Transcanada – Lisa Kelly

Verde Energy USA – Ann Marie Toss

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q1: Will GSA allow for both dual and consolidated billing?

A1: GSA requires dual billing (billing directly from suppliers) for Pricing Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 and prefers dual billing for Pricing Group 5 (firm-fixed price Pricing Group). Suppliers planning to bid on Pricing Group 5 should specify whether they plan to utilize dual or consolidated billing for Pricing Group 5.

Q2: Is the 85% on-peak product a load following product or a wholesale block product?

A2: The answer will be addressed in GSA’s revised solicitation (To Be Released) Q3: Which months are covered by the 85% load following on-peak pricing product?

A3: The answer will be addressed in GSA’s revised solicitation (To Be Released) Q4: Should capacity be treated as a pass-through or included in bid prices?

A4: Capacity should be passed-through at cost for all pricing groups except Pricing Group 5 which is the firm-fixed pricing group for Maine accounts. Pricing product definitions, including detailed information on which costs should be included in bid prices for each Pricing Group, are included in Section C.2 of the solicitation.

Q5: As this solicitation was released as an unrestricted procurement, will GSA give any preference for small-businesses?

A5: There is no evaluated preference.

Q6: Which suppliers would Section D.2 “Post Award Requirement for Small Business Subcontracting Plan” apply to?

A6: Per page 19 of the solicitation, any supplier other than a small business supplier that is awarded a contract with an estimated annual value that exceed $650,000 will be required to submit a Small Business Plan to GSA within two (2) weeks of contract award date.

Q7: In the event that a contract is awarded to a supplier that is not a small business and the estimated annual value exceeds $650,000, does GSA play a role in matching these large business suppliers with small businesses for purposes of the Small Business Subcontracting Plan?

A7: No. The decision on who to subcontract with is up to the prime contractor.

Q8: If interested bidders have additional questions regarding GSA’s solicitation terms, pricing product definitions, or other items prior to the technical proposal due date, who should they contact?

A8: Interested bidders should contact the GSA Contracting Officer for this procurement, Ken Shutika at ken.shutika@gsa.gov or (202) 329-1826. Please note that all bidders are encouraged to submit any additional questions well prior to the Technical Proposal due date of August 13, 2013. GSA prefers questions to be submitted via e-mail.

Q9: Are Pricing Groups 3 and 4 the same?

A9: No. GSA is requesting the same pricing product (index-pricing) for both Pricing Groups 3 and 4 but per Exhibit 1 each pricing group includes different accounts.

Q10: Regarding item 1 on page 23 on the energy costs, please explain what GSA is looking to accomplish regarding the language specifying that the Government has the option to arrange to provide day-ahead purchase schedules and how that works in relation to already having a fixed-ancillary cost and an established default to the day-ahead index?

A10: The answer will be addressed in GSA’s revised solicitation (To Be Released) Q11: Regarding item 6 on the total index cost, the last sentence in this paragraph says, “For those accounts that do not have hourly metering installed, the Contractor shall use the aggregate average of item 1 for the monthly $/kWh energy charge applicable to non-hourly metered accounts.” Would it be acceptable for suppliers to profile the actual data using the utility data profiles and the hourly shape for these accounts?

A11: The answer will be addressed in GSA’s revised solicitation (To Be Released)

Q12: Why is there no small business set-aside for this GSA electricity-supply procurement?

A12: GSA will answer this question in a separate response that will be attached to the website.

Q13: Can GSA explain the small business size standard for this procurement?

A13: The Small Business Size Standard for an electricity utility provider is 4 million MWh and the NAICS code is 221112. Any utility supplier with sales exceeding this standard for three continuous calendar years is considered a large business for the purposes of this procurement. For the purposes of this procurement, electric supply is covered by NAICS code 221112 .

Q14: Where can interested bidders find additional information on renewable power requirements in relation to the 7.5% renewable power GSA is requesting?

A14: Section A.12 on page 5 of the solicitation provides a detailed description of the renewable power requirements under this contract which include a requirement that the 7.5% renewable power is above and beyond state Renewable Portfolio Requirements, that there are no geographical restrictions on where RECs are generated and that it the renewable power must come from new renewable generation that became operational after January 1, 1999.

A15: Will GSA accept any exceptions to GSA’s solicitation terms and requirements?

Q15: Any exceptions must be submitted in writing to Ken Shutika. GSA will consider any exceptions provided in writing but is under no obligation to accept them. As any exceptions that are accepted would need to be incorporated in the GSA solicitation and apply to all suppliers, GSA requests they be provided well before the technical proposal due date of August 13th.

A16: How are line losses to be billed under the terms of this solicitation?

A16: Line losses are to be passed-through at cost for all Pricing Groups except Pricing Group 5 which should include line-losses.

Q17: Are line losses to the LDU delivery zone or to facility meters?

A17: To the meter.

Q18: Should the World Energy fee be included in bid prices?

A18: Yes. World Energy’s $.0007 per kWh fee must be included in all bid prices.

Q19: Where can I find information regarding this procurement opportunity including the GSA solicitation, auction schedule, pricing product definitions, and usage data?

Q19: Bid documents can be found at www.fbo.gov or the World Energy website at https://www.wesplatform.com/webportal/Public/Announcement.aspx?ID=Z%2f7kYdzLm5o%3d Q20: As a number of Federal agencies are included in this bid, will each agency pay its own bills?

A20: Yes, each agency will pay its own bills and additional bid information will be provided to awarded suppliers post-award.

Q21: Do bidders have to bid on all of the pricing groups and terms?

A21: No. Bidders can choose which pricing groups and terms they want to bid on and may choose to only bid on one or all of the RFPs listed in Exhibit 1.

Q22: Who should offeror’s contact if they would like a demo of World Energy Solutions’ reverse auction platform?

A22: Offeror’s should contact Janet Loop at jloop@worldenergy.com or (508) 459-8149 and she would be happy to schedule a demo of the platform.