JEFO - Edgewater_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

UNDER MULTIPLE AWARD CONTRACTS

(FAR 16.505)

1. Contracting agency and activity.

The Department of Energy (DOE, Department, or Agency), Office of Headquarters Procurement Services (MA-64), located in Washington, DC, proposes to issue an order to extend performance by means of a Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.

This action is in support of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Office of Resources and Technology Management (ORTM). This document sets forth the justification and approval for the use of the exception to fair opportunity as authorized under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) – Logical Follow-On.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

EIA sets forth this justification and approval to extend the EIA Omnibus Procurement (EOP) IV, Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ), Multiple Award Contracts (MACs) Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Task Order DE-EI0002954/DE-DT0013049 as an exception to the fair opportunity process in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), which states, “The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.”

This action extends the period of performance for the EOP IV IDIQ Task Order by one

(1) Base Year and two (2) one-year Option Years:

Base Year: 07/19/2022 – 07/18/2023 Option Year 1: 07/19/2023 – 07/18/2024 Option Year 2: 07/19/2024 – 07/18/2025

EIA’s ORTM requires Edgewater Federal Solutions, Inc. (Edgewater) to continue to provide mission critical support for Systems Development, Maintenance, Technical Support for EIA’s Program Management, System Application Maintenance, System Application Development, Documentation, and EIA Data System and Knowledge Asset Management Support Objectives.

Name and address of the vendor:

Edgewater Federal Solutions, Inc.

3280 Urbana Pike Suite 207 Ijamsville, MD 21754, USA

UEI: DA71PM1JFL51

CAGE: 3J4Z5

Data and projection collection from energy industry participants that are used by Members of Congress to inform their policy decisions.

Policy-relevant energy information that Congress uses, including standardized surveys such as Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS), Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), as well as several others.

These surveys authorize the mandatory collection of energy supply and consumption data. They also establish a National Energy Information System, which contains energy information collected by EIA to provide a description for, and facilitate analysis of, energy supply and consumption within and affecting the United States.

Edgewater’s expertise and knowledge of EIA’s systems is also required to help ORTM/EIA accomplish upcoming in-scope requirements mandated by Congress. Most recently, this need consists of work related to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Infrastructure Law) and includes:

Establishing, and later expanding, an online Dashboard to track the operation of the bulk power system in the contiguous 48 States, and disseminating the data, on a real-time basis, through an application programming interface that is publicly accessible.

o Data will be collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); other data collected by the EPA or other relevant Federal agencies; and data collected by State or regional energy credit registries.

Increasing the scope and frequency of data collection on energy end uses and services by using new data collection methods and tools. This requires EIA to access other existing data sources; and develop online and real-time reporting systems; and identify and report community-level economic and environmental impacts, including with respect to electric vehicle integration with the electricity grids.

Coordinating with the Director of the United States Geological Survey to develop a plan for the modeling and forecasting of demand for energy technologies, including for energy production, transmission, or storage purposes that use minerals that are (or could be) designated as critical minerals.

Implementing measures to expand and improve EIA’s international energy data resources to understand the production and use of energy in various countries;

changing patterns of energy use internationally; relative costs and environmental impacts of energy production and use internationally; and plans for or construction of major energy facilities or infrastructure.

Developing a plan to identify any need or opportunity to update or further the capabilities of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS).

Submitting a report to Congress on the potential use of levelized cost of carbon abatement or a similar metric in analyzing generators of electricity, identify limitations and appropriate uses of the metric; the feasibility and impact of incorporating levelized cost of carbon abatement in long-term forecasts; and the potential process to measure carbon dioxide emissions intensity per unit of output production for a range of energy sources, sectors, and geographic regions.

o A corresponding process to provide an empirical framework for reporting the status and costs of carbon dioxide reduction relative to specified goals.

As demonstrated above, EIA has been tasked with multiple Systems Development, Maintenance, and Technical Support-related projects, and almost all the requirements impact EIA’s Program Office’s IT support needs. In order to expand the online Dashboard, which disseminates data on a real-time basis, introduce new online data collection methods, and update and increase capabilities to the NEMS, continued support from Edgewater is essential as their incumbent status uniquely positions them to fulfill these requirements.

Additionally, the incumbent status of Edgewater positions them as the only responsible source that possesses the unique minimum performance requirements needed by the EIA.

These unique requirements include security classifications, badging requirements, special licenses and certifications, and DOE-sponsored trainings and certifications required for performance. To onboard a new vendor, the EIA would need to allocate extra time for the vendor to complete the previously mentioned tasks. Then this new vendor would need additional time to be brought up-to-speed on the fundamentals of existing projects to eventually perform the necessary work. Considering the formidable upcoming workload and quick turn-around times, the EIA must have unfettered access to Edgewater. Delays and/or changes in Edgewater’s continued and forthcoming efforts will severely impact the EIA’s ability to deliver independent, high-quality analytical products, as well as create unacceptable risk in EIA’s cybersecurity posture.

Finally, all IDIQ holders were given fair opportunity to be considered for the original order as required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The original award brought in bids from four vendors on EOP IV. Edgewater had the strongest proposal and was determined to be the best value to the government by the Contracting Officer. Edgewater was awarded a base plus four one-year options contract on 03/21/2017 at a total value of

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The estimated cost to EIA for these services is . The costs for these services will use the current established EOP IV IDIQ rates, which have already been negotiated and deemed fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer will not award a logical follow-on task order with pricing that cannot be found fair and reasonable based upon historical EOP IV pricing.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

7. Actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

In the future, these services will be competed under EIA’s EOP V contract. Continuance of these services will allow time to complete the original work required. EIA anticipates fully competing future work for this requirement; no barriers to competition are foreseen.