Network_Providers_for_Electric_Vehicle_Charging_Systems.pdf

COUNTY OF ORANGE

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FOR

NETWORK PROVIDERS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING SYSTEMS

RFI NO. RFI-3108603-JB

Date of Issuance: Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Responses Due: Wednesday, August 12, 2026

2:00 pm (Pacific Time)

County of Orange RFI # RFI-3108603-JB Page 2 of 7 County Executive Office - CPO Network Providers for Electric Vehicle Charging Systems

SECTIONS

SECTION 1. ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE

SECTION 2. INFORMATION REQUESTED

SECTION 3. RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 4. VENDOR RESPONSES

SECTION 5. CONTACT INFORMATION

County of Orange RFI # RFI-3108603-JB Page 3 of 7

1 ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE

NOTICE: These dates represent a tentative RFI timeline. The County reserves the right to modify these dates at any time.

Release Project Date: July 22, 2026

Question Submission Deadline: August 5, 2026, 2:00pm

RFI Submittal Closing Date and Time: August 12, 2026, 2:00pm

2 INFORMATION REQUESTED

2.1 Information Requested

Note: Please respond to all questions and topic areas below incorporating responses to numbered/lettered items where applicable and most relevant to the topic.

2.2 Vendor Background (All Respondents)

1. Name of your firm

2. Describe your ownership structure, location of incorporation, parent company (if applicable), and primary sources of capital.

3. Describe your business model including material and services offered, geographic area served, supply-chain and service-partner relationships.

4. Describe any known supply chain dependencies that could materially affect lead time, pricing, warranty support, or replacement part availability. What steps has your firm taken or will you take to navigate any Foreign Entity of Concern relationships?

5. Describe your revenue & profitability during the past 5-years and projected business outlook

(revenue, units sold/in-service) for each applicable RFP scope over the next 5-years. Note:

audited financial statements or equivalent financial capability documentation for the last three years are an anticipated requirement to qualify for contract award pursuant to the contemplated

RFP(s).

6. Identify any material restructuring, layoffs, mergers, acquisitions, or recapitalization activities within the last 36 months.

7. Identify the most common causes of cost-overruns or other factors leading to inadequate service on EV charging projects.

8. Describe the extent to which you have or may offer ancillary services including application for grants & incentivizes, marketing/customer-engagement support including EV-charging price-setting.

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9. What other factors differentiate your firm and allow you a competitive advantage? Identify at least (2) engagements in the last (3) years where these factors were demonstrated. Include applicable Customer points of contact.

10. Please identify which of Scopes-A,B,C would be of interest to your firm either as the primary

Contractor or as a sub-contractor/vendor. Which of Scopes A,B, or C are of greatest interest to your firm? Please discuss in what case(s) pricing for one scope of work would be contingent on the award of a separate scope of work?

2.3 Scope A: Furnish EV Chargers

A. Charger Preferred Bid Pricing Framework

1. County anticipates awarding competitively bid contract(s) with a term between 5 to 10 years.

Please identify a preferred bid-pricing framework for EV charging hardware that can best accommodate your firms uncertainty in future economic and market conditions while offering best value to the County. A bid discount from annual Catalog/MSRP pricing is being considered. What product/feature/warranty specifications should be included in the RFP to facilitate effective bid leveling?

B. Warranty & Lifecycle Support

1. Describe standard warranty periods for chargers, dispensers, cables, payment systems, communications hardware, and installation workmanship.

C. Performance & Reliability

1. Provide typical uptime guarantees, response times, MTBF assumptions, and spare parts stocking practices.

2. Define how uptime is calculated.

3. Identify all conditions excluded from uptime guarantees.

4. Do all or only some charger models offer operability in degraded offline mode to prevent stranded assets? What functions and level of accessibility are available in Network-offline mode? May holders of RFID/FOB devices directly readable by the charging hardware still be able to access charging provided the charger is powered even if network-connectivity is not available?

2.4 Scope B: Network Solution with Warranty & Maintenance Services

A. Hardware Flexibility & Interoperability

1. Identify all charger manufacturers & models/types supported and manageable by your Network solution. Is your pricing for Warranty & Service dependent on charger manufacture & model?

2. Identify which features are fully supported, partially supported, or unsupported on non-native hardware.

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3. Describe your approach to preserving interoperability if chargers are replaced, network providers change, or ownership transfers occur during the contract term.

B. Pricing Model Transparency

1. Describe your commercial and pricing structure, including, for example, but not limited to, the following. Where applicable, indicate whether the item is included in your standard offering and describe how it is typically structured:

a. Describe upfront costs, including installation fees or setup charges

b. Describe all recurring fees associated with networking, software licensing, transaction processing, reservations, roaming, reporting, API access, and user account management.

c. Identify which fees are fixed, indexed, usage-based, energy-based, or transaction-based.

d. Describe any hidden fees or penalties.

e. Describe anticipated annual escalation assumptions over a 10-year term.

f. Identify services currently included that may become separately billable in the future.

g. Discuss your ability and any fees for processing back-end payments via the Voyager

(USBank) platform.

C. Access Control, Load Control, & Policy Features

1. Identify all available rule/policy parameters related to pricing, reservations, idle fees, access control, load management, and user segmentation.

2. Identify which features require native hardware, premium software tiers, or additional modules.

3. Describe how any dynamic load management features optimize power consumption, mitigates demand charges, and the extent to which individual groups of chargers on separate sites can be integrated with on-site EMS or microgrid-type control systems. Share any case studies demonstrating integration experience with building management systems, energy storage systems, or renewable energy sources particularly those cases optimizing costs or performance.

4. Describe any functionality limitations associated with OCPP chargers from third-party manufacturers.

5. Identify which features are roadmap items versus commercially available today

D. Service & Support

1. Detail your approach to ongoing service and maintenance, including:

a. 24/7 support availability (phone, email, or on-site)

b. Remote troubleshooting and repair capabilities

c. On-site service options and response times; company employees, maintenance vendors, or both?

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d. Training and resources available to site administrators or operators

E. Existing County-owned ChargePoint Integration

1. Describe your ability to manage existing ChargePoint chargers, ChargePoint driver accounts, RFID credentials, and historical charging data.

2. Identify and describe any anticipated use of user data, and what safeguards are in place to protect such data.

3. Identify any ChargePoint hardware models that cannot be integrated, have reduced functionality, or require replacement.

4. Identify any operational limitations resulting from migration away from the existing

ChargePoint network; confirm the feature-set that will be available with ChargePoint chargers managed by you Network platform.

5. Describe your approach to data migration, system transition, and maintaining continuity of operations.

F. Data Ownership & Exit Rights

1. Describe ownership rights related to charging session data, user data, pricing data, maintenance history, and reporting data.

2. Describe the process and cost associated with exporting data, transitioning to another provider, and preserving charger operability after contract expiration.

3. Describe what functionality remains if network services are terminated.

2.5 Scope C: EV Charging as a Service (EVaaS)

A. County Sites of Interest

1. Provide a list of County property locations at which the Contractor would be willing to enter into an EVaaS license agreement with the County for publicly accessible charging stations as well as general terms for a site license agreement including length (if different from above) and rent. County’s property locations tentatively available for publicly accessible EV charging stations are shown at this GIS Link . Where applicable, please provide additional feedback if topic areas listed below influenced the selection of County sites or are key differentiators in you approach to an EVaaS offering:

B. Commercial Structure

1. Describe all EVaaS commercial models offered, including subscription, revenue share, concession, lease, and hybrid structures.

2. Identify minimum revenue thresholds, minimum utilization assumptions, and minimum site host commitments required for project viability.

3. Identify expected project IRR targets for EVaaS projects.

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4. Describe how inflation, utility cost escalation, and maintenance cost escalation are incorporated into pricing.

C. Public vs Fleet Economics

1. Describe how utilization assumptions typically differ for fleet, employee, and public charging.

2. Describe the impact of restricted public access on pricing, financing, or desired contract structure.

D. Grants, Incentives & Tax Credits

1. Identify all incentives, grants, LCFS revenue streams, tax credits, depreciation benefits, or utility programs typically incorporated into EVaaS pricing.

2. Describe how incentive risk is allocated if programs terminate, rules change, or incentives are denied.

3. Identify whether pricing assumes monetization of IRA tax credits, LCFS credits, demand response, or utility managed charging incentives.

E. Risk Allocation

1. Describe which party bears risk for utilization shortfalls, vandalism, utility delays, permitting delays, networking outages, and equipment obsolescence.

2. Identify circumstances under which pricing may be adjusted during the contract term.

3 RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

County Executive Office - CPO is requesting one (1) electronic copy uploaded on the County’s Online

Bidding System to be submitted no later than Wednesday, August 12, 2026 by 2:00 pm (PT). Fax responses will not be allowed.

4 VENDOR RESPONSES

4.1 Scope of Services

Upload Response to the Scope of Services Section*

*Response required

5 CONTACT INFORMATION

All questions about this RFI are to be submitted via County’s Online Bidding System no later than by 2:00 pm on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. For OpenGov assistance only, please contact OpenGov Support at procurement-support@opengov.com or via the live chat option on the site.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com

5 CONTACT INFORMATION