Request for Proposal No. RFX-2024-10032 - CMAP.pdf

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Managed and Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

Request for Proposals (RFP) RFX-2024-10032

“Community Microgrid Development Partnership Awards”

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY

This solicitation is being conducted under the procedures for competitive subcontracts established by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL will award a subcontract based on the following:

All Statement of Work (SOW) requirements being met with the best combination of:

• Technical factors (based on qualitative merit criteria), and

• Evaluated price (or cost)

Issue Date:10/2/2024 Due Date: 12/20/2024 Time Due: 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Technical questions must be received in writing no later than 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time, 11/01/2024

Written questions concerning this solicitation document and its requirements will be answered in writing. In response to technical questions, NREL will issue an amendment to this solicitation document that will formally provide all the questions and answers. The amendment will be posted to beta.sam.gov.

1. Solicitation Type Best Value Selection

Firm Fixed Price Subcontract

Submit offers to and request information from the NREL Contact below

2. NREL RFP Contact Kyndall Jackson, Subcontract Administrator National Renewable Energy Laboratory 15013 Denver West Parkway, MS: RSF030 Golden, CO 80401 Email: kyndall.jackson@nrel.gov

Electronic (PDF) copies of forms and appendices can be found at the following addresses:

http://www.nrel.gov/workingwithus/forms.html https://www.nrel.gov/workingwithus/standard-terms.html mailto:kyndall.jackson@nrel.gov

3. Project description

The 2024 Community Microgrid Development Partnership Awards (C-MAP) is comprised of four (4) different topic areas, as specified and further described in the Statement of Work (Attachment 1), dated, October 2, 2024:

• Regional Microgrid Community Operations Assistance

• Regional Microgrid Community Development Assistance

• Microgrid Development

• Microgrid Transformation

Proposal submissions should address individual topic areas. Offerors may submit separate proposals for multiple topic areas. Do not submit proposals that combine topic areas. Communities or community groups may be part of multiple proposals.

Proposals will be used as a basis to develop a performance work statement which will become Appendix A – Statement of Work (SOW) for each individual subcontract award.

C-MAP is focused on microgrid energy systems serving the needs of underserved and Indigenous communities that are electrically isolated or are designed to operate independently of the grid for prolonged periods of time. This solicitation uses the U.S.

Department of Energy definition of a microgrid as ‘‘a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. It can connect and disconnect from the grid to operate in grid-connected or island mode” but to be eligible for an award from this solicitation the microgrid (if primally designed to be grid-connected) is expected to operate independently of an external grid for long periods of time.

The following types of U.S. based entities are eligible to participate as a prime subcontractor:

• Non-profit entities, including energy cooperatives; and

• State and local governmental entities; and

• Any federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and villages, inclusive of any Alaska Native village or regional corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Settlement Act.

Additional criteria:

• From or directly representing specific underserved and indigenous communities in remote, rural1 and islanded regions of Alaska, Hawai’i, and Tribal lands in the west and mid-west.

• Proposals must identify at least one (1) area in the United States (including U.S.

territories) with a population of not more than 10,000 (using the 2020 Census Bureau figures) that will benefit from the proposal. The identified area must be either: (a) a city, town or other unincorporated municipality or (b) a Census Designated Place (CDP) or similarly discreet and identifiable community that is not located within an incorporated municipality.

• Intended to use certified, listed, or commercially available technology in any project development.

4. Proposed subcontract award and period of performance

The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC has entered into Contract No. DE-AC36- 08GO28308 with the Department of Energy (DOE), an agency of the U.S. Government, for

1 Section 40103(c) of the BIL defines rural or remote areas as a “city, town, or unincorporated area that has a population of not more than 10,000 inhabitants.”

the management and operation of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (hereinafter called “NREL”). All references to “NREL” in this solicitation shall mean the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

The maximum award amount from NREL and expected period of performance per topic area is as follows:

Topic Area Maximum Award Amount Expected Period of

Performance Regional Microgrid Community Operations Assistance

$200,000 base, $75,000 per community with maximum award of $650,000.

Twenty-four (24) Months from subcontract execution

Regional Microgrid Community Development Assistance

$300,000 plus $50,000 per community with maximum award of $550,000

Twenty-four (24) Months from subcontract execution

Microgrid Development Maximum $300,000 Twenty-two (22) Months from subcontract execution

Microgrid Transformation

Maximum $400,000 Eighteen (18) Months from subcontract execution

All costs must be allowable and allocable under the terms of the Federal Acquisition Regulations and DOE Acquisitions Regulations.

It is the intent of NREL to award three (3) to five (5) Firm Fixed Price subcontract(s) per topic area under this solicitation.

5. Competitive negotiated subcontract using Best Value Selection

This solicitation shall be conducted using Best Value Selection that results in an award that is most advantageous to NREL and DOE based on the best value combination of (a) evaluated qualitative merit, (b) evaluated price (cost) of the offers submitted, and (c) additional factors for evaluation provided in Section 9 of this document.

Best Value Selection is based on the premise that, if all offers are of approximately equal qualitative merit, an award will be made to the offeror with the lowest evaluated price (cost). However, NREL will consider awarding to an offeror with a higher evaluated price (cost) if the offer demonstrates the difference in price (cost) is commensurate with higher qualitative merit. Conversely, NREL will consider awarding to an offeror with a lower evaluated qualitative merit if the price (cost) differential between it and other offers warrant doing so.

6. Qualitative merit criteria for Best Value Selection

The Statement of Work (Attachment 1) for each topic area in this Request for Proposal (RFP) serves as NREL’s baseline requirement that must be met by each offeror.

The qualitative merit criteria establish what NREL considers the technical factors in an offer. These qualitative merit criteria are performance-based and permit selection of a higher priced offer that provides higher qualitative merit.

The following qualitative merit criteria for each topic area will be used to determine the technical value of the offer in meeting the objectives of the solicitation. Sub-criteria are not individually weighted but are factors in the overall weighting.

6.1 Regional Microgrid Community Operations Assistance

Each qualitative merit criteria and its assigned weight are provided below. Evaluations for this topic area will be conducted separate from the proposal evaluations of the other three topic areas. As such, all sub-criteria in this topic area equal 100% of the total technical merit criteria for the evaluation of proposals submitted for this C-MAPS topic area.

6.1.1 Technical approach and readiness (25%)

a. Description of the community and microgrid system (including Attachment 3 filled out for each community).

b. Detailed description of the problem or challenge the proposal is addressing.

c. Detailed description of work completed to date to address this challenge.

d. Description of any other approaches that have been used to address the identified challenge and why they were not successful.

e. Description of how the challenge has been addressed in other locations which is being used as a model for the current effort, if any.

f. Expected outcome or result of the effort.

g. Description of how the outcome or result of the effort be maintained following the completion of the effort.

h. Letters of support from all relevant community participants, such as but not limited to power system owner, operator or manager, community and/or tribal council, community manager.

6.1.2 Project development plan leading to successful completion of project (25%)

a. Detailed description of the development plan to address identified challenges.

b. Timeline and expected steps demonstrating an understanding of the process to investigate the specific challenges.

c. Identification of potential implementation thresholds or decision points, documenting thinking around how the offeror will understand if the challenges have been overcome.

d. Description of how the proposed changes can be maintained to address the identified challenges over the long-term.

e. Description of expected resulting products, services, or outputs of the work.

6.1.3 Demonstrated evidence of community impact and replication potential (30%)

a. Ability for the proposed work to improve the performance of the current energy systems within use in the communities.

b. Ability of the proposed work to reduce operating costs of the current energy systems within use in the communities.

c. Ability of the proposed work to provide additional forms of revenues or cost savings for other community services, such as water.

d. Articulation of if the proposed efforts could, or will, support communities outside of the one identified by the offeror and if so, how.

e. Discussion of how the benefits of the effort will be shared between each of the communities identified in the proposed work.

6.1.4 Team, personnel, and expertise (20%)

a. Description of offeror’s or principal investigator(s)’ recent and relevant experience in community-based power system operation or management.

b. Qualifications of proposed project team members shall be described in relation to their responsibilities on the project. Resumes (no more than 2 pages per team member) of all primary project team members shall be included as attachments to the proposal and will not apply to the proposal page count limitation.

c. Demonstration of historical community partnership collaboration demonstrated by previous collaborative partnerships, defined memorandums of understanding, and letter of support, which shall be included as attachments to the proposal and will not apply to the proposal page count limitation.

d. Articulation that all required expertise is available whether direct employees or identified consultants. If no one person on the team has specific desired experience, provide background on experience or expertise that will need to be obtained if the project is selected for award.

e. Letters of commitment for all defined lower-tier subcontractors or lower-tier subcontract staff that are defined within the project proposal.

f. What percent of management/leadership is from underrepresented groups (women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities)?

g. What percent of people employed in the organization are from underrepresented groups?

h. What percent of contracts are with minority-owned, women-owned, Veteran-owned, or other disadvantaged businesses?

i. What percent of collaborators (project partners, co-investigators, sub-contractors) are from underrepresented groups/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs are institutions of higher education that serve minority populations including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions)?

j. Demonstrate ability to execute previous projects on time/on budget. Provide reference information on previous project experience, including letters if available.

6.2 Regional Microgrid Community Development Assistance

topic areas. As such, all sub-criteria in this topic area equal 100% of the total technical merit criteria for the evaluation of proposals submitted for this C-MAPS topic area.

6.2.1 Technical approach and readiness (25%)

a. Description of the community and microgrid system (including Attachment 3 filled out for each community).

b. Detailed description of the regional development problem or approach the proposal is addressing.

c. Detailed description of work completed to identify the regional approach being proposed.

d. Description of any other approaches that have been used to address the identified challenge and why they were not successful.

e. Description of how the approach has been addressed in other locations which is being used as a model for the current effort, if any.

f. Expected outcome or result of the effort.

g. Description of how the outcome or result of the effort be maintained following the completion of the effort.

h. Letters of support from all relevant community participants, such as but not limited to power system owner, operator or manager, community and/or tribal council, community manager.

6.2.2 Project implementation plan leading to successful completion of project (25%)

a. Detailed description of the project plan leading to the implementation of the approach being proposed.

b. Timeline and expected steps to be used to expand understanding of the development approach being proposed.

c. Identification of potential implementation thresholds or decision points, documenting thinking around how the offeror will understand the benefits and impacts of the approach being considered.

d. Description of how the proposed changes can be maintained to address the

e. Description of expected resulting products, services, or outputs of the work.

6.2.3 Demonstrated evidence of community impact and replication potential (30%)

a. Ability for the proposed work to improve the performance of the current energy systems within use in the communities.

b. Ability of the proposed work to reduce operating costs of the current energy systems within use in the communities.

c. Ability of the proposed work to provide additional forms of revenues or cost savings for other community services, such as water.

d. Ability of the proposed work to provide additional quantifiable or non-quantifiable benefits to the communities.

e. Articulation of if the proposed efforts could, or will, support communities outside of the ones identified by the offeror and if so, how.

f. Discussion of how the benefits of the effort will be shared between each of the communities identified in the proposed work.

6.2.4 Team, personnel, and expertise (20%)

a. Description of offeror’s or principal investigator(s)’ recent and relevant experience in community-based power system operation or management.

b. Qualifications of proposed project team members shall be described in relation to their responsibilities on the project. Resumes (no more than 2 pages per team member) of all primary project team members shall be included as attachments to the proposal and will not apply to the proposal page count limitation.

c. Demonstration of historical community partnership collaboration demonstrated by previous collaborative partnerships, defined memorandums of understanding, and letter of support, which shall be included as attachments to the proposal and will not apply to the proposal page count limitation.

d. Articulation that all required expertise is available whether direct employees or identified consultants. If no one person on the team has specific desired experience, provide background on experience or expertise that will need to be obtained if the project is selected for award.

e. Letters of commitment for all defined lower-tier subcontractors or lower-tier subcontract staff that are defined within the project proposal.

f. What percent of management/leadership is from underrepresented groups (women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities)?

g. What percent of people employed in the organization are from underrepresented groups?

h. What percent of contracts are with minority-owned, women-owned, Veteran-owned, or other disadvantaged businesses?

i. What percent of collaborators (project partners, co-investigators, sub-contractors) are from underrepresented groups/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs are institutions of higher education that serve minority populations including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions)?

j. Demonstrate ability to execute previous projects on time/on budget. Provide reference information on previous project experience, including letters if available.

6.3 Microgrid Development

topic areas. As such, all sub-criteria in this topic area equal 100% of the total technical merit criteria for the evaluation of proposals submitted for this C-MAPS topic area.

6.3.1 Technical approach and readiness (25%)

a. Description of the community and current microgrid system (including Attachment 3).

b. Description of the proposed microgrid that will be the result of the design work.

c. Detailed description of work completed to identify the proposed microgrid design being proposed.

d. Description of how the proposed microgrid has been used in similar locations, if any, which is being used as a model for the proposed microgrid effort.

e. Expected outcome or result of the effort.

f. Description of how the outcome of the effort will be used to support the further development of the proposed microgrid energy system.

g. Description of any microgrid design efforts undertaken for the power system in question and why they were not successful.

h. Letters of support from all relevant community participants, such as but not limited

6.3.2 Project implementation plan leading to successful completion of microgrid system design (25%)

a. Project plan leading to the development of detailed engineering and investment plan for the implementation of the proposed microgrid.

b. Timeline and expected steps to be used to develop the detailed engineering and investment plans.

c. Identification of potential design review checkpoints when design or financial assumptions will be checked to confirm the viability of the proposed design.

d. Description of how the proposed changes can be maintained to address the

e. Description of expected outcomes or outputs of the work.

6.3.3 Demonstrated of potential community impact and replication potential (30%)

a. Detailed estimate of improved performance of the current energy systems

(improved efficiency, reduced use of imported energy, etc.)

b. Detailed estimate of reduced operating costs of the current energy systems within use in the communities.

c. Articulation of any additional forms of revenues or cost savings for other community services, such as water, heat.

d. Articulation of additional quantifiable or non-quantifiable benefits to the community.

e. Articulation of how the proposed microgrid design concept could support additional communities.

6.3.4 Team, personnel, and expertise (20%)

in community-based power system operation or management.

b. Qualifications of proposed project team members shall be described in relation to their responsibilities on the project. Resumes (no more than 2 pages per team member) of all primary project team members shall be included as attachments to the proposal and will not apply to the proposal page count limitation.

c. Articulation that all required expertise is available whether direct employees or identified consultants. If no one person on the team has specific desired experience, provide background on experience or expertise that will need to be obtained if the project is selected for award.

d. Letters of commitment for all defined lower-tier subcontractors or lower-tier subcontract staff that are defined within the project proposal.

e. What percent of management/leadership is from underrepresented groups (women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities)?

f. What percent of people employed in the organization are from underrepresented groups?

g. What percent of contracts are with minority-owned, women-owned, Veteran-owned, or other disadvantaged businesses?

h. What percent of collaborators (project partners, co-investigators, sub-contractors) are from underrepresented groups/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs are institutions of higher education that serve minority populations including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions)?

i. Demonstrate ability to execute previous projects on time/on budget. Provide reference information on previous project experience, including letters of reference if available.

6.4 Microgrid Transformation

topic areas. As such, all sub-criteria in this topic area equal 100% of the total technical merit criteria for the evaluation of proposals submitted for this C-MAPS topic area.

6.4.1 Technical approach and readiness (25%)

a. Description of the community and current microgrid system (including Attachment 3).

b. Description of the proposed microgrid that will be the result of the design work.

c. Detailed description of work completed to identify the proposed microgrid design being proposed.

d. Description of how the proposed microgrid has been used in similar locations, if any, which is being used as a model for the proposed microgrid effort.

e. Expected outcome or result of the effort.

f. Description of how the outcome of the effort will be used to support the further development of the proposed microgrid energy system.

g. Description of any microgrid design efforts undertaken for the power system in question and why they were not successful.

h. Letters of support from all relevant community participants, such as but not limited

6.4.2 Project implementation plan leading to successful completion of microgrid system design (25%)

a. Project plan leading to the development of detailed engineering and investment plan for the implementation of the proposed microgrid.

b. Timeline and expected steps to be used to develop the detailed engineering and investment plans.

c. Identification of potential design review checkpoints when design or financial assumptions will be checked to confirm the viability of the proposed design.

d. Description of how the proposed changes can be maintained to address the

e. Description of expected outcomes or outputs of the work.

6.4.3 Demonstrated of potential community impact and replication potential (30%)

a. Detailed estimate of improved performance of the current energy systems

(improved efficiency, reduced use of imported energy, etc.)

b. Detailed estimate of reduced operating costs of the current energy systems within use in the communities.

c. Articulation of any additional forms of revenues or cost savings for other community services, such as water, heat.

d. Articulation of additional quantifiable or non-quantifiable benefits to the community.

e. Articulation of how the proposed microgrid design concept could support additional communities.

6.4.4 Team, personnel, and expertise (20%)

in community-based power system operation or management.

b. Qualifications of proposed project team members shall be described in relation to their responsibilities on the project. Resumes (no more than 2 pages per team member) of all primary project team members shall be included as attachments to the proposal and will not apply to the proposal page count limitation.

c. Articulation that all required expertise is available whether direct employees or identified consultants. If no one person on the team has specific desired experience, provide background on experience or expertise that will need to be obtained if the project is selected for award.

d. Letters of commitment for all defined lower-tier subcontractors or lower-tier subcontract staff that are defined within the project proposal.

e. What percent of management/leadership is from underrepresented groups (women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities)?

f. What percent of people employed in the organization are from underrepresented groups?

g. What percent of contracts are with minority-owned, women-owned, Veteran-owned, or other disadvantaged businesses?

h. What percent of collaborators (project partners, co-investigators, sub-contractors) are from underrepresented groups/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs are institutions of higher education that serve minority populations including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions)?

i. Demonstrate ability to execute previous projects on time/on budget. Provide reference information on previous project experience, including letters of reference if available.

7. Price (cost) evaluation for Best Value Selection

After evaluation of the qualitative merit criteria, the following price (cost) evaluation will be used to determine the best value of the offer in meeting the objectives of the solicitation.

The combined qualitative merit value will be considered equally important to the price (cost).

8. Evaluation process

NREL will evaluate offers in two general steps:

Step One—Initial Evaluation An initial evaluation will be performed to determine if all required information has been provided for an acceptable offer. Offerors may be contacted only for clarification purposes during the initial evaluation. Offerors shall be notified if their offer is determined unacceptable and the reasons for rejection will be provided. Unacceptable offers will be excluded from further consideration.

Step Two—Discussion, Selection, Negotiation, and Award All acceptable offers will be evaluated against the Statement of Work (Attachment 1) and the qualitative merit criteria listed above. Based on this evaluation, NREL has the option, depending on the specific circumstances of the offers received, to use one of the following methods of selection:

a. make individual selection(s), conduct negotiations, and make an award(s);

b. conduct parallel negotiations with all offerors and make award(s).

c. conduct discussions with all offerors, select successful finalists, conduct parallel negotiations with successful finalists, and then make award(s);

d. conduct discussions with all offerors, conduct parallel negotiations with the finalists, select successful finalist(s), and then make award(s);

e. select successful finalists, conduct successive negotiations, and make successive selections and awards.

f. make no award(s).

9. Additional factors for evaluation

In addition to the qualitative merit criteria and price (cost) evaluation above, each offer will be evaluated using the following evaluation factor(s) to determine the competitive range and final negotiation rank order. The program factors will not be weighted. Program factors include:

• Geographic diversity

• System configuration or technology diversity

• Topic area diversity

• Detailed plan for proposed technical support

• Potential impact for near-term commercialization or concept replication

10. Proposal preparation information

Proposal submissions should address individual topic areas. Offerors may submit proposals for multiple topic areas. Do not submit hybrid proposals that combine topic areas.

a. The proposal must include a title page, including the RFP title and number, topic area being proposed on, name of your organization and principal investigator (with postal address, telephone number and email address). The title should be succinct and capture the essence of your offer. The technical proposal with its title page, along with all components of the proposal and other required documents as described sections b through m below shall each be provided as separate PDF files (provided in a compressed or “zipped” folder, preferred).

b. Formatting instructions

- A page is defined as one side of an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper.

- Use a 12-point font.

- Maintain at least 1-inch margins on all sides.

- Technical proposal and cost proposal must be in separate sections.

- Include the following notice on your title page:

“Notice for Handling Proposals:

This proposal shall be used and disclosed for Alliance/NREL and Government evaluation purposes only. Any authorized restrictive notices which the Offeror places on this proposal shall also be strictly complied with. Disclosure of this proposal outside the Government, Alliance/NREL, Alliance/NREL consultants, or other national laboratories personnel for evaluation purposes shall be made only to the extend authorized by, and in accordance with, the procedures in DEAR 915.207-70 and, as applicable stated in the procurement solicitation document for source evaluation and selection process.

Upon completion of the evaluation, the evaluator shall certify in writing to the Source Evaluation Team Chairperson that all copies of this proposal have been destroyed and/or deleted from any electronic device, medium or storage location with the exception of those retained in the procurement file or in the case of successful offeror(s) in the project management file.”

c. An electronic PDF file must be submitted by 2:00 p.m. MDT on 12/20/2024 to kyndall.jackson@nrel.gov. The submission must include RFX-2024-10032, the project title “Community Microgrid Development Partnership Awards” and the specific topic area in the subject line (For example: “RFX-2024-10032 – Community Microgrid Development Partnership Awards – Microgrid Transformation” for a proposal to the type certification topical area). If submitting for multiple topic areas, please submit one email submission for each topic area.

d. A technical proposal shall be submitted directed toward meeting the requirements of NREL’s Statement of Work (Attachment 1) and qualitative merit criteria (see item 6 above). The total proposal shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages (not including resumes of team members, required Attachments, letters of support, title page, and table of contents). Additional voluntary attachments, such as preliminary design studies reports should be included, but kept to a minimum and only included if they are germane and referenced in the proposal. Attachments may not be reviewed in their entirety so key points should be summarized within the text of the proposal. Internet references to URL’s should be included in their entirety. Hyperlinks may not be reviewed. Provide all necessary information directly in the proposal.

Proposals submitted shall be organized in the following sections:

System Specifications, Approach and Project Readiness Project Information and Implementation Project Impact Qualifications and Resources Additional Information and Technical Support Needs

Proposals submitted should cover all scoring criteria and can be organized to address each scoring criteria.

Proposals will be used as a basis to develop a performance work statement which will become Appendix A – Statement of Work (SOW) for each individual subcontract award.

e. A completed “Price/Cost Proposal” form shall be submitted with the offer (see NREL website above). An individual offeror’s price (cost) proposal standard format can be used if the data included are substantially the same as the NREL form. The offeror’s price (cost) and delivery terms must be valid for 90 days from the date of the offer. The price (cost) proposal should include support documentation for all categories of the proposed price (cost). The price (cost) proposal should separate price (cost) for lower-tier subcontractor(s) and include support documentation for all categories of the proposed lower-tier subcontractor(s) price (cost).

f. Awardees from the previous CMAP or other NREL or DOE solicitations are eligible to submit proposals under the current solicitation. These awardees are invited to submit a proposal to build upon the existing work or may submit a proposal for an eligible non-related work effort. Preferential considerations will not be given to previous awardees; all proposals will be evaluated against the merit criteria.

g. Proposals should include Community and Microgrid Specification (Attachment 3)

h. Proposals should include a completed Deliverable Summary Table (Attachment 4).

i. Proposals should include a completed “Representations and Certifications for

Subcontracts/Purchase Orders” form (see NREL website above).

j. Proposals should include EITHER the “Organizational Conflicts of Interest Representation Statement” OR the “Organizational Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Statement”, as applicable per the “Instructions for Completion of Organizational Conflicts of Interest Statement – Disclosure or Representation Statement”. The forms and instructions are located at the following link:

k. A cover letter including a summary statement indicating acceptance of the proposed Statement of Work (Attachment 1) or any change with the reason(s) shall be included with the proposal. The cover letter should also include whether the Offeror is accepting or proposes a change/exception (with reason) to the subcontract schedule, the standard terms and conditions and/or the intellectual property terms and conditions in the appendices (see section 12). The offeror will explain any proposed change/exception with respect to the subcontract schedule and terms and conditions. Any proposed change/exception must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation. Such proposed changes/exceptions will not, of themselves, automatically cause an offer to be termed unacceptable. However, a large number of proposed changes/exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing any obvious benefit to the NREL or the Department of Energy may result in rejection of such offer as unacceptable.

l. This solicitation does not commit NREL to pay costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal in response to this RFP.

m. Only new work shall be considered within this proposal; previous work completed prior to the issuance of a subcontract shall not be considered for funding under this solicitation.

n. Proposals submitted as a combination/hybrid of more than one (1) topic area will be determined as non-responsive. Submissions for multiple topic areas are allowed but must be separate from each other.

o. It is the intent that all work under this award funded by NREL will occur in the U.S. or

U.S. Territories. This does not extend to the purchase of equipment or components that may originate outside of the U.S. although efforts should be made to identify U.S. based suppliers. Work to be conducted outside the U.S. shall be identified and justified as part of this proposal Clear documentation within the proposal is encouraged.

p. This solicitation requires the submittal of electronic proposals.

11. Solicitation Provisions—full text provided

a. Late submissions, modifications, and withdrawals of offers

Offers, or modifications to them, received from qualified organizations after the latest date specified for receipt may be considered if received prior to award, and NREL determines that there is a potential price (cost), technical, or other advantage, as compared to the other offers received. However, depending on the circumstances surrounding the late submission or modification, NREL may consider a late offer to be an indication of the offeror’s performance capabilities, resulting in downgrading of the offer in the technical evaluation process. Offers may be withdrawn by written notice received at any time before award. Offers may be withdrawn in person by an offeror or an authorized representative if the representative’s identity is made known and the representative signs a receipt for the offer before award.

b. Restrictions on disclosure and use of data

Offerors who include in their proposals data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the government or NREL, except for evaluation purposes shall—

1. Mark the title page with the following legend:

“This offer includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the government or NREL and shall not be used or disclosed—in whole or in part—for any purpose other than to evaluate this offer. If, however, a subcontract is awarded to this offeror as a result of—or in connection with—the submission of this data, the government or NREL shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting subcontract. This restriction does not limit the government or NREL’s right to use information contained in this data if obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained on pages [insert page and line numbers or other identification of pages] of this offer”; and

2. Mark each page of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend:

“Use or disclosure of data contained on this page is subject to the restriction on the title page of this offer.”

c. Notice of right to receive patent waiver (derived from DEAR 952.227-84) and technical data requirements.

Offerors (and their prospective lower-tier subcontractors) in accordance with applicable statutes and Department of Energy Acquisition Regulations, (derived from DEAR 952.227-84) have the right to request a waiver of all or any part of the rights of the United States in inventions conceived or first actually reduced to practice in performance of the subcontract that may be awarded as a result of this solicitation, in advance of or within thirty (30) days after the effective date of subcontracting. Even where such advance waiver is not requested or the request is denied, the subcontractor will have a continuing right during the subcontract to request a waiver of the rights of the United States in identified, individual inventions.

Domestic small business firms, educational institutions, and domestic nonprofit organizations normally will receive the clause: Patent Rights - Retention by the Subcontractor, which permits the offeror to retain title to subject inventions, except in subcontracts involving exceptional circumstances or intelligence activities. Therefore, domestic small business firms, educational institutions, and domestic nonprofit organizations normally need not request a waiver.

If an offeror’s proposal includes a lower-tier subcontract to another organization, that lower-tier organization's business type will determine the applicable intellectual property provisions that will apply to the lower-tier subcontract. Note that a lower-tier subcontractor may apply for a patent waiver under the same conditions as the offeror.

Under a research, development, and demonstration project, the Department of Energy and NREL are unable to ascertain, prior to receipt of offers or performance of the project, their actual needs for technical data. It is believed that the requirements contained herein are the basic needs of the Department of Energy and NREL.

However, if the offeror indicates in its proposal that proprietary data will be used or withheld under its proposed effort, the Department of Energy and NREL reserve the right to negotiate appropriate rights to the proprietary data. The appropriate rights may include "Limited Rights in Proprietary Data" and/or "Subcontractor Licensing."

d. Disclaimer

NEITHER THE UNITED STATES; NOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY; NOR

ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, LLC; NOR ANY OF THEIR

CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, OR THEIR EMPLOYEES MAKE ANY

WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OR ASSUME ANY LEGAL LIABILITY OR

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS

FOR ANY PURPOSE OF ANY OF THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION OR DATA

ATTACHED OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED HEREIN AS REFERENCE MATERIAL.

e. Solicitation disputes

The General Accountability Office and the Department of Energy do not accept or rule on disputes for solicitations for Requests for Proposals issued by Management and Operating Contractors for the Department of Energy (operators of Department of Energy National Laboratories). Should an offeror have any concerns regarding the NREL solicitation process or selection determination, the offeror may contact Mark Barela, Advocate for Commercial Practices, at (303) 384-7559. NREL will address each concern received from an offeror on an individual basis.

f. Prohibition on use of certain telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment per the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act Section 889(a)(1)(B)

In accordance with the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act Section

889(a)(1)(B), NREL is prohibited from contracting with any offeror that uses, and/or whose lower-tier subcontractor(s) use, covered telecommunication equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as a critical technology of any system, on or after 08/13/2020, unless an exception applies or a waiver is granted. This includes such equipment or services from five Chinese companies: Huawei, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision, and Dahua Technology.

g. Compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (found at 29 U.S.C. 794d)

The requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act apply to NREL’s procurement of all electronic and information technology (EIT) and any development, maintenance, or use of EIT.

h. Small Business (Lower-Tier) Subcontracting Plan (derived from FAR 52.219.9)

The following requirement does not apply to small business offerors. This requirement only applies if offeror is notified of intent to negotiate a subcontract in response to this solicitation after the source selection process described above is complete.

Successful offerors shall be required to submit a lower-tier subcontracting plan upon notification of intent to negotiate a subcontract in response to this solicitation. The lower-tier subcontracting plan shall separately address lower-tier subcontracting with small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. If the offeror is submitting an individual subcontracting plan, the plan must separately address lower-tier subcontracting with small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns, with a separate part for the basic subcontract and separate parts for each option (if any).

The plan shall be included in and made a part of the resultant subcontract. The lower-tier subcontracting plan shall be negotiated within the time specified by the NREL subcontract administrator. Failure to submit and negotiate a lower-tier subcontracting plan shall make the offeror ineligible for award of a subcontract.

Lower-tier subcontracting plan requirements can be found at the following link:

http://www.nrel.gov/workingwithus/standard-terms.html (see Appendix F)

12. Solicitation provisions—incorporated by reference—general access

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. The following documents can be downloaded from the NREL general access websites:

▪ NREL Standard Terms and Conditions:

- Appendix B-2 dated 01/23/23

- Appendix D dated 03/01/20 (if applicable)

- Appendix F dated 06/01/21 (if applicable)

▪ NREL Intellectual Property Provisions:

- Appendix C-1 dated 08/01/22; or

- Appendix C-2 dated 08/01/22; as applicable

▪ NREL Representations and Certifications for Subcontracts/Purchase Orders

▪ NREL Price/Cost Proposal Form and Instructions

▪ NREL Conflicts of Interest Forms

13. Summary of Attachments

Attachment 1 – Statement of Work, dated 10/2/2024 (Please note, Proposals will be used as a basis to develop a performance work statement which will become Appendix A – Statement of Work (SOW) for each individual subcontract award.)

Attachment 2 – Sample Subcontract Schedule: Firm Fixed Price Attachment 3 – Community and Microgrid Specification, dated 9/29/2024 Attachment 4 – Sample Deliverable Schedule

14. NAICS Code and Small Business Size Standard

a. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this solicitation is 541990.

b. The small business size standard for 541990 – All Other Professional, Scientific and

Technical Services is $19,500,000.00 in annual receipts. (Annual receipts of a concern means the annual average gross revenue for the last three fiscal years.)

http://www.nrel.gov/workingwithus/standard-terms.html

15. Notice Regarding NREL Payments to Subcontractors

It is NREL’s standard practice to make all payments to domestic subcontractors via electronic (ACH) payments or to international subcontractors via wire transfers. Any Offeror receiving notification of an award under this solicitation must complete and submit a “Request for ACH/Wire Banking Information” form to the applicable NREL Subcontract Administrator. Payments to subcontractors will be deposited directly into the subcontractor’s designated bank account in accordance with the banking account/wire transfer information provided on the form by an authorized offeror representative. An electronic (PDF) copy of the form will be provided by the NREL Subcontract Administrator upon notification of award. Please do not include an ACH form with your response to this RFP.