RFP 848617_SOW Rev.1_08.30.24_PNW_Regional_Planning_Facilitator.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK Request for Proposal No.: 848614

Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

SOW Revision No.: 1

Date: 08/30/2024

1. INTRODUCTION

A. Background

Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division (Battelle), operator of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy is seeking a Contractor to lead and manage a stakeholder engagement-based planning process designed to advance the resource development and infrastructure investment that will be required to meet the Pacific Northwest region’s economy-wide decarbonization goals and resource adequacy requirements. Battelle will conduct a regional planning study to understand the implications of distribution, generation, and transmission investments, and the interactions of those investments, so that the resource owners, developers, and other regional stakeholders can better plan for the suite of investments to efficiently serve load.

Battelle seeks a Contractor to lead and manage all aspects of the committee-based organizational structure that will support the study, and stakeholder and public engagement that will inform the study. This study process is expected to last approximately 18 months.

B. Scope

Battelle is seeking a Contractor to finalize and execute a committee-based organizational structure, launch and manage stakeholder, public, and community engagement and input, and contribute to the development of the final report(s) that result from the analysis and modeling.

The Contractor will organize, convene, manage, and support the committees of regional leaders and experts that will guide and inform the study process.

Specifically, the Contractor will support the Steering Committee and the Technical Committee and may also support a Stakeholder Input Committee and up to three (3) technical working groups focused on providing guidance on inputs and assumptions related to particular aspects of the study or a to-be-specified scenario. The Contractor will support the Steering Committee in communicating and coordinating with the signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S.

Government and the Six Sovereigns1 (USG/6S MOU) dated December 12, 2023 to ensure that study design features are consistent with the USG/6S MOU where appropriate.

1 The State of Oregon, the State of Washington, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe.

Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

The Contractor will lead tasks related to effective community and public engagement and public input, which may occur through a Stakeholder Input Committee or be conducted at the direction of the Steering Committee (This exact structure is to be decided by the Steering Committee). The process needs to have meaningful opportunities for public input and it needs to be clear how that input is being used in the study. The Contractor will finalize and implement a communications and outreach plan that will allow for ongoing public engagement with the process. This may involve collecting public and stakeholder input on the communications and outreach plan prior to finalizing it. It may also involve consulting with the Stakeholder Input Committee, if formed, in order to determine the final communications and outreach plan and appropriate roles for members of that committee. The Contractor will also lead on the planning and execution of initial and ongoing outreach meetings with key interests in the region to identify areas in need of further discussion.

The Contractor will also be a contributor to the final study report(s), which Battelle will lead. The Contractor will provide advice on the content of the report based on the outputs of the engagement process and provide written summaries of issues discussed in the process to inform the study drafting.

C. Objective(s)

If successfully executed, this SOW will result in a transparent, efficient, inclusive and effective public and stakeholder engagement and input process that will provide actionable direction to Battelle researchers conducting the PNW regional planning analysis and will result in broad regional stakeholder agreement that the study is useful and relevant for future regional electric system planning decisions.

2. REQUIREMENTS

A. Tasks

The Contractor’s tasks will consist of organizing, convening, managing, and supporting the committees of regional leaders and experts that will guide and inform the regional planning study process. Two committees will be formed to serve as the core of the planning Process. A Steering Committee and a Technical Committee will have different roles, but together will advise on all aspects of the technical analysis, provide guidance and input on assumptions and scenarios, conduct regional outreach and coordination, and be responsible for decisions related to disseminating deliverables. The Contractor will also support a Stakeholder Input Committee (if formed) and up to three (3) technical working groups.

Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

Effective community and public engagement are crucial for the study to have support and buy-in within the region. The Process needs to have meaningful opportunities for public input and it needs to be clear how that input is being used.

The Contractor will lead tasks to finalize and implement a communications and outreach plan that will allow for ongoing public engagement with the Process. The Contractor will also lead on the planning and execution of initial and ongoing meetings with key interests in the region to identify areas in need of further discussion or development and manage potential problems before they become major hurdles.

Task 1: Convene Committees

The Steering and Technical Committees will have different membership and different scopes but together may consist of leaders and experts from key organizations around the region, including government, Tribes, utilities, industry, environmental groups, and community groups, all of whom need to be recruited to participate in the study Process. This may require sustained outreach to certain entities to ensure robust and diverse committee representation.

A Stakeholder Input Committee may be formed to arrange for broader community and public communication, outreach, and feedback, and then synthesize and report public feedback to the Steering Committee. Such a committee would also be responsible for designing and implementing mechanisms to ensure the Process is inclusive. The Steering Committee will determine whether a Stakeholder Input Committee will be an important addition to the Process overall. If this committee is not formed, the Contractor will be responsible for implementing processes for collecting public input with the guidance of the Steering Committee.

Tasks include:

Finalize committee roster lists

Develop and finalize committee charters and decision-making rules

Create committee operational documents

Schedule committee meetings

Manage the creation of any additional technical sub-committees needed to address specific issues that arise

Manage the creation of the Stakeholder Input Committee if directed by the Steering Committee

Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

Task 2: Manage Committees

The Steering Committee will organize analytical work and provide high-level guidance for the direction of the study. The primary responsibility of the Steering Committee is to receive input from the Technical Committee and stakeholders to develop direction and guidance to the study modelers regarding major study design elements and inputs such as policy assumptions and scenarios for analysis. This committee will oversee the overall process elements of the study process. This committee also will oversee the public and stakeholder outreach, including deciding whether to form a third committee dedicated to collecting stakeholder and public input, and determine when and what kind of public input is valuable. To the highest degree possible this committee should act collaboratively and work toward consensus, however, there may be some issues where voting is required.

The Technical Committee is a group of technical experts which can closely monitor the analysis, propose models, identify data sources, and make recommendations to the Steering Committee.

This committee will meet frequently with the modelers to discuss options, inputs, and progress.

The Technical Committee will make recommendations to the Steering Committee to support direction to the modelers and will then continue to work with the modelers as the modeling work is underway. The Technical Committee may choose to create technical working groups to address specific modeling challenges.

The Contractor will support up to three (3) technical working groups which will be smaller than the Technical Committee and provide recommendations to the Technical Committee on specific technical issues, such as inputs and assumptions related to certain issues or scenarios. This support is expected to be less involved than the support provided to the above committees, consisting of attending meetings and ensuring that the working groups are on track to provide the necessary input to the Technical Committee.

Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

The tasks below relate to both the Steering Committee and the Technical Committee, however tasks will be tailored to each committee based on scope and responsibility, type of decisions, membership, meeting rules and meeting frequency as describe in the committee charters.

Tasks include:

Communicate with committee chairs about all ongoing business of the committees

Conduct preparatory agenda-development calls between committee chairs, contractor staff, and Battelle staff

Conduct debrief meetings with committee chairs and Battelle staff following committee meetings to adjust or confirm approach

Communicate with committee members

Agenda development for all committee meetings

Meeting facilitation for all committee meetings

Manage virtual meeting facilitation platform for virtual meetings

Take notes during committee meetings, including for follow-up items

Produce meeting summaries if requested

Record and track substantive issues that arise in committee meetings that are relevant to the study, including participants’ preferred approaches, and make this list available to Battelle and US DOE

Ensure coordination and clear communication between the steering and technical committees

Arrange for formal interaction between committees

Ensure steering committee is informed of the direction needed for the analysis to proceed

Finalize steering committee recommendations and direction for technical analysis for all scenarios

Facilitate either formalized consensus on decisions or facilitate formal votes on major decision points within the Steering and Technical committees; or facilitate delivery of undecided issue to 3rd party, i.e.

GDO, for resolution

Task 3: Support Committees

Regular status check-in meetings with Committee chairs

Regular status check-in meetings with Battelle to ensure ongoing smooth operation of the committees

Ensure committee chairs are aware of the other ongoing regional efforts that may interact with this process including WestTEC west-wide transmission planning

Record and track substantive issues that arise in Steering Committee discussions and are relevant to the study, including whether those issues are pending and require further deliberation or are resolved

Support the Steering Committee’s input to the final study report, to be led by Battelle staff. Provide advice on the content of the report based on the Steering Committee’s direction and provide written summaries of issues discussed in the engagement process to inform the study drafting.

Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

Task 4: Conduct Community Outreach and Public Engagement

Finalize communications and outreach plan. Draft will be started by Battelle in collaboration with steering committee.

Develop key messages, informational materials, a website, and an on-going public input process for collecting and responding to comments

Design and host 3 virtual public webinars and associated comment opportunities

Synthesize and summarize public input received throughout the Process in a database or inventory for use by the committees

Conduct initial and ongoing outreach meetings with key regional interests, some of which will occur in person

Include Tribal community input opportunities if consistent with direction emerging from sovereign-to-sovereign discussions

B. Location of Services and Travel

Services: To be performed at Contractor’s facility (no work anticipated to be performed at PNNL facilities).

Travel: To occur as needed within the Pacific Northwest region (typically Seattle, WA or Portland, OR) to facilitate meetings among stakeholders, Battelle, and/or DOE as requested by Battelle.

C. Deliverables

Deliverables include all elements contained in Tasks 1-4 listed above. In summary, the tangible, written deliverables resulting from the meetings the Contractor will facilitate include;

• Written summaries of committee and public meetings.

• Documentation of decisions made in meetings that apply to analysis being conducted by the modelers.

• Written input to Battelle on at least a monthly basis to inform project status updates.

Project – Public Engagement Facilitator

D. Schedule The Contractor is expected to help motivate and drive the Steering and Technical Committees toward providing inputs to the Battelle Modelers by the dates listed in the table below. Additionally, the Contractor will help to inform the Committees regarding the outputs from the Battelle Modelers. The Contractor will utilize the Charters created by DOE and Battelle to accomplish these objectives.

Deadline Inputs to Battelle Modelers Outputs from Battelle Modelers

November 2024 • Fish Demands

• Upstream Operations

• Climate and Hydrology

• Water demands

December 2024

1. Status update to the energy and environment committees of the Washington State legislature and Governor’s office.

2. End of 2024 Summary Report for Co-conveners and

Steering Committee Highlighting Work Accomplished to-date Regarding River Operations.

March 2025 • Energy Technology Assumptions

• Cost curves

• Load Growth Assumptions

• Scenarios and Sensitivities

May 2025 Extreme Events Preliminary Portfolios (Capacity Expansion Models)

June 2025

• Reliability Studies

• Cost analysis

• Resilience

• Stress Testing

September 2025

Draft Final Portfolios

November 2025

Final Portfolios

3. MONITORING PROGRESS/COMPLIANCE, COMPLETION CRITERIA, AND FINAL

ACCEPTANCE

The Contractor will provide written updates to Battelle per the Tasks and Deliverables as noted above in Sections 2A and 2C. Successful execution of the contract entails the Contractor gathering and communicating all required modeling inputs to the Battelle Modelers as required for completion of the modeling efforts.