Q A for SPE600-12-R-0417.pdf

Questions and Answers for Solicitation SPE600-12-R-0417

Q. Is a small business required to submit AbilityOne information? I know a Small business is not required to do a subcontracting plan.

A. AbilityOne is a non-price evaluation factor whereas a subcontracting plan is a regulatory requirement.

Therefore, an AbilityOne plan is required for all business sizes. In addition, per Section M of the solicitation an offeror is also required to identify in their proposal if they are unable to utilize AbilityOne entities.

Q. Should I only submit (at this time) the past performance, Technical, Teaming Arrangement information to cover the line items that are in the current solicitation information that needs to be submitted in Sept.

A. You are to submit all of the information requested in SECTION L - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS of the RFP "ONLY" for the line items included in the solicitation.

Q. In order to formulate price quote and service options, please advise if you can provide transcript usage history and current LDC rider for each account number. Also, please advise if you can provide current gas bill for each account number.

A. The solicitation contains estimated usage information for all the line items that service is required for. In addition, the LDC tariff rate information is included on the individual schedule pages that are included with the solicitation. Unfortunately, individual usage history or copies of customer invoices cannot be provided.

Q. In previous solicitations bidders submitted Past Performance, Area of Supply Interest and Technical Compliance, Subcontracting Plan and other paperwork first and then bid the price at a later date. This solicitation appears to be requesting our price offer by September 20, 2012, which offer is to be held for a period of 120 days.

Is my understanding correct?

A. You are correct that pricing is requested with your proposal and the acceptance period is 120 days.

Q. Throughout Part I, the term the “Schedule” is used (see, e.g., B-0002(a)(1); C-0001(e)(3); C-0001(f), etc.).

Does the term “Schedule” refer to Part I of the RFP and/or the Solicitation Schedule Page – Lime Item Summary Pricing Sheet or does it refer to some other document?

A. Each Line Item has an applicable "Schedule Page" that provides specific information pertaining to each individual Line Item. The other various sections of the RFP identify the applicable contract terms and conditions associated with any resultant contract.

Q. On Page 8, Section (e)(3) – Monthly Order Quantities, there is a sentence that states “For any amounts used beyond 100 percent, the Government shall pay for all gas consumed beyond the 10 percent tolerance in accordance with the pricing mechanism indicated in the Schedule”. Please identify where this “pricing mechanism” is located.

A. For those Line Items utilizing the Monthly Order Quantities Delivery Option, the pricing mechanism can be found on the applicable "Schedule Page" for that line item.

Q. On page 11, subpart (m)(1) regarding Invoicing and Payment, line 5, the sentence states:

Invoices will be submitted via electronic or non-electronic means as required by the applicable Invoice Certifying Office. For Dual billed accounts, do the Invoice Certifying Offices for the Illinois and Michigan accounts require the use of Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) invoicing?

A. WAWF is not currently utilized for all of the line items included within the solicitation; therefore, any resultant contract that includes line items who currently utilize WAWF will include the applicable clauses associated with WAWF.

Q. On page 11, subpart (m)(1) regarding Invoicing and Payment, starting on line 8, the sentence states: “The Government has the right to unilaterally adjust the quantities indicated on the Contractor’s invoice downward if documentation available to the Government indicates that a quantity received on behalf of the installation is less than the quantity invoiced by the Contractor and adjust future payments due the Contractor if any previous quantity for which the Contractor invoiced and was paid is determined to be inaccurate.” What “documentation available” does the Government intend to use to make this determination?

A. Typically documentation received from the delivery point (LDC, Interstate pipeline, etc) is used to determine the accuracy of quantities delivered. The government has the right to utilize any documentation deem valid to substantiate quantities delivered and consumed by the customer.

Q. Part IV, Section L – Subpart (b) Submission of Offers – On page 41, clause 52.215-9004 AbilityOne, part (d) states: “You shall be required to submit periodic progress reports (no less frequently than annually) to the Contracting Officer regarding you subcontracting efforts relative to AbilityOne entities.” Will the reporting for AbilityOne by part of the Federal Government’s electronic reporting system, such as eSRS or SAM (System for Award Management)? Please identify system and explain process.

A. No firm policy guidelines have been issued determining the manner in which an offeror is required to submit periodic progress reports; therefore, successful offerors will be notified by the Contracting Officer on the manner in which these reports should be submitted.

Q. Part IV, Section M, clause 52.215-9004 on line 2 states: “An offeror that proposes or demonstrates a higher percentage, complexity level, and variety of participation by AbilityOne qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind or other severely disabled as subcontractors beyond those items for which AbilityOne entities are the mandatory source generally will receive a higher rating on this factor during the source selection process.” Please describe and provide an example of fairly complex “complexity level”.

A. We are unable to provide you with a description and example. Each plan will be evaluated in its entirety to determine an offeror's rating.

Q. Is there a way we can adjust our price to take into consideration the pipeline fuel cost changes as the market price changes? Since pipeline fuel is a function of the market price ($/MMBtu of market price multiplied by the fuel percentage factor) a contractor would be at great risk due to changes in the fuel factor by the pipeline and by market condition changes.

A. Do you mean changing the price on a monthly basis? Or are you referring to changing it in the event the pipeline tariff fuel loss percentage changes? In either case allowing a change of the price would require the marketer to provide a breakdown of their pricing, on a monthly basis, to substantiate a change in their pricing.

We are not looking to make fuel losses a separate component of the adjustment

Q. We are having a few issues with the SAM website and are unable to update our ORCA certification online.

Will the DLA accept a hard copy of the ORCA forms, filled out by hand and signed by an authorized representative?

A. If an offeror has not completed or is unable to complete the annual representations and certifications electronically at the ORCA website, the offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (o) of provision FAR 52.212-3/1/II by hand. In addition the following clauses from Section K - Representations, Certifications, and other Statements of Offerors Respondents of solicitation SPE600-12-R-0417 are also required to be submitted with the offeror's proposal: FAR 52.203-2, FAR 52.203-11, FAR 52.209-5, FAR 52.209-7, DFARS 252.209- 7001, DFARS 252.212-7000, DLAD 52.233-9001, K-0001, and K-0002.

OTHER INFORMATION

Line Item 0004, NTC Great Lakes Note #2 should be corrected to read, “Intra-month natural gas purchases/sales shall be priced at the Gas Daily, daily midpoint price for Cons Energy CG in effect on the delivery date plus the contract Adjustment Factor. At a minimum, the Government must notify the supplier of its desire to purchase or sell incremental gas by 9:30 a.m. (Eastern) the day of the delivery/sale. In the event the methodology price for an Intra-month purchase is higher than the Standby Commodity Charge associated with the LDC tariff rate, the customer may choose to purchase the incremental natural gas via the LDC.

Line Item 0005, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Note #1 should be corrected to read “Rider SST – Subscription Storage Transportation Service”:

Line Item 0014, FCI Pekin’s LDC should be corrected to read “Ameren Illinois” and the rate class should read “Rate GDS-4”.

For Delivery Option 4 customers that identify an Intra-month methodology in the notes section, should be corrected to read, “12:00 p.m. (Eastern) one day prior to the day of delivery/sale”.

Offerors who submit electronic proposals via the email address identified in the solicitation will receive an email acknowledgement. Please notify us in the event you do not receive an acknowledgement email for your proposal.