Vendor Notice for OATI -Posted.docx

SOLE SOURCE VENDOR NOTICE

No. SS 2420 CPR Date of Announcement: May 29, 2024 Project Title: Subscription Services for Electricity Transmission Data The Department of Ecology intends to award a sole source contract/purchase to Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI) to provide annual import and export electricity data for the state of Washington.

Background information:

The Department of Ecology requires data on electricity transmitted into and out of the state of Washington to facilitate the tracking of its progress towards achieving the greenhouse gas emissions state cap under the Cap-and-Invest program, and for the accurate provision of no cost allowances to electric utilities.

Supporting reasons for the sole source:

OATI manages the national webSmartTag database under contract by the U.S. Federal government for this purpose, which is the only centralized and readily accessible source of electricity transaction data. There is no other collector of this information and is therefore the sole entity that can provide this electricity transaction data to the Department of Ecology.

The electricity transaction data provided by Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI) will allow the Department of Ecology to verify which entities that imported or exported electricity have, or have not, reported that electricity transaction data through the Department of Ecology reporting process. Without this mechanism for independent verification, a new importer of electricity that does not already report to the Department of Ecology will not be identified and will incur a significant cost advantage in the wholesale electricity markets. In the absence of this control check, electric power entities (EPEs) could avoid obligations by simply not reporting.

Under the terms of the proposed contract/purchase, Vendor will:

Provide the Department of Ecology annual summaries of electricity import and export transactions per functional specifications agreed to by the Department of Ecology and Open Access Technology, Inc. for each calendar year stipulated by the contract.

Expected key outcomes/deliverables:

This electricity transaction data will allow the Department of Ecology to verify reported electricity transaction data from electric power entities, which will in turn provide important added assurance that the electricity transaction data on which no-cost allowance allocation is based is correct. This will in turn assure that the Ecology’s Cap-and-Invest program will function as designed, and that the Climate Commitment Act can be implemented as designed in state statute (RCW 70A.65) and as envisioned by the Washington State Legislature in 2021.

Contract Term and Value:

Ecology will enter into a ONE (1) YEAR contract with OATI. The contract will be issued on or after June 12, 2024, and will continue for a one-year initial term through June 30, 2025. The cost of this one-year contract is $41,871.00. Ecology may opt to extend the contract an additional two (2) times in two (2) year increments or portions therein if required. Ecology determines that each optional additional two-year extension may result in an estimated increase of $15,000 (or slightly higher) consideration being added to the total contract value.

Amendments may be necessary to add additional reports to validate reporting in future years as biennium funding becomes available. The parties may negotiate an amended Statement of Work. Any such Statement of Work is contingent upon the availability of funding and agreement of the parties.

Capability Statement:

Vendors considering responding to this sole source announcement are required to submit capability statements within five (5) business days of this announcement.

Vendor must detail their ability to meet all the state’s requirements/outcomes and clearly demonstrate that a sole source contract is not justified.

Capability statement should address the following state requirements (see contract also):

Vendor must track and maintain annual import and export electricity data for the state of Washington and provide both detailed and rolled up electricity imports and export data to the Department of Ecology, organized by first jurisdictional deliverer per RCW 70A.65.

Vendor must develop the functional specifications, report templates, configuration of the reports, testing and validation.

Vendor shall deliver annual summaries to the Department of Ecology for 2022, 2023, and 2024 in the following structure.

1. Comprehensive Statewide Totals by Transaction Type: A Report showing the net import/export megawatt hours (MWh) values for Washington - two values: MWh-import, MWh-export, for the entire State.

2. Comprehensive Statewide Totals by PSE Code/Entity/First Deliverer and Transaction Type: A Report showing the total imported/exported megawatt hours (MWh) for each unique PSE Code by Transaction Type.

3. Format and number of annual reports will vary depending on whether BPA elects to report in the Cap-and-Invest program as a First Jurisdictional Deliverer.

In the absence of other qualified sources, it is Ecology’s intent to make a sole source award.

For more information or to submit capability statement contact:

Ecology Program Contact:

Alternate Procurement Contact:

Kathie Collins Contracts Specialist Washington Department of Ecology

(360) 407-7036 Kathie.Collins@ecy.wa.gov image1.jpeg