CANCELED. Central & Southern Illinois CFI Community Charging Program

The Illinois Finance Authority/Climate Bank is issuing an Invitation for Bid (IFB) for the Central and Southern Illinois Community Charging Program, which seeks qualified firms to provide comprehensive labor, materials, equipment, and services for the installation, operation, and maintenance of Level 2 and DC Fast Charging (DCFC) electric vehicle charging stations at 16 designated public sites across Central and Southern Illinois counties. The procurement encompasses planning, design, construction, commissioning, operations, and maintenance activities for 33 Level 2 EVSE stations across 15 sites in partnership with 13 local site hosts, with all charging infrastructure required to be fully installed and operational within 12 months of contract execution. Key deliverables include all EVSE equipment that is Build America, Buy America (BABA) compliant and new (not refurbished), 24/7 multilingual customer support, achievement of a minimum 97% uptime per charger calculated per NEVI standards, monthly uptime reporting, quarterly and annual federal data reporting to EV-ChART for five years, and compliance with all applicable federal and state laws including prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act and Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. Qualified bidders must demonstrate at least two years of EVSE installation experience, completion of projects totaling 500 kilowatts or more, prior experience in Central or Southern Illinois, experience with federally or state-funded projects, valid Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) certifications and Illinois Commerce Commission EV Charging Station Installer Program requirements for all personnel, and must provide at least two client references including at least one governmental entity. The bid submission deadline is March 23, 2026, with a mandatory pre-bid conference scheduled for March 9, 2026, at 2:00 PM via Webex, and the State will award to the lowest priced responsive and responsible bidder; all resulting contracts will include a five-year operating period with potential for extension or renewal up to ten years total.

This procurement is subject to a Business Enterprise Program (BEP) goal of 4% and a Veterans Business Program (VSBP) goal of 0%, requiring bidders to submit a completed BEP Utilization Plan with documentation of good faith efforts to meet designated minority, women, and disadvantaged business enterprise participation targets, with failure to submit rendering the bid non-responsive. Bidders must be registered with the State of Illinois and submit either an IPG Active Registered Vendor Disclosure or alternative Vendor Disclosure form, and all bids must include completed offer forms, references, and Business Enterprise Program utilization plans through the BidBuy procurement platform. The contract is partially or wholly funded with federal funds through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program, with the Illinois Finance Authority having received approximately $15 million in federal grant funding; a $15 fee applies to any bidder awarded a contract valued at $1,000 or more under the Minority Contractor Opportunity Initiative. Local government partners participating as site hosts are required to provide a minimum 20% cost share of eligible project costs and must maintain commercial general liability insurance with minimum coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. The contract includes mandatory compliance with federal data submission requirements, ADA accessibility standards, cybersecurity protocols aligned with NEVI Program specifications, and financial penalties of $100 per charger per day for uptime non-compliance capped at $15,000 per charger annually, with potential remedies including payment withholding, cost disallowance, refunds, or contract suspension or termination for material breaches.