Consultant services- utility wildfire liability and accountability expert study

The State of Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC), through the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Procurement Services, is seeking qualified expert consultant services to develop a comprehensive expert study on public policy options addressing utility wildfire liability. The primary objective is to balance utility accountability with multiple stakeholder interests, including impacts on utility customer rates and service, property insurance costs, wildfire victim recovery, and access to low-cost capital for the state's economic development and clean energy initiatives. The consultant will be responsible for five key tasks: project management (including draft project plan due within two weeks of contract signature and final plan due one week after the kick-off meeting); research and initial findings (due no later than September 4, 2026); optional external stakeholder engagement; delivery of a final report with draft and final versions (due by November 20, 2026) and final presentation; and ad hoc support not exceeding 80 hours between November 20, 2026, and June 30, 2027. All work product becomes exclusive property of the Agency. The selected consultant must demonstrate expertise in utility regulation, wildfire risk management, liability frameworks, and public policy analysis, with the ability to provide objective analysis on complex issues affecting utilities, ratepayers, insurance markets, and wildfire victims. Proposals are due on March 27, 2026, and the contract term extends through June 30, 2027. Evaluation criteria include the proposer's technical qualifications, cost-reasonableness, and demonstrated capability to deliver complex policy analysis within the specified timeline.

The RFP does not establish set-asides exclusively for disadvantaged enterprises; however, proposers anticipating subcontracting opportunities must complete the Certified Disadvantaged Business Outreach Plan (Attachment D) and document efforts to engage Oregon-certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), Minority-Owned Businesses (MBE), Woman-Owned Businesses (WBE), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDV) businesses, and Emerging Small Businesses (ESB). Proposers must demonstrate financial capability, personnel resources, and expertise through the Responsibility Inquiry form (Attachment F) and disclose contract performance history over the past five years. All proposers must obtain and maintain specified insurance coverage, including workers' compensation, commercial general liability insurance ($1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 annual aggregate), and professional liability insurance ($1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 annual aggregate). Compensation funding is provided exclusively through remittances from Electric Utilities (PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric) as required by Commission Order No. 26-034 and Oregon Revised Statutes 756.040(2), with payments made directly by the Electric Utilities; however, the specific maximum not-to-exceed contract value is marked as "TBD" and was not disclosed in the RFP materials. The contract represents a fixed-price engagement with lump-sum compensation for complete study development and delivery, contingent upon satisfactory completion and Agency acceptance of all deliverables and services according to the established payment schedule.