RFP for Solar for All Program Planning Support

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is soliciting proposals through Request for Proposal 25-0146 for comprehensive planning support services for the Solar for All (MISFA) program, which received a federal award of $156,120,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The procurement seeks a planning contractor to deliver five primary requirements: stakeholder engagement and community benefits organization (CBO) coordination, research and analysis of related programs and federal funding opportunities, program design support, workforce development recommendations, and post-planning support to a third-party administrator during transition. Key deliverables include engagement strategy recommendations, financial program design strategies addressing low-income and disadvantaged communities, workforce training criteria, certification contractor pool recommendations, a comprehensive Request for Proposals for third-party administrators, and program guidelines. The contractor must facilitate multiple rounds of listening sessions and community forums, develop program design documents by May 1, 2025 (initial) and August 1, 2025 (final), complete the third-party administrator RFP by September 1, 2025, finalize program guidelines by December 1, 2025, and provide ongoing support through December 2026. The proposal submission deadline is 3:00 p.m. Eastern on November 19, 2024, with an anticipated contract start date of December 17, 2024, and a two-year contract term with options for up to three additional one-year renewals. Pricing must be submitted in a fixed-fee format broken down by staffing and fringe benefits, supplies and materials, and travel expenses, with firm pricing required for the entire two-year period and adjustments only permissible for documented changes in actual contractor costs following mutual negotiation.

The RFP does not identify specific set-aside designations or restrictions limiting the types of organizations that can respond, though proposals addressing partial scopes of services are permitted alongside full-scope responses. The RFP permits consideration of proposals from planning contractors willing to participate in the future third-party administrator selection process, provided no conflict of interest exists and the contractor does not write the administrator RFP or assist in its selection. The contractor must comply with EPA-R-HQ-SFA-23-01 Solar for All requirements and federal provisions including debarment and suspension verification, Byrd Anti-Lobbying certification for awards exceeding $100,000, Build America Buy America Act self-certification, and domestic preference compliance. Service level agreements establish 100 percent compliance requirements with liquidated damages of $100 per occurrence for the first five instances of non-compliance annually and $500 per occurrence thereafter, plus $5,000 for late or improper completion and an additional $100 per day for failure to remedy non-compliance. While EGLE did not provide a specific budget estimate in the RFP documents, the agency confirmed that an expected budget amount and not-to-exceed figure exist for the services, and the contract value appears to meet or exceed $250,000, requiring State Administrative Board approval.