The City of Watsonville endeavors to offset 100% of municipal power needs and create a surplus of renewable power that can be sold back to the grid. In order to achieve this bold sustainability goal, the City has developed a Request For Qualifications.
The City looks forward to submittals from all suitably qualified businesses. Please note that we are accepting submittals for any or all of the following:
- Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) Contractor or Developer
- Financial Advisor
- The entirety of the project (EPC and Financial components combined)
Please find the following Request for Qualifications for Renewable Energy Project Financing and Development for the City of Watsonville: City of Watsonville, RFQ, July 18 2017
Respondents are asked to submit their proposals by 4:00 PM on Friday, August 25th, 2017.
Specifications for the proposal submission process can be found in the RFQ. Should you have any questions regarding the RFQ, please contact City Public Works Environmental Project Coordinator directly, Rachel Kippen at (831) 768-3165, or by email at rachel.kippen@cityofwatsonville.org.
City of Watsonville Renewable Energy RFQ: Questions and Answers
Q: The cover letter (p2) indicates that the City will accept proposals for EPC or FA or both, but 5.1.1 seems to preclude the "both" option. Is the City seeking/open to joint responses that cover both the EPC and FA work? Does 5.1.1 simply mean that a single firm can't perform both roles, but that joint proposals are okay?
A: This is a request for any or all of the following:
- Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) Contractor or Developer
- Financial Advisor
- The entirety of the project (EPC and Financial components combined)
Q: What is the desired/planned timing of contract award and execution after SOQ’s are provided in August?
A: The City of Watsonville’s desired timeframe is to start the project within twelve months of project approval. Execution will depend on the project being proposed.
Q: Do you have any direction from the MBCPA in regards to how their plans may impact the Watsonville program?
A: No.
Q: Will MBCPA be part of the review & approval process?
A: No. The City is thrilled to have Watsonville participating in MBCPA and we look forward to working together as this project progresses.
Q: Section 2.1.3 of the document indicated that the energy consumption data was in section 4 of the RFQ, but we could not find any energy data.
A: Please see energy data provided here: City of Watsonville Energy Data
Q: Can you please provide us with the data or a link to it. Also, is there any way to obtain gas consumption data?
A: There is currently no gas consumption data that the City is making available.
Q: Can you provide a list of the city owned properties or an interactive map? It is difficult to ascertain detailed property information from the map in Section 4.
A: Please see listed map property Assessor Parcel Numbers: City Owned Land, City Parks, City Parking Lots
Q: Would the City of Watsonville consider utilizing co-generation and/or fuel cell systems at any of their facilities separate from the landfill to help reduce energy costs?
A: Yes.
Q: Please also let us know if any arrangements need to be made prior to visiting any of the sites.
A: Arrangements need to be made for restricted access City locations. The City will be hosting a site visit on Thursday, August 3rd from 10AM-1PM with the goal of ending by Noon, starting at the City of Watsonville Water Resources Center, 500 Clearwater Lane. Please RSVP directly to Rachel.Kippen@cityofwatsonville.org if you plan on attending and let us know how many people will be joining you.
Q: Is the City of Watsonville open to have storage as a solution in addition to solar?
A: Yes.
Q: Are any of the sites located next to commercial customer load where customers are on demand charges and could benefit from having storage sited nearby to reduce demand charge?
A: Not at this time. There are, however, certain City facilities and potential sites where TOU demand charges could be offset by ES.
Q: How much storage capacity would the City like to see included in the response?
A: However much capacity can be justified as having sufficient financial benefit for the City.
Q: This does not appear to be an opportunity for community solar, please confirm.
A: That is correct for the time being.
Q: Is the average rate of 21 cents per kWh equal to the maximum amount of the PPA the city would be willing to sign with a developer?
A: The City is most interested in reducing its electric expense so that the savings will reduce or eliminate any PPA cost differential. Responders should take into account that rate escalation, PPA term, early buyout, partial advanced payment, etc. may significantly affect the overall average rate. Additionally, the City is always looking for opportunities to reduce average per kWh costs through analysis of energy usage to identify conservation strategies that do not only include infrastructure changes, but also optimal use of energy during peak times and PG&E rate structure plans.
Q: What is the deadline for responding with qualifications?
A: Friday, August 25th at 4:00PM