The Evaluation Team is providing the following notice regarding the Section 83CIV Request for Proposals (RFP) issued August 30, 2023:  On October 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a first round of project awards under the Grid Innovation Program (GIP), which is outlined in Section 40103(b) of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As outlined in Section 2.2.1.10 of the Section 83CIV RFP, DOER submitted, individually and in coordination with other states, applications to the GIP program which were not selected for these initial funding awards. The Section 83CIV RFP describes “GIP Alternative Bids” which bidders could propose to leverage the transmission upgrades submitted by DOER for GIP funding. Following the award announcement, and to provide timely notice to bidders, the Evaluation Team is notifying prospective bidders that GIP Alternative Bids will no longer be considered under the Section 83CIV RFP. Further details will be provided in forthcoming responses to Prospective Bidder Questions received on October 17, 2023. Additionally, consistent with RFP Section 2.2.1.4 (h), Bidders must address in their proposals how they would consider the Distribution Companies’ customers in the event of the availability or receipt of any tax credit or other government grant or subsidy not contemplated in their proposals.

Eligible Bidders are welcome to contact transmission owners as they develop interconnection proposals for their projects. Eligible Bidders who are interested in receiving confidential information about the technical characteristics of the Distribution Companies’ transmission system upgrades, associated high-level non-binding cost estimates, and/or landfall and routing information for proposed points of interconnection for Offshore Wind Energy Generation may contact Carissa Sedlacek, Director of Transmission Interconnections and Solutions at carissa.sedlacek@eversource.com (for Eversource) and Barry Ahern, Director of Transmission Planning, at barry.ahern@nationalgrid.com (for National Grid). Execution of a Non-Disclosure Agreement and CEII clearance in accordance with ISO-NE policy may be required.

Hello,

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) invited bidders to an introductory webinar on October 30th, 2023, in order to provide information necessary for a consultation with the MassCEC. This webinar is a required step for bidders of the Massachusetts 83C IV long-term contracts for offshore wind energy projects RFP, who wish to utilize MassCEC as a resource for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultation. For those unable to attend the webinar, a recording is made available to you.

The Petitioners have posted available monthly index values for September 2023 at https://macleanenergy.com/83c-iv/request-for-information/ to provide bidders early notice of the terms that will be used to calculate the Initial Value on Bid Due Date pursuant to the Informational Filing. As noted in the Informational Filing, some indices published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are subject to revision for up to four months after original publication, the Petitioners will provide updates to the values in the Table no later than December 31, 2023.

On September 29, 2023, the Request for Proposal (RFP) Drafting Parties made an Informational Filing at the DPU describing the finalized Indexing Adjustment Mechanism. This Informational Filing describes the purpose of the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism, the process by which the Petitioners arrived at the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism, and how the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism will be implemented as an option in the RFP.

Please follow this link to Indexing Adjustment Mechanism Informational Filing or find it at macleanenergy.com/83c-iv/83c-iv-documents/.

On October 4, 2023, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced an Offshore Wind Multi-State Coordination Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a potential coordinated selection of offshore wind as each state solicits its own offshore wind energy generation through their respective state procurements.

On August 23, 2023, the Department of Public Utilities (Department) issued a final order approving the proposed timetable and method for the fourth solicitation contained in a request for proposals (RFP) for offshore wind energy generation pursuant to Section 83C of the Green Communities Act, St. 2008, c.169, as amended by the Energy Diversity Act, and the Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind (Section 83C) (the Order), subject to the directives of the Department.

Section 1.1.1 of the RFP allows DOER to coordinate with other New England state procurements and the MOU provides the relevant information regarding project allocation, division of economic development commitments, and further information on project selection for Bidders to incorporate into their bids.

Any other requirements to submit a multistate bid for multistate consideration will be forthcoming.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) Drafting Parties have made an Informational Filing at the DPU describing the finalized Indexing Adjustment Mechanism on September 29, 2023. This Informational Filing describes the purpose of the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism, the process by which the Petitioners arrived at the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism, and how the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism will be implemented as an option in the RFP.

On August 4, 2023, the RFP Drafting Parties provided an informational update regarding a forthcoming Request for Information (RFI) on the Indexing Adjustment Mechanism pursuant to Section 2.2.1.5 of the proposed 83C Round 4 RFP submitted to the Department. This early notification was provided to allow stakeholders additional time to coordinate resources for the purpose of preparing their response. On August 25, 2023, interested parties and stakeholders were invited to provide comments in response to the questions in the RFI and those comments are available at https://macleanenergy.com/83c-iv/request-for-information/. On August 23, 2023, the Department approved the timetable and method for solicitation found in the RFP, including the proposed Indexing Adjustment (as defined in the RFP). On August 31, 2023, the RFP Drafting Parties made an informational filing at the DPU amending the RFP to conform the DPU directions, which was posted at macleanenergy.com.

Please follow this link to Indexing Adjustment Mechanism Informational Filing or find it at macleanenergy.com/83c-iv/83c-iv-documents/.

Also, note registration for the upcoming bidder’s conference is available at https://macleanenergy.com/83c-iv/83c-iv-bidders-conference/.