Author: RFP Admin

Multi-State Proposal Form available at MACleanEnergy.com

Pursuant to the Offshore Wind Multi-State Coordination Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) by and among the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Parties”), the Parties have prepared a Multi-State Proposal Form (“Form”) with instructions for preparing and submitting Multi-State Bids. The Form is available here: Multi-State Proposal Form

The Massachusetts Evaluation Team received Prospective Bidder Questions on October 17, 2023, including questions related to Multi-State Bids pursuant to the MOU. Responses to the questions received regarding Multi-State Bids will be coordinated with the other Parties and are forthcoming at MACleanEnergy.com.

Rhode Island Energy will be accepting potential bidder questions for the 2023 Rhode Island Offshore Wind RFP by or before November 30, 2023. Potential bidders must provide the written questions to RIEOSWRFP@pplweb.com with the subject line “2023 RI OSW RFP Question Submission.”

Connecticut DEEP is accepting questions regarding the RFP via email to DEEP.EnergyBureau@ct.gov by November 27, 2023. DEEP will post responses to questions on Energy Filings and Grid Scale Procurements (ct.gov) by December 8, 2023.

Prospective Bidders with remaining questions regarding Multi-State Bids, including clarifying questions regarding the Form, may submit their questions to either the Connecticut or Rhode Island Q&A and responses will be coordinated by the Parties.

Section 83C IV RFP: Responses to Bidders Questions – Batch 1

In accordance with the 83C IV RFP for Long-term Contracts for Offshore Wind Energy Projects, prospective bidders were allowed to submit written questions to the Evaluation Team pertaining to the solicitation. All questions were to be submitted to the Evaluation Team at maRFP83C@gmail.com no later than October 17, 2023. 

The Evaluation Team has posted responses to a batch of these questions, pertaining to the topics of Indexing Adjustment Mechanism, Energy Storage, GIP, Bid Fees, and Economic Development. Please find the responses at the 83C IV Q&A page and check back in with this page for additional responses as made available.

Section 83CIV RFP Update on GIP Alternative Bids

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.

Offshore Wind DEI Bidders Webinar

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.

Inflation Adjustment September Index Values

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/.