Advisory Services for ESAP

Trade Agreement: WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT/Canada FTAs with Peru/Colombia/Panama
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
Ever-Green Energy, LLC
345 St. Peter Street
1350 Landmark Towers
Saint Paul Minnesota
United States
55102
Nature of Requirements: 

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) 

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of the requirement 

Background

The Department of Public Services and Procurement Canada has a requirement for business, technical engagement and marketing advice for the Energy Services Acquisitions Program (ESAP).

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) owns and operates six Central Heating and Cooling Plants (CHCP) that provide heating and/or cooling for more than 80 buildings in the National Capital Region (NCR) which make up to approximately 2 million rentable square meters of office space. These plants are the Cliff, Tunney’s Pasture, National Printing Bureau (NPB), Confederation Heights, National Research Council (NRC) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  Heating and cooling is distributed through five networks made up of 40 kilometers of pipeline most of which are contained in 12 kilometers of tunnels.

Some of the plants that provide the heating and cooling services were built almost a century ago.  The infrastructure is reaching the end of its life cycle and major investments will be required to modernize it and improve tis energy efficiency, provide access to more sustainable energy resources and reduce the environmental footprint.

The business of providing energy has changed significantly since these plants were built.  Consistent with PSPC Real Property Branch’s (RBP), Corporate Real Estate Model (CREM) and the associated National Service Management Strategy (NSMS), the Energy Services Acquisition Program (ESAP) seeks to move from operating energy assets and delivering services towards service management, therefore becoming an ``informed buyer``. PSPC’s strategy is to seek a solution that is cleaner, greener and more cost-effective through an innovative business arrangement.  The selected business arrangement will draw on the expertise of leaders in the field of district energy to obtain maximum value from existing assets, predictable capitalization and operating costs, best value when establishing generation and distribution capabilities and ultimately best value for the Canadian taxpayer.  At this time, the preferred method for implementing ESAP will be a Public-Private Partnership (P3) Project Agreement, whereby a private partner is engaged to Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM) the district energy systems (DES), which consist of the CHCP and their associated distribution networks.  The private partner will carry out the conversion of existing infrastructure to modernize the system while contributing to the government’s sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction objectives.  This contract will assist in establishing the parameters of the solicitation that will establish the eventual P3 Project Agreement.

Scope of Work

The contract is intended to be a long term contract covering three periods in the development of the ESAP process, including the following Phases:

* Provide advice and input to the submission requirements and evaluation criteria during the RFQ phase as well as input to the Project Specific Output Specifications (PSOS) during the RFP phase, to aid in the development of contract documents for both the RFQ and RFP processes to be completed by July 2018;
* Advice during the evaluation period to select partners and final technical evaluations during the partnership selection process to be completed by February 2019;
* Advice and guidance during the early period of work with a selected partner to consider implementation options, contracting options with existing and future customers.

The specific services required will be a function of the contracting approach, the business relationship and responsibility sharing with potential partners, the capacity of potential partners, and specific challenges. The following items are seen as suitable for early attention:

1. Modify existing buildings to operate on low temperature water;
2. Develop strategic and implementation plans for the modification of steam distribution to lowtemperature hot water;
3. Operational challenges with energy supply technologies;
4. Review and preparation of solicitation and contract documents as part of the P3 process; 
5. Evaluation of proposals at the RFQ and RFP stages of the P3 process;
6.Development of rate structures and contracts with the P3 partner;
7. Review of implementation plans and scheduling for the transformation;
8. Workshops with local mechanical contractors for building conversions.

Note: (Specific projects can be appended as Addenda to the general contract as they are defined).    

While many of the activities can be provided through discussion and the preparation of reports or provision of data and other material electronically, there will be some of these activities that will require the Contractor’s presence in the NCA for direct consulting, meetings, presentations, etc.

3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements) 

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements: 

Senior Consultant

Education/Professional Qualifications: 
o Must have a degree in any field of engineering from a recognized university or a degree in any field of business administration and management from a recognized university.

      Experience:
o Must have a minimum of five cumulative years of consulting experience within the past ten years in district energy systems business strategies, partnership arrangements, customer contracts and rate structures.

      Senior Project Manager
      
Education/Professional Qualifications: 
o Must have a degree in any field of engineering from a recognized university or a degree in any field of business administration and management from a recognized university or a professional designation in project management such has CAPM, PMP, PgMP.

      Experience:
o Must have a minimum of five cumulative years of Project Management experience within the past ten yearsin district energy systems technical advisory services.

      Senior Engineer
      
Education/Professional Qualifications: 
o Must have a degree in mechanical or electrical or civil engineering from a recognized university.

      Experience:
o Must have a minimum of five cumulative years of engineering experience within the past ten years in district energy systems technical advisory services.
          
      Project Manager
      
Education/Professional Qualifications: 
o Must have a degree in any field of engineering from a recognized university.

      Experience:
o Must have a minimum of two years of Project Management experience.

      Engineer
      
Education/Professional Qualifications: 
o Must have a degree in mechanical or electrical or civil engineering from a recognized university.

      Experience:
o Must have a minimum of two years of engineering experience.

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement 

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:

o Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
o World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
o North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier 

After a review of potential sources of advice and information, it has been determined that Ever-Green Energy is uniquely qualified to undertake the work required based on their specific & unique experience including:

* Providing comprehensive services forthe only utility in North America which has undertaken the transformation from high pressure steam to hot water technology in an urban centre that serves large heritage buildings (over 100 steam to hot water building conversions);
* Operating and managing a now modern district energy system with diverse sources of energy, including biomass thermal boilers, biomass CHP (combined heat and power or cogeneration), industrial waste heat and solar thermal collectors.  (This is similar to what is contemplated for the PWGSC systems under ESAP);
* Providing expert advice as the only operating district energy system that is set up with an integrated consulting/advisory service that can provide detailed information on their own technical, financial and business model experience; 
* Being the only private not-for-profit district energy company in North America that has experience with both public and private (as well as hybrid subsidiaries) business models.

To support the sole source rationale, it should also be noted that

Ever-Green Energy has provided a diverse range of services to District Energy St. Paul which have contributed to the following activities:

* Acquisition of an old steam utility, consideration of ownership options for a municipal utility and development and implementation of a public not-for-profit company;
* Transformation to a private not-for-profit company - the first in the USA;
* Review of options for expansion and the development of subsidiaries to undertake different functions, including:
o Renewable energy innovations, both within the City and externally.  They currently have a district cooling project in Honolulu, Hawaii.  This company is 100% owned by Ever-Green Energy.
o St. Paul Generation, to focus on renewable energy cogeneration.  This is 50% owned by Duke Energy with whom they constructed a biomass CHP unit that produces 25 MW of electricity and 65 MW of heat.
o Environmental Wood Supply to harvest, buy and process biomass for use in the CHP plant.  It is 50% owned by Ever-Green Energy.
* Development of marketing and contract development tools with customers to ensure value for money and the development of customer contract templates;
* Development of new sustainable energy sources including solar thermalcollectors on customer buildings and industrial waste heat recovery;
* Cooperation with the municipality for combined construction of an LRT and major transmission line for district heating.

Such experience closely mirrors the specific needs of PWGSC and the ESAP project and there are no similar companies or utilities with this specific combination of technical, management, financing and customer relations experience in North America.

6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s) 

The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work". 

7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons 

The following exclusion(s) and/orlimited tendering reasons are invoked under the: 
o Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) - Article(s) 506.12b
o World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) - Article(s) XV.1b
o North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Article(s)1016.2b

8. Period of the proposed contract  

The proposed contract is for a period of one year, with three one-year option periods.

9. Cost estimate of the proposed contract

The estimated value of the contract, including options, is $1,983,000.00 (GST/HST extra)

10. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier 

Ever-Green Energy, LLC
345 St.Peter Street
1350 Landmark Towers
Saint-Paul, Minnesota

11. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities 

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closingdate of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

12. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities 

The closing date and time for accepting statements ofcapabilities is December 9 2016 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. 

13. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities 

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to: 

Amélie Hamann
11 Laurier Street, Building Portage III
Gatineau, Québec K1A 0S5 
E-mail: amelie.hamann@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca



Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.