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General (14) Long-Term Renewable Energy and RECs RFP (169) New Renewables RFP (44) Standard Products RFP (45)
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Standard Products RFP
When I look at the table that provides the maximum collateral thresholds, that table is empty. Where can I find this information?
You are looking at the Paragraph 10 of the Collateral Annex. This Paragraph is amended by the Cover Sheet to the Master Agreement. The Maximum Collateral Thresholds can be found in the Cover Sheet.
Is the delivery point NiHub or the ComEd Zone?
The delivery point if the ComEd Zone.
Can you please clarify the following section by adding the year to the dates? There is overlap between the Summer Season and the Spring Season. "Delivery Season" means the time contained within any of four periods wherein the Summer Season is the period June 1 through August 31, the Fall Season is the period September 1 through November 30, the Winter Season is the period December 1 through February 28/29, and the Spring Season is the period March 1 through July 10.
The Summer Season is the period June 1, 2010 through August 31, 2010. The Fall Season is the period September 1, 2010 through November 30, 2010. The Winter Season is the period December 1, 2010 through February 28, 2011. The Spring Season is the period March 1, 2011 through July 10, 2011.
Does the RFP process apply to all of ComEds retail customers?
The Standard Products RFP procures energy supply for a two-year period beginning on June 1, 2010 and ending on May 31, 2012. The RFP proposes the procurement of twenty-four monthly on-peak and twenty-four monthly off-peak standard block forward products. The quantity of each product reflects the forecasted average load and accounts for existing contracts for supply. These existing contracts include those from the 2009 procurement cycle and also include the financial swap contract extending to May 31, 2013 entered into with Exelon Generation Company. Included Retail Customers are residential and non-residential customers below 100 kW that are currently taking generation service from ComEd.
What is the difference between the Part 1 Proposal and the Part 2 Proposal?
Please consult the Standard Products RFP Process and Rules. Article IV describes the requirements of the Part 1 Proposal. The Part 1 Proposal was due on April 13, 2010. Article V describes the requirements for the Part 2 Proposal. The Standard Products RFP Process and Rules can be found on the Standard Products Documents page.
The Supplement to the Part 1 proposal indicates that it will be used to prepare the form of guaranty which a prospective bidder will use for posting if they qualify for the Part 2 Proposal. Is ComEd preparing and sending out the individual form of guaranty which includes the modifications they selected, or is the bidder to use the modifications they selected in the Supplement to Part 1 to prepare the guaranty form for execution themselves.
ComEd will prepare each Guaranty using the elections provided by the RFP Bidder in the Supplement. If the RFP Bidder's Part 1 Proposal is successful, the Procurement Administrator will provide the Guaranty to the RFP Bidder electronically on a CD along with its notification of qualification. The guarantor of the RFP Bidder executes the Guaranty and the RFP Bidder submits the executed Guaranty with the Part 2 Proposal.
Could you please explain the process for posting the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and provide information necessary to fill out Section 7?
The Bidder may provide a Draft Pre-Bid Letter of Credit with its Part 1 Proposal proposing modifications to the standard form. The Bidder must provide an executed Pre-Bid Letter of Credit with its Part 2 Proposal, drawn for the account of the Bidder. The Bidder must either use the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit provided in Appendix 6 to the Rules, or the Bidder must submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit that incorporates only those modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit accepted upon evaluation of Part 1 Proposals. All approved modifications will be posted to the RFP Web site. A Bidder may use any of the approved modifications, regardless of whether the REC Bidder itself or another REC Bidder proposed the modification.
For the Standard Products RFP, the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be in an amount no less than $10,000 per block of an RFP Bidder’s Maximum Quantity, which is the sum of the maximum willingness to supply of the RFP Bidder across all Segments and all months. For the REC RFP, the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be in an amount no less than $1 times the number of RECs for which the REC Bidder is placing a Bid across all Products.
For information necessary to complete Section 7 of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, please submit your request to pa@comed-energyrfp.com
Please note that the beneficiary of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is Commonwealth Edison Company ("ComEd").
The contact information for the beneficiary is: Commonwealth Edison Company ("ComEd") William P. McNeil Vice President – Energy Acquisition 1919 Swift Drive Oakbrook, IL 60521-1580 Tel: (630) 684-3558 Fax: (630) 684-3580
Finally, please note that the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit should be delivered to the Procurement Administrator at the following address: NERA Economic Consulting, Inc. ("NERA") Procurement Administrator ComEd Procurement 222 South Riverside Plaza, 29th Floor Chicago, IL 60606-5808
Can you please provide the definition of each Season including month and year?
In lieu of providing our financials, can we provide access to our company web site to the same individual who had access last year?
For participation in the ComEd Standard Products RFP, please provide all financial information as required by the Part 1 Proposal to the ComEd Procurement Administrator.
Does submitting the guaranty elections as part of our Part 1 Proposal bind us to provide a Guaranty in our Part 2 Proposal?
If you submit your guaranty elections, the Procurement Administrator will prepare a Guaranty for execution and inclusion with your Part 2 Proposal. If you choose not to submit a Guaranty with your Part 2 Proposal, you will be required to resubmit financial information for the entity on whose financial standing you are relying by resubmitting with your Part 2 Proposal the relevant portions of the Part 1 Form and supporting documents. You will have limited time to do so as the Part 2 Proposal is due on April 23 and your materials must be complete for you to be able to submit Bids.
If an RFP Bidder has a Guaranty in place with ComEd, does the RFP Bidder have to provide the information in the Part 1 Form for the preparation of the Guaranty? Will such RFP Bidder have to submit a new Guaranty with the Part 2 Proposal?
An RFP Bidder relying on the financial standing of a Guarantor is required to submit an executed Guaranty with its Part 2 Proposal, regardless of whether the RFP Bidder has a previous Guaranty in place with ComEd. Please provide all information in the Part 1 Proposal so that the Procurement Administrator may prepare the Guaranty for execution.
The supplement to the Part 1 Form requires that bidders indicate the amount of the Guaranty. Could you please confirm that the amount of the Guaranty can be any amount up to the Maximum Collateral Threshold?
The amount of the Guaranty can be any amount up to the Maximum Collateral Threshold amount as provided in the Cover Sheet amending Paragraph 10 of the Collateral Annex. The Maximum Collateral Threshold is calculated on the basis of the Threshold Cap, the Guarantor's tangible net worth, and the Guarantor's credit rating.
We are providing financials for an entity that does not file forms 10-Q and 10-K with the SEC but that does have annual audited financial information available and other financial information available. In Section 2 of the Part 1 Form should we leave all boxes unchecked?
The Part 1 Form requests that you check all that are applicable in the following choices: -- SEC Form 10-K for 2009 OR OTHER audited annual financial information; -- SEC Form 10-Q (most recent) OR OTHER monthly or quarterly financial information accompanied by an attestation of an officer of the Entity and a review report if available; -- all SEC Forms 8-K issued since the release of the most recent release of financial data (SEC Form 10-Q or SEC Form 10-K) OR ANY public financial disclosure made since the release of the Entity’s most recent financial data for any matters that are material to the Entity’s financial condition. To the extent you are providing audited annual financial information, you should check the first box. To the extent that you are providing monthly or quarterly financial information, you should check the second box. To the extent that you are providing disclosures made since the release of your most recent financial information, you should check the third box. If you are still uncertain as to which of these choices are applicable, or if any of these items are unavailable, please provide any explanatory notes in Section 9, Justification of Omissions.
Can the certified check for the bid participation fee be made out to “State of Illinois” instead of “State of Illinois, Illinois Power Agency”?
Checks must be made payable to “State of Illinois, Illinois Power Agency”.
Our bank requires a minimum amount for Letters of Credit to be issued. Would ComEd consider accepting a Bid Bond as a form of pre-bid security in lieu of a Letter of Credit?
ComEd has considered a Bid Bond as an alternative to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and notes that generally a Bid Bond is a weaker form of security. For this upcoming RFP, the final documents were issued without providing RFP Bidders the option of using a Bid Bond acceptable to ComEd to support their bids. The RFP Rules in no way prohibit an RFP Bidder from issuing a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit that meets the minimum amount required by their bank and that would exceed the amount strictly necessary to support the RFP Bidder’s bids. As stated in Paragraph V.2.2 of the RFP Rules, "The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be in an amount NO LESS than $10,000 per block of an RFP Bidder’s Maximum Quantity, which is the sum of the maximum willingness to supply of the RFP Bidder across all Segments and all months."
RFP Bidders may propose modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit by providing a Draft Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, in Microsoft Word with tracked changes, with their Part 1 Proposal. The Draft Pre-Bid Letter of Credit may be saved to a CD that is included with the Part 1 Proposal or the Draft Pre-Bid Letter of Credit may be e-mailed to the Procurement Administrator at pa@comed-energyrfp.com.
The Supplement to the Part 1 Form that is posted under Final Documents appears to be a red line document. Should we use this version or is a final form of the Supplement forthcoming?
The Supplement to the Part 1 Form (Standard Products) that is posted to the Web site is the correct document. Section 2 of the Supplement provides various optional changes to the Standard Form of Guaranty that an RFP Bidder relying on the financial standing of a Guarantor may elect. These optional changes appear as redlined text.
What is the procurement period and the percentage volumes to be procured in the 2010 Standard Products RFP?
The Standard Products RFP solicits suppliers to deliver specific quantities of on-peak or off-peak energy in each monthly period from June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2012. All on-peak hours in a given month constitute the on-peak Segment for that month and all off-peak hours constitute the off-peak Segment for that month. A Product is not procured in percentages but is a constant quantity of energy to be delivered at the ComEd Zone in either the on-peak Segment or the off-peak Segment of a specific month. The Target for each Product is the quantity of each Product that this RFP seeks to procure expressed in number of 50 MW blocks. The Targets are given in Table I-1 of the 2010 Standard Products RFP Process and Rules on the Standard Products Documents page of the Web site.
When will the final Standard Products documents be available?
The Final Standard Products RFP documents were posted to the Web site on April 2, 2010 and are available on the Standard Products Documents page of the Web site.
Please provide redline versions of the final Supplier Master Agreement and other documents posted on April 2, 2010 compared to the drafts previously posted on March 18,
The redline contract documents were posted to the Standard Products Documents page on April 7, 2010. Please note that for each component document, if no difference exists between the final document and the draft document, then no redline document is provided.
Does a 10Q need to be sent if the latest financial information is a 10K?
Yes. Please see Paragraph IV.2.3 of the RFP Rules.
Where can the Supplement to the Part 1 Form for the Standard Products RFP be found?
The Supplement to the Part 1 Form was posted to the Web site on April 5, 2010. Please see our announcement here. The Supplement to the Part 1 Form can be found in the Standard Products Documents page under "Final Standard Products RFP Documents (April 2, 2010)" and under "Appendix 2: Part 1 Form".
Are modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit due as part of the Standard Products contract comment process? If not, when will proposed modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit be reviewed?
Please note that the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit does not fall under the Master Agreement (although Schedule 1 to the Collateral Annex, the "Post-Bid" Letter of Credit, does). Your suggested modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit will be reviewed upon receiving your Part 1 Proposal. The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is required with the Part 2 Proposal and should be sent to the Procurement Administrator. The Part 2 Proposal is due no later than noon (Central Prevailing Time) on April 23, 2010, which is three (3) business days prior to the Bid Date.
Can the Guaranty Amount be adjusted during the term of the transaction as necessary to cover the Collateral Threshold amount?
The Guaranty amount can be changed after the execution of the Master Agreement and the Guaranty in accordance with the terms of the Guaranty, including paragraphs 9, 11, and 12 of the Guaranty, available as Schedule 2 to the Collateral Annex on the Standard Product Documents page of the Web site. ComEd will agree to changes in the Guaranty amount either up or down so long as the revised amount in combination with other performance assurance results in the supplier meeting all credit requirements at that time. All requests should be sent to the addresses provided in paragraph 12 of the Guaranty. ComEd will process all requests for changes within five (5) business days of receipt of the notice. If you elect option 2 in paragraph 1 of the Guaranty that states "in no event exceed the Seller's Exposure Amounts less the value of other liquid securities posted by the Seller under the Agreement(s)" then the value of the Guaranty will self-adjust, based on the net of Exposure, less other posted collateral.
The pre-bid LOC on the Web site says “draft.” Does this mean that there could be changes to it?
The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit is posted in final form to the Web site. Please see the Standard Products Documents page under the heading "FINAL Standard Products RFP Documents (April 2, 2010)", available here. Please note that the format for the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit has changed from the draft posted on March 24, 2010. Further, please note that a list of modifications acceptable to ComEd will first be posted to the Web site during the week of April 5, 2010.
In lieu of the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, may cash or a certified check be provided as pre-bid security?
An RFP Bidder must, in its Part 2 Proposal, submit a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit in an amount of $10,000 per block of an RFP Bidder’s Maximum Quantity, which is the sum of the RFP Bidder’s maximum willingness to supply across all Segments and months. Cash or certified check will not be accepted as pre-bid security. The Pre-Bid Letter of Credit must be in the form of the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, provided as Appendix 6 of these RFP Rules, or incorporate only those modifications that are acceptable to ComEd. An RFP Bidder may, in its Part 1 Proposal, request modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit that are non-material in nature, or that clarify the intent of the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit, or that make modifications advantageous to both ComEd and the RFP Bidder.
This response was originally posted on 3/26/2010 as FAQ-10, and has been revised as of 3/29/2010. FAQ-10 has been archived.
Can Suppliers who executed the EEI Master Agreement last year use the same Master Agreement form of Letter of Credit and Guaranty included in last year’s Agreement if they are a winning Supplier in this year’s Standard Products RFP?
It is expected that all successful suppliers will be required to sign a 2010 standard contract with ComEd. Thus current suppliers may not rely on previously executed contracts in 2009 and, if successful in this year's procurement event, these suppliers would be required to sign the new standard contract form. It is expected that a guaranty that was acceptable to ComEd in 2009 would remain so in 2010; should you be a winner in the 2010 procurement, you would be required to submit a new guaranty but it is expected that you would be able to use the same form of Guaranty. The form of the Letter of Credit has changed and it is not expected that the form of the Letter of Credit used in 2009 will remain acceptable to ComEd.
Can suppliers who executed the EEI Master Agreement last year use their executed Master Agreement and amend according to the changes requested in the new EEI Master Agreement?
No. It is expected that all successful suppliers will be required to sign a 2010 standard contract with ComEd and that amendment of prior contracts would not be practicable.
When will the Part 1 Form be made available?
Final Standard Products RFP Documents, including the Part 1 Form, will be posted to the Web site on April 2, 2010. The Supplement to the Part 1 Form, which is required with the Part 1 Proposal, will be posted on April 5, 2010.
Please note that the Calendar page of the Web site provides important dates for the Standard Products RFP including dates for the posting of key documents.
When will the Supplier Fee be announced?
The Procurement Administrator will inform qualified RFP Bidders of the amount of the Supplier Fee per block on-peak and the amount of the Supplier Fee per block off-peak no later than 6 PM Central Prevailing Time on the Part 2 Date (April 23, 2010). The Procurement Administrator will provide estimates of the Supplier Fee per block on-peak and the Supplier Fee per block off-peak at the Bidder Information Session.
When will the Standard Products RFP be posted?
The Standard Products RFP was posted to the Web site in draft form on March 24, 2010 and is available here under the heading "Standard Products RFP Documents (DRAFT)". The final Standard Products RFP is expected to be posted on April 2, 2010. Please see the Calendar that provides the dates for the Standard Products RFP including the posting of key documents.
Please provide redlined documents comparing the 2010 Master Agreement with the 2009 Master Agreement for the Standard Products RFP.
The redline documents comparing the 2010 draft Standard Products Master Agreement to the 2009 final Standard Products Master Agreement were posted to the Web site on March 24, 2009 and are available here under the heading: "Redline Comparisons of 2010 Standard Master Agreement to 2009 Standard Master Agreement".
Can modifications to the Guaranty be proposed by interested parties?
Any proposed changes to the Guaranty were to be submitted as part of the comment process on the Standard Contract Form. These comments were due at noon (Central Prevailing Time) on March 25, 2010. Please see the Invitation to submit comments that is available here.
Do prospective suppliers have an opportunity to propose modifications to the Letters of Credit?
The Standard Products RFP, which was posted in draft form to the Web site on March 24, 2010, provides the opportunity for RFP Bidders to request modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit and the Standard Post-Bid Letter of Credit with the Part 1 Proposal.
Comments to the Post-Bid Letter of Credit could also have been submitted as part of the comment process on the Standard Master Agreement. Further, any comment or proposed change to the Master Agreement or to the Guaranty should be submitted as part of the comment process on the Standard Contract Form. These comments were due at noon (Central Prevailing Time) on March 25, 2010. Please see the Invitation to submit comments that is available here.
When will the calendar for the Standard Products RFP be posted?
The Standard Products RFP calendar was posted to the ComEd RFP web site on Monday, March 22, 2010. It is available on the Calendar page of the Web site.
When will documents for the Standard Products RFP be posted to the Web site?
The Standard Products RFP will be posted to the Web site in draft form on March 24, 2010. The draft Standard Master Agreement for the Standard Products RFP was posted to the Web site on March 18, 2010. The Procurement Administrator issued an invitation to comment on the draft Standard Contract for the Standard Products RFP. Comments are due on March 25, 2010. Please see the invitation to comment here. Please see the calendars that provide the dates for the Standard Products RFP and for the Renewable Products RFP on the Calendar page of the Web site. To receive announcements concerning the 2010 RFPs please register on the Web site.
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