Contra Costa County is a participant in the Regional Renewable Energy Procurement Project (“R-REP”), an initiative that will utilize collaborative procurement to purchase renewable energy systems for public agencies throughout Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Currently, 20 public agencies, including cities, counties, and special districts are actively participating in the project. A list of current participants appears below. This project is led by Alameda County, as lead agency, in partnership with two local nonprofit organizations, Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Contra Costa Economic Partnership.
Engaging in a collaborative procurement process for renewable energy leads to reduction in renewable energy generation systems costs, transaction costs and administrative time, and enhanced leverage for public agencies in the negotiations of renewable energy systems. Contra Costa County will also benefit from the installation of renewable energy through sustained reductions in utility operating costs. In addition, the renewable energy projects will significantly contribute to achieving Contra Costa County’s Municipal Climate Action Plan targets for reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions from government operations.
The R-REP is based upon the successful Silicon Valley Collaborative Renewable Energy Procurement ("SV-REP") Project, which was the largest multi-agency procurement of renewable energy in the country at the time of completion. The R-REP expects to break this record with up to 40 MW of power generation potential across approximately 170 sites. Contra Costa County is in the process of beginning feasibility studies for 10 - 15 sites being considered for inclusion in the project. Upon completion of the feasibility studies by the participating agencies, a technical/financial consultant retained by Alameda County will assist in the design of the procurement process and provide support during the solicitation process, proposal evaluation and contract negotiations. Vendors will be selected through a competitive bid process. Once vendors are selected, proceeding with the development of a renewable energy project at any of the sites considered under the R-REP is at the discretion of the pertinent participating agency.
Each agency participating in the R-REP is required to sign an MOU by and among Alameda County and the other agencies participating in the R-REP (see list of agencies below). The MOU defines the roles and responsibilities of the participating agencies and is intended to enable the development of the R-REP Request for Proposal (“RFP”) by Alameda County, as lead agency, and to provide stability to the project during the solicitation process.
Under the MOU, participating agencies and Alameda County are not permitted to withdraw sites listed in the project from the period thirty days prior to the RFP issuance until vendors have been selected. No penalty or liability shall accrue as a result of any withdrawal prior to the start of the period noted above. The withdrawal provision is included in the MOU to reduce the risk of changes that could impact bid pricing and vendor cost models, and the risk of price increases to the other agencies participating in the project. The solicitation will include “bundles,” consisting of sites across several agencies. The intention of bundling sites is to achieve economies of scale and sufficiently reduce vendors’ transaction costs so as to receive the best pricing possible. If agencies were able to withdraw from the project from thirty days prior to the issuance of the RFP, or at any time during the solicitation, this would impact the bundling strategy, which might then negatively impact pricing for the other agencies included in that bundle.
Participating agencies have participated in the drafting, review and finalization of the MOU language. Agencies were invited to submit comments and revisions to the draft MOU. Alameda County reviewed these comments, and revisions were incorporated into a second draft of the MOU, which was distributed to the participating agencies. The agencies were again invited to submit comments and revisions. A final draft of the MOU was distributed on October 18, 2012, along with a memo containing Alameda County’s response to all comments submitted on the second draft of the MOU.
This regional collaboration will provide public agencies the following benefits:
1. Reduce transaction costs and administrative time compared to traditional “go it alone” procurement;
2. Achieve competitive contract terms (buyout options, performance guarantees, termination options, etc.) compared to similar projects;
3. Standardize procurement documents, financing, and process;
4. Accelerate financing and deployment of projects;
5. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with operations; and
6. Promote local economic activity and job growth.
The following agencies, which are the parties to the MOU, have submitted sites that are currently being assessed for renewable energy projects and considered for inclusion in the R-REP:
1. California Department of Transportation
2. California Highway Patrol
3. Castro Valley Sanitary District
4. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
5. City of Berkeley
6. City of Emeryville
7. City of Fremont
8. City of Martinez
9. City of Menlo Park
10. City of Mountain View
11. City of Oakland
12. City of Redwood City
13. City of Richmond
14. City of Walnut Creek
15. Contra Costa County
16. Alameda County
17. San Mateo County
18. Santa Clara County
19. Delta Diablo Sanitation District
20. Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD)
The County will not participate in the Memorandum of Understanding and will forego this opportunity for a local collaborative approach to procuring renewable energy.