A quick plug for the Pivotal Leaders program. Established in 2010 by venture capital firm Pivotal Investment, it seeks to promote networking among leading Pacific Northwest cleantech executives and encourage innovation and economic growth in the region. My colleague Dave Benson was recently named a 2012 Pivotal Leader in Cleantech. The annual Pivotal Leaders list…

The City of Palo Alto, California, is seeking a minimum of 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually, not to exceed 80 GWh/year, from eligible renewable resources. The City will not, however, consider proposals for the sale of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) alone . The City intends to negotiate and execute one or more power purchase agreements with …

The California Bioenergy Interagency Working Group has released its 2012 Bioenergy Action Plan, with the goal of facilitating the development of bioenergy in California on a variety of levels, including research and development support, streamlining and consolidating permitting, facilitating access to transmission, pipelines, and other distribution networks, and policies and laws to monetize the …

On August 22, 2012, the U.S. Army Engineering & Support Center in Huntsville, AL held a pre-proposal conference to discuss the final multi-award task order contract that was issued on August 7, 2012 (the “Final RFP” or “MATOC”).  My colleague, Lane Tucker, and I attended to hear the Army’s presentations and to engage directly with renewable energy developers, consultants, seasoned government contractors, large energy service contractors (ESCOs), and others. The conference provided attendees a great opportunity to explore the field of potential contractors and subcontractors and start (or continue) conversations about potential teaming arrangements that could result in both a MATOC award and one or more base task order awards. 

For those who could not attend, fear not; all of the presentation materials will soon be available on the Army EITF website and the Huntsville team will post all of the questions presented, along with the Army’s formal responses, to the ProjNet website. Also important is that Tonju Butler, the Procuring Contracting Officer, indicated that the deadline for questions on the Final RFP would be extended from today until September 7, 2012, so that individuals and teams can have additional time to formulate and posit questions that may be important to their proposals.  However, that change has not yet been posted to the FedBizOpps website as an amendment.  It is too early to tell whether this extension foreshadows an extension of the October 5, 2012 proposal deadline. Right now, the Army is holding firm to that date, so individuals and teams that intend to respond should plan accordingly. Keep an eye out for other amendments to the Final RFP, too. Conference attendees were assured that more would be forthcoming to clarify small technical issues and, hopefully, to flush out the structure for proposing prices. All amendments will be posted to the FedBizOpps website for the MATOC.

Here are a few takeaways and a short discussion about some important issues. Be sure to check the Q&A on the ProjNet website for any official responses from the Army on these topics. Continue Reading Army Holds Pre-Proposal Conference in Huntsville on Renewable Energy Procurement

Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA that rejects the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to regulating upwind pollution from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, among other sources. The so-called Transport Rule, also known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, had sought to …

In a decision released this morning, the DC Circuit rejected a challenge to the introduction of E15, a gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol, under an EPA waiver grant. Currently, the national gasoline supply consists largely of E10, a 10 percent ethanol/gasoline blend. With fuel manufacturers confronting mandatory annual increases of renewable fuels under the…

Northwestern Energy has issued an RFP seeking up to 45 MW of renewable generation that qualify under Montana’s community renewable resource requirement.  The RFP process is being managed by Land Energy Consulting. 

The first conference call for the RFP was held on August 15, and a second is scheduled for September 12.  Proposals are due at…

Arizona Public Service Company has announced that it is seeking proposals from solar developers and installers to build a 32 MW solar PV facility.  APS would finance the project  through its AZ Sun Program.  When completed, the new solar facility will be owned and operated by APS and is expected to provide electricity to more…

On August 14, 2012, the Army Engineering & Support Center published the details of the pre-proposal conference for the final request for proposals that was issued last week (the "Final RFP").  The conference will be held on August 22, 2012 at the Redstone Arsenal Sparkman Center, Bob Jones Auditorium, Building 5300, Martin Road, Huntsville, Alabama 22202.  Registration…