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City of Seattle Invitation to Bid/Request for Proposal Addendum

Updated on: 04/04/18

The following is additional information regarding Requests for Proposal (RFP) # SCL-4330 – titled Western Energy Imbalance Market released on 03/01/2018. The due date and time for responses is 04/02/2018 2PM (Pacific). This addendum includes both questions from prospective proposers and the City’s answers and revisions to the RFP. This addendum is hereby made part of the RFP and therefore, the information contained herein shall be taken into consideration when preparing and submitting a bid.

Item #

Date Receive

d

Date Answere

d

Vendor’s Question City’s Answer ITB Revisions

1 02/28/18 03/06/18 I didn’t see a reference to sending a letter of intent to reply to the RFP. Is this needed?

No.

2 02/28/18 03/06/18 We would like a mutual NDA. Is this possible No, please following the instructions in the Vendor Questionnaire regarding Non-Disclosure Requests.

3 03/09/18 03/12/18 How many users will be part of the project and what is the breakdown by department/role?

There are 17 Market Users, 13 Dispatchers, 10 System/Admin accounts 8 Risk Settlements Accounts and 15 Mgt/Read Only Users

4 03/09/18 03/12/18 In Section 7. The environment referenced in the submittal checklist in section 11 is to be a production quality environment that includes all proposed software to complete this RFP. The intent of the environment is to remain open through evaluation and contract negotiations for the selected vendor. This will be the environment City Light will be evaluating in the demonstration round. The environment will start as the project development environment upon contract signing. Typically, demo environments are not housed in production environments for cloud/hosted environments, the environment can be migrated to a development environment for the start of the project. Is this acceptable?

The evaluation is going to be based on how the environment preforms. We are asking for a production quality environment to evaluate. The environment we evaluated will be used for the demonstration for comparison persons. How you host it is up to the vendors, but you will be scored as if this was a production quality environment

5 03/09/18 03/12/18 Regarding the environment, how to you plan to secure the environment and access to passwords for testing? What assurances and protections are you willing to make regarding who will have access to this environment?

The RFP evaluation team will be the users with the passwords controlled by the project management team. As part of our procurement process we track who will have access

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to each system 03/09/18 03/12/18 What is the process and who is expected to have

access to the "demonstration" environment during the evaluation and contract negotiation period?

The RFP evaluation team. Any additional subject matter expertise will be paired with a member of the evaluation team

6 03/09/18 03/12/18 Please elaborate on the role of Utilicast as it relates to the EIM program and goal-live. Are they viewed as an extension of SCL or as an SI?

Utilicast is the Market Integrator for City Light joining EIM. They will be focused on ensuring the people, process, and tools for EIM are complete and in a position for City Lights successful go-live. As far as the software is concerned they will be responsible for assisting with testing and integration as "staff augmentation" for City Light

7 03/09/18 03/12/18 Section 7: Regarding the use of a price list for optional functionality, what is the initial term that you expect to lock-in prices?

Term of the contract

8 03/09/18 03/12/18 When can we expect to receive the demonstration materials?

After the minimum qualifications and mandatory technical requirements are evaluated

9 03/09/18 03/12/18 What is the expected demo duration during the week allotted?

Vendors should be prepared to be a full 8-hour day. The target will be for roughly 6 hours of presentation with breaks and lunch time

10 03/09/18 03/12/18 Can you explain which documents you expect to be completed in a Prime and subcontractor scenario: W-9, Insurance, Vendor Questionnaire, Management Response, etc.?

These documents should be completed by the Prime.

11 03/09/18 03/12/18 Please elaborate on the need for the RFP in the final contract? In many case RFP documents are a communication tool to relay business objectives. The final business requirements and scope are typically determined during project kick-off or during contract negotiation when the vendor and customer teams work

The response will be part of the contract as the table of conformance that you are responding to in section 11 will tell City Light which requirements the vendors are

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together. capable of meeting, which they cannot, which they propose a different solution for. You will be scored based on this response, so it is important to follow the instructions in the table so that you receive the proper scoring

12 03/09/18 03/12/18 In the "EIM Readiness - SCL Requirements" document instructions. It indicates - For each “Current Base” response, the Vendor shall provide document reference(s), in the Doc Ref column, to the Vendor’s Technical Response which addresses the requirement. Are you requesting these documents as part of the RFP proposal or during the project?

Yes

13 03/09/18 03/12/18 In Section 12, at what point do you expect to access the environment: is that in Round 3a, #b or after the selected vendor determination?

Upon submittal of the RFP as it is a mandatory part of your response. If it is not submitted, you will not pass the first round

14 03/09/18 03/12/18 In section 12, Will you notify proposers as they advance or are eliminated at each round?

The proposers that are eliminated will be notified.

15 03/09/18 03/12/18 What is the expected start date of the project? Once the Contract is signed.

16 03/12/18 03/13/18 Will SCL accept proposals for only a portion of the total RFP scope? If partial proposals are acceptable, please advise how to complete item #3 in the Mandatory Technical Requirements.

SCL would like complete response to the proposals. That is the reason we are open to prime and subcontractor relationships. SCL will require the successful proposers to have a fully integrated environment as per the requirements.

17 03/12/18 03/13/18 How many generation plants does SCL plan to operate in the EIM?

SCL will have 8 plants that will be make up the participating and non-participating units

18 03/12/18 03/13/18 How many transmission assets/equipment (lines,

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transformers, etc.) does SCL plan to manage outages for in the EIM?

Transmission Lines: 60Transmission Bus Sections: 113Transmission Breakers + Disc Switches: 641Transmission Caps: 2Transmission Reactors: 1Generators: 24Transformers: 77RTU’s: 24

Total Items: 94219 03/12/18 03/15/18 In the attachment labeled ‘Adopted Management

Response,’ the term “Licensing and Taxation” is referred to in the following sections: Company Experience, Company Organization, Financial Information, and Future Functional Enhancements to Base Software. Please clarify if this was a typographical error. If so, please provide corresponding documents. If not, please provide an explanation of the meaning in regard to the RFP for the Western Energy Imbalance Market.

This is an error. It should read “Energy Trading and Risk Management” software.

The Adopted Management Response form has been updated to read correctly “Energy Trading and Risk Management” in place of Licensing and Taxation. Please use the embedded document below:

20 03/12/18 03/13/18 In regard to Requirement 05-040, would SCL please

elaborate on the detailed characteristics of modeling “Bifurcated Tunnels” and its impact on the corresponding two units, as SCL is currently incorporating in their day-ahead generation scheduling.

This will be included as part of the optimization design phase. At that point the vendors will be given the detailed characteristics of the generators. It is also assumed that the Vendors would understand the aspects of hydro modeling and be able to contribute to solutions like this.

21 03/12/18 03/13/18 Is the system/server architecture diagram needed for this RFP response, or to be provided in the future if SCL elects to acquire a delivered solution?

A high-level document should be delivered with the RFP, the intent is for the City Light team to have a starting point for the implementation

22 03/12/18 03/13/18 Is the software architecture diagram and development Throughout the life cycle of the

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documentation required for this RFP response or upon award?

project

23 03/12/18/

03/13/18 Will the Availability testing be performed during parallel operations, or after?

After

24 03/12/18 03/13/18 Is the Variance Tracking Tool described in these questions provided by the vendor?

No SCL will use its own variance tracking tool as the testing system of record

25 03/08/18 03/13/18 Under section 7, SOW & Specs, where is this environment referenced or described? If SCL wishes for a vendor to provide username and password to the environment as part of our response, we will need some sort of contract to protect confidentiality, IP, etc. How should this be handled? Who will have access to the demo enviro? Please advise intent and use of the environment, who will have access to the enviro and when, what testing will be conducted, and what support is expected from the vendor during the pre-award stages? “The environment referenced in the submittal checklist in section 11 is to be a production quality environment that includes all proposed software to complete this RFP. The intent of the environment is to remain open through evaluation and contract negotiations for the selected vendor. This will be the environment City Light will be evaluating in the demonstration round. The environment will start as the project development environment upon contract signing.”

The evaluation team will have access to the environment. It is a mandatory part of the proposal response and will be treated the same way.

26 03/08/18 03/13/18 What is Utilicast’s role and responsibilities throughout the project, specifically around integration, testing, and training? We want to avoid duplicating services.

Utilicast is the Market Integrator for City Light joining EIM. They will be focused on ensuring the people, process, and tools for EIM are complete and in a position for City Lights successful go-live. As far as the software is concerned they will be responsible for assisting with testing and integration as

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"staff augmentation" for City Light

27 03/08/18 03/13/18 Related to minimum requirements, items #1 and 2: “Two (2) successful implementations of marketing software that included Deal Entry and Management, Scheduling, Reporting, Transmission Portfolio Management, Credit and Risk Management, Settlements, Shadow Settlements, External Interfaces, CAISO EIM B2B, and OMS functionality.” Do all of these functions need to be deployed for EIM exclusively, or CAISO, in general? In addition, do all references need to be EIM specific?

The EIM Bid 2 Bill and the OMS functionality are specific to CAISO. The remaining systems should be able to operate in the standard bi-lateral trading market

28 03/08/18 03/20/18 Is a hosted or a SaaS license model preferred? Preference is for a hosted solution but will evaluate both options. If vendor can provide both please list pricing and preference of the vendor for implementation.

29 03/08/18 03/13/18

03/29/18

Is a perpetual or annual license model preferred? Annual as per the contract terms provided

**UPDATE** A perpetual license model is preferred by City Light

30 03/08/18 03/13/18 In the technical reqs doc, Documentation tab, the following documentation is requested. If the requirement is for a hosted or SaaS solution, why is hardware documentation and equipment inventory being requested? Wouldn’t the vendor be responsible for hardware and system maintenance?

City Light wishes to understand the platform we will be running on. The answers to these requirements need to be completed to the fullest.

31 03/13/18 03/15/18 Regarding the Redacted proposal, can you please clarify the layout and parts that needed to be redacted from the original proposal?

The layout should be the same as your original proposal response. The redacted portions would follow, the items you list in the Vendor Questionnaire – City Non-Disclosure Request section.

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32 03/13/18 03/15/18 Regarding 'the Vendor shall provide document reference(s), in the Doc Ref column, to the Vendor’s Technical Response which addresses the requirement' if we submit confidential technical functional specifications, will these be treated as confidential or will they be made public?

Please follow the instructions in the Vendor Questionnaire – City Non-Disclosure Request section.

33 03/13/18 03/15/18 Since SCL would like nine (9) printed copies, is the expectation to print all the RFP attachments and additional vendor attachments? Or can we have other attachments in the soft-copy only?

SCL is fine with all attachments being soft copies

34 03/13/18 03/15/18 SCL’s response to question #25 is that the “evaluation team” will have access to the demo enviro. Who does the evaluation team comprise, just SCL resources?

Yes, SCL resources make up the evaluation team

35 03/13/18 03/27/18 We suspect most software providers will be unable to enable access to its software without some form of a signed “evaluation agreement”, citing confidentiality and protection of IP. Is SCL willing to review and execute such an agreement (which can be provided in advance of our submission)? Otherwise, this will be a show-stopper for our submission.

Not at this time. City Light considers this part of your response like the technical documentation as requested in Column E. Please note in your submission that the environment is to be considered part of your redacted response.

36 03/13/18 03/15/18 Related to Min Reqs: it was mentioned in the discussion that SCL requires two EIM-specific B2B and two EIM-specific OMS references. It was implied that bid-to-bill or OMS references from other CAISO participants would not be an accepted alternative. Is the above statement correct?

SCL is fine amending this requirement to Include 2 ETRM Systems with the included components, and 1 CAISO EIM B2B and OMS implementation.

New Requirement Language:Two (2) successful implementations of marketing software that included Deal Entry and Management, Scheduling, Reporting, Transmission Portfolio Management, Credit and Risk Management, Settlements, Shadow Settlements, External Interfaces, One (1) Successful implementation of CAISO EIM B2B, and OMS functionality.

37 03/13/18 03/15/18 What does SCL mean by “successful implementations”, i.e., “in production” or “projects in process”?Two (2) successful implementations of marketing software that included Deal Entry and Management, Scheduling, Reporting, Transmission Portfolio

SCL is willing to accept one in production and one in process.

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Management, Credit and Risk Management, Settlements, Shadow Settlements, External Interfaces, and [CAISO EIM B2B and OMS functionality.]Minimum of two (2) electric utility References provided for work reference in Minimum Qualification #1

38 03/13/18 03/15/18 Would SCL consider accepting the minimum requirements document ahead of the actual submittal date? For ex., vendors confidentially submit this single document via email by Thursday, March 15th and SCL provides a determination of pass/fail by Monday, March 19th?

Not at this time

39 03/13/18 03/15/18 We note that only five MPs are active and six more pending (reference: https://www.westerneim.com/Pages/About/default.aspx). It seems that this minimum requirement alone will likely eliminate either many vendors from qualifying and/or eliminate the possibility of a strong partnership with ETRM vendors (which may ultimately be more suitable to SCL’s long-term goals). Put another way, by forcing the EIM min req for the B2B and OMS solution implementation/references, SCL is limiting its ability to select the best solution for the overall CAISO market and inadvertently eliminating certain ETRM vendors.

We would please like to request an extension of two weeks to the response deadline, to allow for sufficient time for ongoing partnership dialogue and a quality response.

Not at this time

40 03/13/18 03/15/18 Question on Background Check section SCL will require a NERC CIP background check be completed for anyone whose work will require access to any systems required

41 03/13/18 03/15/18 Number of users to be provided in the submittal environment.

5 users should be active in the environment for evaluation. User names and passwords to be submitted in the response

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https://www.westerneim.com/Pages/About/default.aspx



42 03/13/18 03/15/18 Number of users required in the bid to bill system See question 143 03/19/18 03/20/18 Our legal team is working to comment on the T&C’s

included with the request. They are unable to fully comment without a few items that were not included. Would you be able to provide the following documents?

Definitions for a number of significant terms (i.e. Software and System)

Exhibit B Exhibit C

Exhibit B would be the SOW created off of this RFP. Exhibit C would be the schedule submitted by the vendor as part of their response.

44 03/20/18 03/27/18 EIM Readiness spreadsheet, Tab 07-General, item 01-043. What type of schedules does this item refer to? Does this requirement involve something like a look up table? And/or are you looking for effective termination dates?

Any schedule found in the software. How the vendors execute this will be based on their software

45 03/20/18 03/27/18 Question 33, 3/15/18 Addendum. With reference to items SCL will accept as soft copy only, does SCL require Reference Documents created for the EIM Readiness spreadsheet (column E - Ref Doc on all tabs) to be submitted in hard copy, or will soft copies meet the submission requirement for the Reference Documents the vendor refers to in this column?

All reference documents can be submitted in soft copy. The city prefers a searchable format such as Word or PDF

46 03/22/18 03/27/18 Requirement 06-112 states that “the software solution shall use a free form list for the Position field that builds a type ahead list from all existing entries and nearly all positions are in that list. A nearly comprehensive list could be produced if needed.” Can SCL provide additional clarification as to the contents and use of the ‘Position’ field within the OMS system?

Based on discussion with other Entities this field was something SCL felt it may need in the RFP. This is still a field SCL may need in regards to switching

47 03/22/18 03/27/18 In the EIM Readiness spreadsheet, tab 13 – Maintenance, the requirement states:The vendor shall be able to maintain the system within the standards provided by the City of Seattle Information Technology Group. The vendor will provide the necessary updates to maintain these standards. Can SCL provide the IT Standards documentation this references so we can provide the right response and

This requirement 13-019 should have been removed when SCL switched to a hosted/cloud solution. Please respond NA.

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ensure that we meet this requirement?48 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req Evaluation Environment Setting up an

environment at the RFP submission stage, puts an unnecessary burden on vendors and SCL staff who are looking at systems with no training or orientation. We are positioned to provide an orientation/training, with evaluation licenses in place, at a time when vendors have been shortlisted. Providing a cloud environment at this stage, reduces the competitive nature of the RFP. Will SCL modify this requirement by agreeing to an evaluation license and delivery of environment after demonstrations have taken place?

City Light is willing to make this submission non-mandatory meaning vendors will not be cut for not submitting. However, it is 5% of the total score. If not provided upon submittal you will not have the ability to provide at a later date as you must submit your full response by April 2nd. City Light will also be moving this evaluation to round 2 to help shortlist for demonstrations with this change.

49 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req 12-023: What is meant by "Availability Tests"? Defined in req 09-013

50 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req 10-023: What is meant by "CBTs"? Computer Based Training

51 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req 09-009: What is meant by "Site Acceptance Testing"?

Defined in the requirement

52 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req 09-013, Req 09-093: Would the "Availability Testing" be incorporated as part of "Parallel Operations", "Operational Support" or is this considered a separate effort from any testing effort?

See question 23

53 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req 09-015: What is meant by "SCL’s displays, database and hardware (if necessary)"?

The requirement is meant to state we will use the SCL system to complete all test cases. No platforms excluding SCL data will be used to complete a test case

54 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req 09-019: What is meant by "Vendor Smoke tests"?

Vendor testing to ensure QA is completed prior to being rolled to SCL

55 03/23/18 03/27/18 What is the expectation on "Warranty" of Services? Please clarify

56 03/23/18 03/27/18 Contracting The organizational burden of redlining the SCL Technology contract at RFP development stage is

This is standard with every city contract. Please review the

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not standard and it should be sufficient to provide a list of general concerns/concepts. Some of the terms and conditions reduce the competitive nature of the RFP. If agreed, the technology contract would need extensive modification to cover the requirements of this deal. Will SCL remove this requirement from the initial RFP submission to provide a redlined technology contract to a later stage gate in vendor selection?

acceptance of city contract language found on page 16. A small portion is below

As stated earlier in the RFP instructions, the City will not allow a Best and Final Offer. The City will review the proposed language, and will thereupon either accept or reject the language. The City will then issue a contract for signature reflecting City decisions. Any exceptions or licensing and maintenance agreements that are unacceptable to the City may be grounds for rejection of the proposal.

57a 03/23/18 03/27/18 Req Integration Questions (lines 80-86)Does SCL required two interfaces a) to Peoplesoft and b) SCLs Treasury system. What is the treasury system?

Line 80-86 does not refer to PeopleSoft

57b 03/23/18 03/27/18 What is currently or expected in the future to be transacted on ICE?

Day ahead trades are currently the only transactions on ICE

58 03/22/18 03/27/18 Reconsider an extension of the deadline by four weeks See question 39 59 03/22/18 03/27/18 Consider a more flexible commercial structure, such as

a (a) consortium bid and/or (b) contract redlining to follow notice of intent to award,

No not at this time

60 03/22/18 03/27/18 Relieve the minimum requirement/constraints around number of vendors to allow for a hosting provider (or other company willing to take full responsibility as the prime contractor on a solution offering)

No not at this time

61 03/22/18 03/27/18 More discussion/qualification around the need for 99.95% system uptime (or at least not disqualifying on the basis of this alone, without more detailed

EIM is a 5/15 Minute market each bid must meet Mandatory Technical Requirement 1.

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discussion“Must support high availability (99.95%) or greater”

62 03/22/18 03/27/18 Relax the requirement for submitting a Cloud environment alongside the response (e.g., complete the min reqs phase first and enable vendors to provide some upfront training).

See question 48

63 03/27/18 03/27/18 We wanted to confirm if the hard copy responses need following documents in the print format:

Technical Response Spreadsheet Tabs Pricing Response Spreadsheet Tabs

Both these spreadsheets have multiple tabs and printing them will not only make the books bulky but also by fitting them in standard 8.5x11 the fonts might come out hard to read.

All responses on the submittal checklist found starting on Page 16 ending on Page 17 should be included in your printed copy.

64 03/27/18 03/27/18 Please clarify if the vendor does not have responses that need to be redacted, we assume the requirement is 1 Original + 8 Copies only.

Yes, that is correct if the vendor does not wish to submit a redacted copy that is their choice. Please follow all instructions on the vendor questionnaire

65 03/28/18 03/28/18 Regarding the mandatory 'Proposed Maintenance Support Agreement' is SCL requesting vendors standard agreement document (Term & Conditions)? Or is SCL asking for details of vendor's proposed pricing for Software Maintenance?

SCL is asking for the details and pricing of the vendor maintenance and support programs.

66 03/28/18 03/28/18 What is considered by SCL as 'Post Warranty Services' in section 'Services' of the EIM Price response? Is this different than software maintenance?

It is maintenance. The two examples provided are standard 1-year and standard 3-year pricing. The vendors should provide the options they wish to provide for pricing here.

67 03/28/18 03/28/18 Day-Ahead awards are not provided in the EIM Market. Is this intent of these requirements for the vendor solution to also support DA intertie bidding in the CAISO MRTU Marketplace?

Day-Ahead intertie bidding is something that City Light participates in through existing interties today. It is functionality we desire in our bid to bill

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system.68 03/28/18 03/28/18 In the Price response section (Tab SERVICES) we see

the line item for Warranty (item #6).Does that Warranty apply for Services only or Services and Software included?

This is for software and services above and beyond the year dictated by the contract.

69 03/29/18 03/29/18 Which one of the following three best describes the amount we are required to quote?1. Warranty service for Services only for the one-year period starting on software acceptance; or2. Warranty service for Software bug fixes plus software support, update and upgrade for the one year period commencing on software acceptance; or3. Warranty service for Services and Warranty service for Software bug fixes plus software support, update and upgrade for the one-year period commencing on software acceptance

In the statement City Light does not see a difference between 2 and 3. It is our assumption that the services necessary would be provided with software maintenance and support.

70 04/04/18 04/04/18 The City is cancelling this RFP and plans to re-bid shortly.

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