California's investor-owned utilities (IOUs), Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), have issued new requests for offers (RFOs) in order to meet California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS). The RFOs are for Eligible Renewable Resources that provide both Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and Energy and REC-only products. Facilities must be at least 1.5 MWs (preference may be given to larger projects), that already applied for interconnection and completed a CAISO Phase II Interconnection Study or equivalent. Terms are generally between 10 and 20 years, with commercial operation beginning as early as 2016. Short-listed bidders may (and should) negotiate with more than one IOU, and note that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) reiterated in its order accepting the IOUs' RPS procurement plans that it will review and approve negotiated deviations from the pro forma contracts. The CPUC order is available here.

Deadlines are quickly approaching. Bids to SCE and SDG&E are due 1/31/14 and 1/29/14, respectively (PG&E's bidding process has already closed). There is still time to get bids in and for those interested to attend a bidder's conference to obtain more information. SCE is hosting a conference live on 1/13/14 and SDG&E is hosting a conference over the web on 1/15/14. Important dates are listed below and links to the IOUs' RFOs are provided here: SCE and SDG&E.

SCE

  • 1/13/14 (Bidders' Conference)
  • 1/31/14 (1:00 p.m. (PST) – CLOSING DATE (stage 1))
  • 3/20/14 (Short-listed bidders notified)
  • 6/18/14 (Final negotiations completed)
  • 7/18/14 (Final selections made and final agreements signed)
  • 10/16/14 (Final Agreements submitted to CPUC for approval)

SDG&E

  • 1/15/14 (Bidder's Conference Webinar)
  • 1/29/14 (12:00 p.m. (PST) – CLOSING DATE)
  • 3/10/14 (Short-listed bidders notified)
  • By 5/14 (PPA negotiations commence)
  • TBD (Contracts/PPAs submitted to CPUC for approval)

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