RFP to Provide Retail Electricity Supply to Boston Community Choice

EV00008439

Contact Information

Carl Spector

(617) 635-3854

carl.spector@boston.gov 

As agent for the customers of the City of Boston (the “City”) Community Choice Electricity municipal aggregation program (the “Program”), and acting by and through its Commissioner of the Environment (the “Official”), the City hereby requests proposals from businesses, persons, or entities licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (the “DPU”) to be a retail electricity supplier (“Respondents”) to provide firm all-requirements power supply to Program customers (“Customers”), and to fulfill the responsibilities and provide the services described below, pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the City’s request for proposals dated September 21, 2020 (the “RFP”). An electronic copy of the RFP may be obtained after 12 noon Eastern Time (ET) on September 21, 2020 at the City’s Supplier Portal (www.bit.ly/2RltMAN) under Event ID EV00008439. The RFP will remain available up to the deadline for the submission of proposals set forth below. This RFP is exempt from the public bidding requirements of M.G.L. c.30B pursuant to sec. (1)(b)(32) thereof.

The responsibilities and services of the Program’s electric supplier will include: Customer enrollments; printing and mailing of Customer materials; handling Customer interactions; managing and coordinating all account EDI transactions with NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a Eversource Energy (the “LDC”); receiving payments from the LDC and making payments to the Program consultant (currently, Colonial Power Group), the City, and such other charges and payments that are permitted under the Program; collecting usage and other Customer data and delivering the same to the City; preparing, in consultation with the City, and submitting all necessary documents and reports to the DPU and other regulatory bodies; and performing all services related to the implementation and ongoing administration of the Program as defined by, and in compliance with, M.G.L. c. 164, §134, and any other applicable statute or regulation.

Respondents shall submit their Non-Price proposals electronically via the City’s Supplier Portal no later than 5 p.m. ET on October 7, 2020. Price Proposals providing indicative pricing will be separately submitted electronically via the City’s Supplier Portal at 12 noon ET on October 15, 2020 in the form specified in the RFP. Final pricing will be submitted via the City’s Supplier Portal at 11:00 a.m. ET on October 21, 2020 in the form specified in the RFP. The City shall not pay any fee, cost, or charge not expressly set forth in a Respondent’s Price Proposal.

Proposals must be submitted in conformance with the provisions of the RFP. Should the City execute a contract pursuant to the RFP, the City shall determine the term of the contract based on Vendor proposals. The term of the contract shall be for a period of not less than six (6)month[s] nor longer than thirty-six (36) months. The contract term will commence on the first meter-read date following February 1, 2021, or as soon as possible thereafter, and will terminate no later than March 31, 2024.

The award of any contract shall be subject to the approval of the City’s Corporation Counsel and the Mayor of Boston.

The City and the Official reserve the right to waive any defects, or informalities, to accept or reject any or all proposals, or any part or parts thereof, to negotiate a contract with any qualified Vendor, to invite the submission of additional price proposals subsequent to the Submission Date, or to cancel the RFP, if the City deems it to be in the best interests of the City so to do.

Carl Spector, Commissioner of the Environment