Request For Proposals
ALTERNATIVE FUEL DEPLOYMENTS IN KANSAS AND MISSOURI: Vehicle Procurement and Supporting Fueling Equipment Installation
This RFP is intended to support the deployment of new alternative fueling vehicles and/or stations for fleet-based deployments; and/or to build additional capacity into existing fleet alternative fueling infrastructure. Our goals are to increase the use and acceptance of alternatives to gasoline and diesel, to leverage business and community relationships to make such investment possible, and to provide shared fueling arrangements as applicable to a specific fueling site or sites.
MEC has allocated a maximum $160,000 in federal funding* to support a minimum total project cost of $355,500. MEC anticipates making one or two awards.
| Federal | Local | Total | |
| Total Funds | $160,000 | $195,600 | $355,600 |
| Maximum award | $160,000 | $195,600 | $355,600 |
* MEC is negotiating with previously selected proposers. Should negotiations fall through, an additional $544,950 in federal funds (total project cost of $1,211,000) will also be available to redistribute.
Sub-recipients: One or two proposers selected for award under this RFP will become sub-awardees under MEC’s contract with U.S. Dept of Energy Award DE-EE0008262.
Request for Proposals
RFP and application instructions
Important Dates
| RFP Issue Date: | 01/05/2021 |
| Pre-Proposal Meeting: | 01/19/2021 10:00am CT |
| RFP Questions Deadline: | 02/09/2021 |
| RFP Submission Deadline: | 02/19/2021 2:00pm CT |
| Expected Date for MEC Selection Notification: | 03/05/2021 |
| Expected Timeframe for Award Negotiations: | 03-04/2021 |
Pre-Proposal Meeting
A Pre-Proposal meeting was held on January 19, 2021, at 10:00AM CST. During the meeting, MEC staff conducted a walk-through of the RFP document. The meeting was conducted online only; the recording is available at the following link:
GoToWebinar Recording URL
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/1030571561637242636
Applicants are encouraged to submit questions in writing to Jeff Windsor at Metropolitan Energy Center at rfp@metroenergy.org by February 9, 2021. MEC will try to respond to all questions publicly via an FAQ on its website, www.metroenergy.org, by February 11, 2020. Emails should use the subject line: “RFP AFV17 Question”. Questions to other staff members will not be directly responded to.
Reference Docs
Pre-Proposal Presentation (link tbd)
How to Apply to Grants with MEC video presentation (not specific to this RFP)
- Term 2. Flow Down Requirement
- Terms 15-19 regarding Property, Insurance and Equipment.
Project Page: Accelerating Alternative Fuel Adoptions in Mid-America
Questions
See Q & A section below. Applicants may direct all questions pertaining to this application to rfp@metroenergy.org; please include in the subject line of the email, RFP AFV17 Question. Further questions about this project were previously responded to by the U.S. Dept of Energy at DE-FOA-0001639.
Q1: If no dedicated systems are available, will you allow Bi-Fuel CNG systems?
A1: Bi-fuel systems for any fuel type are eligible. However, applications that propose to fund primarily bi-fuel systems will be scored lower, due to the potential for the vehicles to be fueled primarily by conventional gasoline. NOTE from DOE: You should focus on AFVs, 100% AFV. Even though the FOA may not have addressed it, there’s not much need or desire to fund bi-fuel or dual-fuel vehicles.
Q2: Vehicles need to be titled in state of KS and MO to be eligible?
A2: Vehicles need to be dedicated to operations in Kansas or Missouri, as verified during periodic site visits.
Q3: Funding is stated to be 45% federal, 55% local. Is the 55% local to be provided by the applicant as a match or has MEC secured other funding for the 55%?
A3: 55% local match must be provided or secured by the applicant.
Q4: Do the pages of the Budget Narrative and the description of the Applicant Experience and Qualifications count towards the 10 page narrative limit?
A4: Yes, those sections count toward the 10 page narrative limit.
Q7: You state that annual reporting must continue “after the project concludes and through the life of the deployed/installed equipment…” Is there a time-limit/maximum number of years this requirement will remain in effect (ex: not to exceed 10 years)?
A7: Section IX, B, states, After the project concludes and through the life of the deployed/installed equipment, Subrecipient will track and report to MEC on an annual basis performance metrics of deployed and installed equipment, including fuel volume used and/or dispensed, successes and problems encountered, and lessons learned. This data and information will aggregate with our Clean Cities Annual Report to help justify funding to the Clean Cities network nationwide. Must also maintain equipment on property registry, provide disposition information to MEC, and allow MEC access on at least a bi-annual basis to verify equipment through site visits until such time as the equipment has a fair market value of less than $5000.
Q10: Can our client apply different calculations to each phase of the project – i.e. split their request such that they seek costs covering 45% of the incremental cost of the truck AND a 45% of the entire cost of the charging station/infrastructure (including installation costs)?
A10: Both the applications you describe have the same cost split (45/55) of eligible costs. However, to answer your question directly, yes that is an eligible cost split scenario.
Q11: Could an organization apply on behalf of several fuel station operators on similar projects, sort of a general contractor role, or would each entity have to apply?
A11: A consortium application would be eligible. In such a scenario, financial commitment and site host commitment letters from all parties would be required, with cost sharing obligations clearly outlined in the letters and in the budget narrative.
Q12: The RFP says that the natural gas vehicles acquired with grant funds must be “nearly new”. Could you please specify what model years the equipment must be?
A12: From the project eligibility information in the RFP: Eligible vehicles: New (< 5,000 miles) OEM factory produced alternative fuel vehicles and/or converted vehicles that have been upfitted by OEM-authorized/-warranted Quality Vehicle Modifers (QVM) are strongly preferred.
Q14: Can you please provide me with more information on diesel to CNG retrofit projects? Is there a mileage or model year requirement that applies to the existing diesel bus to be retrofitted? In most cases, an applicant would be replacing the system on a bus that would not considered “new” (<5,000 miles). Thank you! A14: The strong preference stated for <5,000 miles applies both to OEM and to upfit vehicles. If you are proposing older vehicles for upfits, provide enough information to make your case so that the application can be judged fairly. Applications for older vehicles that have not made a strong case will be scored lower. [/av_textblock] [/av_one_full] [av_hr class='default' height='50' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' custom_border='av-border-thin' custom_width='50px' custom_border_color='' custom_margin_top='30px' custom_margin_bottom='30px' icon_select='yes' custom_icon_color='' icon='ue808' av-desktop-hide='' av-medium-hide='' av-small-hide='' av-mini-hide='' av_uid='av-43oa1w'] [av_one_full first min_height='' vertical_alignment='' space='' custom_margin='' margin='0px' row_boxshadow='' row_boxshadow_color='' row_boxshadow_width='10' link='' linktarget='' link_hover='' title_attr='' alt_attr='' padding='0px' highlight='' highlight_size='' border='' border_color='' radius='0px' column_boxshadow='' column_boxshadow_color='' column_boxshadow_width='10' background='bg_color' background_color='' background_gradient_color1='' background_gradient_color2='' background_gradient_direction='vertical' src='' background_position='top left' background_repeat='no-repeat' animation='' mobile_breaking='' mobile_display='' av_uid='av-13pyn8'] [av_contact email='RFP@metroenergy.org' from_email='' title='Sign Up for RFP Notifications: AFV17' heading_tag='' heading_class='' button='Submit' on_send='' sent='Your message has been sent!' link='manually,http://' subject='Sign Up for CNG RFP Notifications' autoresponder_email='webdev@metroenergy.org' autorespond='You have subscribed to notifications for the RFP for CNG stations in Kansas and Missouri.' captcha='active' captcha_theme='light' captcha_size='normal' captcha_score='0.5' form_align='' color='' av_uid='av-k1cg73ob' id='' custom_class='' aria_label='' admin_preview_bg=''] [av_contact_field label='Name' type='text' check='is_empty' options='' multi_select='' av_contact_preselect='' width='' av_uid='av-9lfu2c'][/av_contact_field] [av_contact_field label='Company' type='text' options='' check='is_empty' width='' multi_select='' av_contact_preselect='' av_uid='av-7r2044'][/av_contact_field] [av_contact_field label='E-Mail' type='text' check='is_email' options='' multi_select='' av_contact_preselect='' width='' av_uid='av-6eytl0'][/av_contact_field] [av_contact_field label='Phone' type='text' options='' check='is_phone' width='' multi_select='' av_contact_preselect='' av_uid='av-4tjzpw'][/av_contact_field] [av_contact_field label='Message' type='textarea' options='' check='' width='' av_uid='av-1zdd5w' multi_select='' av_contact_preselect=''][/av_contact_field] [/av_contact] [/av_one_full] [av_hr class='default' height='50' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' custom_border='av-border-thin' custom_width='50px' custom_border_color='' custom_margin_top='30px' custom_margin_bottom='30px' icon_select='yes' custom_icon_color='' icon='ue808' av-desktop-hide='' av-medium-hide='' av-small-hide='' av-mini-hide='' av_uid='av-ao0bo'] [av_textblock size='' font_color='' color='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-2iwdt0' admin_preview_bg=''] This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Vehicle Technologies Program under Award Number DE-EE0008262.