20201007INT to Staff Attachment 6 EMV Request for Proposal.pdf

Request for Proposal

Energy Efficiency Impact &
Process Evaluation

Issued: January 27, 2020
Responses Due: February 14, 2020
Contact: Kathy Wold, Manager Energy Efficiency
Email: [e-mail]

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Request for Proposal

I. Table of Contents
II. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 2
A. Project ............................................................................................................................................... 2
B. Company Background ...................................................................................................................... 3
C. Key Objectives and Deliverables ...................................................................................................... 3
D. Scope of Work .................................................................................................................................. 4
III. PROCESS INFORMATION .................................................................................................................. 6
A. Schedule............................................................................................................................................ 6
B. Contact Information ......................................................................................................................... 6
C. Intent to Bid ...................................................................................................................................... 7
D. Proposal Content .............................................................................................................................. 7
E. Proprietary Information – Confidentiality ....................................................................................... 7
F. No Contract Formation .................................................................................................................... 8
IV. RFP EVALUATION PROCESS .............................................................................................................. 8
A. RFP Evaluation Team ........................................................................................................................ 8
B. RFP Evaluation Criteria ..................................................................................................................... 8

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Request for Proposal
II. Introduction
A. Project
Intermountain Gas Company (“IGC”) is seeking proposals from qualified organizations or individuals
(“Respondent”) interested in providing process evaluation of the program and impact evaluations of two
specific IGC residential energy efficiency measures. Impact evaluations would provide analysis of energy
savings, by measure, for the program years January 2018 through December 2019 for the energy
efficiency program. While the process evaluation and impact evaluation are to be conducted together,
the impact evaluations are the higher priority with an earlier results deadline than the process
evaluation.
IGC Energy Efficiency Program
Intermountain Gas was granted authority by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to implement an
energy efficiency program effective October 1, 2017. The residential energy efficiency program was
designed to acquire cost-effective demand side management (DSM) resources in the form of natural gas
therm savings. The initial program includes rebates for residential customers that purchase and install
qualifying high-efficiency natural gas equipment. There is also a new construction rebate for homes that
are ENERGY STAR certified with a HERS score of 75 or less.

IGC commissioned their first Conservation Potential Assessment in 2018 to support both short-term
energy efficiency planning and long-term resource planning activities. Three levels of savings potential
were assessed: technical, economic and achievable.

Whole Home Rebate
The Whole Home rebate provides an incentive to residential customers in IGC service territory for the
construction of single-family homes incorporating energy efficient design. Initiated in October of 2017 at
the launch of the energy efficiency program, the objective of the measure is to acquire energy savings
by encouraging customers to build homes incorporating energy efficient design well above most homes
on the market today.
To qualify for the Whole Home rebate, a participant must use natural gas for both space and water
heating and be served on the residential rate. The home must be ENERGY STAR certified with a HERS
score of 75 or less. The Whole Home rebate offering cannot be combined with any appliance offering.
Home certification is determined by meeting program requirements of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR certified homes program and home energy scores determined by the
RESNET Home Energy Rating System (HERS). Both requirements must be verified by independent 3rd
party inspections and testing from certified professionals. Support documentation including credentials
of the independent, third-party inspector and completed ENERGY STAR certification and HERS certificate
are required for the Whole Home rebate.
95% AFUE Natural Gas Furnace
The 95% AFUE natural gas furnace rebate provides an incentive to residential customers in IGC service
territory for the installation of a high-efficient natural gas furnace in single family home using natural gas

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Request for Proposal
exclusively for space heating. Participants must be served on the residential rate. The previous furnace
rebate requiring conversion to natural gas from an alternate fuel, was retired at the launch of this
rebate offering. The objective of the measure is to acquire energy savings by encouraging customers to
choose energy efficient options for space heating.

To qualify for the high-efficient natural gas furnace rebate, a participant must use natural gas exclusively
for space heating and be served on the residential rate. The furnace must meet a minimum efficiency of
95% AFUE or higher. New construction, replacement on burnout, conversion and early retirement are all
eligible for the rebate. The natural gas furnace rebate cannot be combined with the Whole Home
rebate.

IGC requires all equipment must be installed according to current code and approved by local or state
inspection with the signed, approved permit. All equipment must be installed, and work completed, by a
licensed and bonded contractor. The company does allow self-installations with additional supporting
documentation: copy of the purchase receipt of the equipment and a picture of the equipment sticker
displaying the brand, model number and serial number.

For more information regarding these offerings, please refer to the 2018 Annual Report, found at the
following link: https://www.intgas.com/energy-efficiency/2018-energy-efficiency-annual-report/

B. Company Background
IGC is the sole distributor of natural gas in Southern Idaho. Its service area extends across the entire
breadth of Southern Idaho, an area of 50,000 square miles, with a population of approximately
1,344,000. At the end of 2018, IGC served 364,512 customers in 75 communities through a system of
over 12,800 miles of transmission, distribution, and service lines.

C. Key Objectives and Deliverables
The key objectives of the impact evaluation include:
• Estimate energy savings by comparing energy consumption of participants to the consumption
that would have occurred without the incentive for the timeframe January 2018 through
December 2019, and corrected for weather:
o For the Whole Home incentive evaluation will compare billed consumption of program
participants to the consumption of similar new home non-participants
o For the 95% AFUE natural gas furnace incentive the evaluation should either:
▪ Compare consumption of participants to non-participants, or
▪ Compare the consumption of the same participants before and after installing
the measure.
• Provide credible and reliable program measure ex-post realization rates attributed to the Whole
Home rebate measure and the 95% AFUE natural gas furnace measure.
• Report findings and observations of future ex-ante savings analysis and the accurate and
transparent reporting of program savings.

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The key objectives of the process evaluation shall include, but no be limited to
• Evaluation of the following
o Process for assessing programs, evaluating program savings, and determining incentive
levels,
o program implementation and participant response,
o Level of customer satisfaction with the program,
o Effectiveness of program delivery mechanisms,
o Effectiveness of program marketing
o Barriers to program participation

D. Scope of Work
IGC anticipates the selected Respondent will be required to undertake the following tasks in addressing
the key objectives and deliverables. Proposals should address these tasks in detail:
1. Scope of Work Meeting. The Respondent will meet with IGC staff within two weeks of contract
signing and present proposed evaluation methodologies, data collection plan, analysis, report
preparation and delivery, and any other tasks Respondent and IGC feel pertinent to the
evaluation. A final Statement of Work will be developed based on outcomes from this meeting.
This Statement of Work will become part of the contract and will become the basis for this
evaluation.
2. Work Plan. The Respondent will develop a detailed work plan based on the Statement of Work
that details how the Key Objectives and Deliverables will be addressed.
3. Site Visits and Participant Interviews. Where appropriate, the Respondent will verify
installation of energy efficiency measures and associated energy impacts, by conducting site
visits to program participant locations. Respondent should recommend and propose the
appropriate number of site visits based on their experience and expertise with similar
evaluations.
It is necessary that the Respondent coordinate efforts with IGC regarding customer contact and
conduct research in such a manner as to minimize the time impact on IGC customers
participating in this evaluation. Information provided by program participants will be considered
confidential in terms of attribution and shall not be share with any other party.
4. Impact Analysis. The Respondent will analyze the data collected from previous tasks to develop
estimates of energy impacts at the measure level. The Respondent will provide these estimates
by comparing deemed values to the source, data collected from site visits, desk reviews,
customer interviews and “best practice” engineering methods. The Respondent will provide an
estimation of realization rates to assist in determining ex-ante gross energy savings.
Data collected by IGC, and to be made available to Respondent for analysis, includes billed
consumption, brand, model and efficiency levels of all furnaces rebated under the 95% AFUE
furnace rebate. For the Whole Home rebate, available data includes billed consumption,

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ENERGY STAR certified home certificates and HERS score certificates provided by certified home
raters, which provide specific information about the home such as square footage, appliances
and estimated energy savings.
5. Interim Reporting. The Respondent will be required to provide to IGC monthly status reports
detailing progress toward completion and any obstacles encountered. These status reports will
be due by the 15th of each month and will include an updated schedule of future activities.
6. Draft and Final Report. The Respondent will be required to provide to IGC bi-weekly status
reports detailing progress toward completion and any obstacles encountered. These status
reports will be due by the 1st and 15th of each month and will include an updated schedule of
future activities.
The Respondent will provide a draft final report to Intermountain upon completion of all tasks.
This draft will be reviewed by Intermountain and comments will be provided to the Respondent
for clarification as necessary. The Respondent will provide to Intermountain the final version of
the report. Graphs and/or tables are recommended for information not easily conveyed in
narrative form. The draft and final report is required to contain, at a minimum, sections
containing; an executive summary, evaluation methodologies and findings and conclusions. The
Respondent will document methods and preserve workpapers to be evaluated by the public
utilities commissions and interested parties.
7. Presentation of Results. The Respondent will be required to present the results of this analysis
to interested parties at an IGC Energy Efficiency Advisory Group meeting to be held in Boise,
Idaho.

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III. PROCESS INFORMATION
A. Schedule
The project schedule will be determined by the selected Respondent with the following key milestones
included: Draft report of impact evaluation provided to IGC by 5/11/2020. Impact Evaluation final
report provided to IGC by 06/15/2020. Process Evaluation final report provided to IGC by 7/6/2020.
Date Event
02/05/2020 Intent to Bid submission due
02/07/2020 Last day for Respondents to submit questions
02/14/2020 RFP Proposals Due by 5:00 p.m. MDT
02/21/2020 Complete review and evaluation of proposals
02/24-28/2020 Begin Finalist interviews
3/05/2020 Kick-off meeting
05/11/2020 Impact Evaluation Draft Report Due
06/15/2020 Final report due – Impact Evaluation
07/06/2020 Final report due – Process Evaluation
B. Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this invitation to bid process, please contact Kathy Wold at 208-377-
6128. Your proposal may be submitted via email, mail, or FedEx and must be received by COB
02/14/2020.
Address for mailed or FedEx responses:
Intermountain Gas Company
Attn: Kathy Wold
P.O. Box 7608
555 South Cole Road
Boise, ID 83707
Email address: [e-mail]
This invitation to submit a formal proposal expires at the close of business February 14, 2020. Thank you
in advance for the time and effort put forth in preparing your proposal and your prompt response to our
inquiry.

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C. Intent to Bid
All “Intent to Bid” forms (see Appendix A) must be received no later than the COB 02/05/2020.
D. Proposal Content
Respondents submitting a proposal shall use the following outline and criteria:
1. A description of the firm’s qualifications to conduct IGC’s energy efficiency impact evaluation.
The preferred bidder will have experience working with natural gas utilities, as well as a strong
understanding of engineering, market, and building science principles as applied to demand side
management planning.
2. A technical proposal not to exceed 15 pages.
3. A management plan and proposed schedule of deliverables including a kickoff meeting
scheduled within two weeks of contract signing.
4. Response to each item listed in Section II.C., Key Objectives and Deliverables and Section II.D.,
Scope of Work.
5. A detailed budget broken out by task, number of hours, and by individual performing the work.
Key individuals should be identified by name along with billing rates for each individual. Budget
should also include any additional ancillary services provided such as site visits. Budget should
include time and materials on a not to exceed basis. Budget should include a rate schedule for
support after submission of the final report to respond to any questions about the evaluation
from the public utilities commission or other interested parties.
6. Resumes of key staff and subcontractor qualifications.
7. Three references from previous energy efficiency impact evaluation clients.
8. Example of previous energy efficiency impact evaluation reports.
E. Proprietary Information – Confidentiality
Respondent agrees that all information obtained or produced in relation to this RFP is the sole property
of Intermountain Gas Company and shall not be released or disclosed to any person or entity for any
purpose nor used for any purpose other than providing a proposal to IGC, without the express written
consent of IGC.
Respondent agrees not to make any public comments or disclosures, including statements made for
advertising purposes, regarding the Request for Proposals to the media or any other party without the
prior written consent of IGC. In the event the Respondent receives any inquiries regarding the RFP from
the media or any other party, said inquiries shall be forwarded to IGC.

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Respondent shall specifically designate and clearly label as “Confidential” any and all material(s) or
portions of their response that they deem to contain proprietary information.
F. No Contract Formation
This request does not constitute a contract or an offer or acceptance of an offer to enter into a contract.
Further, this correspondence may not be used to modify, supplement, novate, or waive any rights with
respect to an existing contract or other binding terms.
IV. RFP EVALUATION PROCESS
A. RFP Evaluation Team
An IGC evaluation team will determine the proposal that best meets the requirements of this RFP and
provides the best overall value for IGC. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the requirements
set forth in this RFP, any addenda that are issued, and any other factor IGC deems appropriate. Based
upon the RFP response evaluation and scoring, references and any subsequent activities identified
during the evaluation process (clarifications, answers to questions, etc. that may be required), IGC may
identify the top candidate(s) for further clarifications and/or a Respondent presentation.
Those Respondents whose proposals have not been selected will be notified via an email or a written
letter at the address provided in their proposal.
B. RFP Evaluation Criteria
At a minimum, proposals will be evaluated based on the response to this RFP, which may include, but
not be limited to the following criteria:
• Ability to meet RFP requirements.
• Financial stability of the company.
• Total project cost.
• Reputation for thoroughness, credibility, and client responsiveness as demonstrated through
references.
• Technical approach and demonstrated understanding of the issues surrounding the
administration and evaluation of natural gas utility energy efficiency measure impact evaluation.
• Experience and qualifications of proposed staff and management team. No changes in key
personnel should be made without written agreement from IGC.
• The experience of the firm, with interest in evaluation of, and experience with, natural gas utility
energy efficiency impact evaluations.
• The merits of the proposed evaluation methodologies.
• Responses to each item in Sections II.C (Key Objectives and Deliverables) and II.D. (Scope of
Work).
• Proposed itemized budget. The proposal should be bid on a time and materials, not to exceed
basis.

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• Any other factors deemed appropriate by IGC.