Category 1 - Professional Services for Commercial Efficiency and Electrification Program

The three (3) RFPs listed below are for the Professional Services for the Commercial Efficiency and Electrification Program. The City is soliciting proposals on three categories of activities to operate the program:

• RFP194784 – Category 1 Energy and Water Efficiency & Electrification Assessments
• RFP195689 – Category 2 Develop a customer characterization tool for customer identification, outreach, engagement, and project management.
• RFP195690 – Category 3 Technical Assistance and Analysis of Equipment Options

You may bid on any or all of these categories. You may use the same proposal document to bid on multiple categories,

BUT YOU MUST SUBMIT A SEPARATE COPY IN OPENGOV FOR EACH CATEGORY YOU WANT TO PROPOSE ON, AND YOU MUST SUBMIT A SEPARATE COST PROPOSAL FOR EACH CATEGORY.

For example, if you wish to propose on Categories 1 and 3, but not 2, you submit your proposal document in OpenGov for RFP194784 and RFP195690, but not RFP195689. If you just wanted to submit for Category 2, you would submit one proposal into RFP195689. Each Category will be evaluated separately and may be awarded to more than one consultant.

The City of Palo Alto Utilities (City) seeks qualified third-party firms (vendors) to partner in delivering full-service, turnkey implementation and engineering management consulting services for commercial energy efficiency (EE), building electrification (BE), and water conservation efforts. This includes traditional resource savings programs as well as projects delivered under Energy Services Performance Contracting (ESPC) models, which may allow customers to pursue improvements with no up-front costs, repaid through realized utility savings. The City is looking for proposals that deliver measurable reductions in customer utility bills and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through deployment of high-efficiency equipment, electrification technologies, and water-saving measures.

The City envisions serving as the strategic coordinator , providing direction, customer engagement and program oversight, while selected proposers offer technical expertise, implementation services and performance tracking. A flexible vendor pool will be established, potentially including a large firm(s) capable of comprehensive turnkey program delivery, as well as specialists focused on specific technologies or customer sectors. This model will enable a tailored approach based on project scale and complexity.

The City will enter into contract for an initial 36-month term. Additionally, the City reserves the right to extend a contract for two (2) twelve (12) month periods for a maximum of twenty-four (24) months. The City seeks proposals that align with its Sustainability and Climate Action Plan . This plan strives for reducing carbon emissions, energy use, and water consumption. reducing carbon emissions, energy use, and water consumption.

This Request for Proposal (RFP) invites proposals from third-party energy efficiency program implementers, Energy Service Consultants, and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) that demonstrate a clear understanding of the various roles and customer segments. The City seeks proposals that offer innovative, scalable approaches to program delivery and technical support while d elivering measurable resource savings. Expected savings can be achieved through virtual and on-site assessments , permanent hardware retrofits, equipment upgrades, operational improvements, or other proven strategies. Only proposals demonstrating quantifiable and verifiable reductions in energy, water or carbon will be considered.

Key Proposal Elements:

• Provide energy efficiency and water efficiency/conservation solutions designed to achieve measurable reductions in utility bills, improved building performance operations and optimization for demand reduction.
• Deliver turnkey electrification solutions, including technology assessments, customized implementation strategies, and comprehensive customer support—spanning engineering, design, procurement, permitting support and seamless integration with existing infrastructure.
• Proposers should be capable of delivering a holistic Strategic Energy Management (SEM) approach that aligns with the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP). While not all customers may be prepared to adopt a full SEM framework, the program should offer flexibility to provide SEM services to those customers who are ready and interested in pursuing long-term, data-driven energy management strategies.
• Provide customer financing options and potentially grant support to facilitate project approval and implementation.
• Provide measurement and verification of electric, gas , water and CO2 savings post installation.
• Customer outreach, engagement and account management which may include rebate administration, including the development and execution of a marketing strategy and strategic plan aimed at driving program enrollments and maximizing customer participation.