Overview

The Regional Renewable Energy Procurement Project (R-REP) is a collaborative effort by local governments within the San Francisco Bay Area to purchase solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for on-site generation at public facilities. Procuring these systems collaboratively addresses some of the resource limitations and lack of expertise that pose significant barriers to renewable energy adoption by local governments. Led by the County of Alameda, R-REP includes 186 sites owned by 19 public agencies. These projects have the potential to generate approximately 31 megawatts of renewable power (that’s the equivalent of the annual energy use of 6,188 average sized homes in the Bay Area) at sites such as community centers, libraries, fire stations, medical facilities, city halls and educational facilities.

"For many years now, Alameda County has led the way for local governments in terms of green-building projects and alternative energy generation. Now, through collaborations like this one, we are helping to make Alameda County and the Bay Area a hub of innovation creating collaborative models that build sustainable communities."

Keith Carson, Alameda County Board of Supervisors

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Participating Agencies

image of map with text '186 facilities, 19 bay area public agencies' and a call to explore the map further

Project Team

alameda county homepage
County of Alameda (Lead Agency)
Conducted outreach, managed stakeholder engagement and led the solicitation.
Joint Venture Silicon Valley Contra Costa Economic Partnership
Joint Venture Silicon Valley and Contra Costa Economic Partnership (Conveners)
Assisted with outreach to Participating Agencies.
Provided support during post-negotiations phase.
Optony logo NAM logo Newcomb Anderson McCormick Energy Engineering and Consulting
Optony Inc. and Newcomb Anderson McCormick (Technical Advisors)
Performed economic/technical analysis of sites to help participating agencies determine which sites were best suited for inclusion in the solicitation.
Assisted in writing the RFP, including guidance on the technical specifications included in the bid documents.
Structured the bid forms and advised on other aspects of the solicitation.
Assisted in evaluating bid pricing and review of technical specifications.
KNN Public Finance LLC
KNN Public Finance, a division of Zions First National Bank (Financial Advisor)
Assisted in writing the RFP and provided guidance on how to assess the financial stability of vendors.
Completed an analysis of the financial strength of the vendors that bid on R-REP projects.

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Leadership Team

Comprised of individuals from the public, private and nonprofit sectors, the R-REP Leadership team provided insight and resources during the outreach and post-negotiations phase of the project. The R-REP Leadership Team includes:

Caroline Judy
Acting Director
Alameda County General Services Agency
Jerry Lahr
Energy Program Manager
Association of Bay Area Governments
Gary Craft
Principal
Craft Consulting Group
Terry Shoaff
Deputy Director
Contra Costa Economic Partnership
Russell Driver
Principal
ARC Alternatives
Carolyn Bloede
Sustainability Manager
Alameda County General Services Agency
Jim Kachik
Deputy Director
Alameda County General Services Agency
Karen Irwin
Sustainable Local Government Lead
Environmental Protection Agency Region IX
Rachel Massaro
Vice President & Sr. Research Associate
Joint Venture Silicon Valley
Joseph Steinberger
Principal Environmental Planner
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Ben Foster
Senior Vice President
Optony Inc.
Matt Muniz
Facilities Manager
Alameda County General Services Agency
Tim Wesig
Energy Project Manager
Alameda County General Services Agency

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Workforce Taskforce

Anticipating the positive workforce impact that R-REP could bring to the region, the County convened a Workforce Taskforce (see list of members below) to develop guidelines to ensure that vendors utilized local workers to build R-REP projects. Comprised of representatives from Workforce Investment Boards within the four counties participating in R-REP, staff from local workforce organizations, and members of local Trades Councils and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Taskforce helped design a provision included in the R-REP RFQ/RFP that required bidders to submit a workforce plan demonstrating Good Faith Efforts to achieve 40% local hiring. Vendors were also required to describe their partnerships with local community colleges, apprenticeship, bridge programs, and other organizations engaged with the community in workforce development. Vendors were evaluated on the workforce plan submitted as part of their bid.

R-REP Workforce Taskforce members list

File-Type: PDF*
Size: 199kb

The Taskforce also helped develop a list of local workforce organizations (see below) in an effort to foster relationships between R-REP vendors and local workers.

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