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
Project Team
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County of Alameda (Lead Agency) - Conducted outreach, managed stakeholder engagement and led the solicitation.
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Joint Venture Silicon Valley and Contra Costa Economic Partnership (Conveners) - Assisted with outreach to Participating Agencies.
- Provided support during post-negotiations phase.
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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.
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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.
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
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.
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.