Grants for Community Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Projects Providing Direct Benefits to Low and Moderate Income Residential Electric Customers

"Executive Summary\n\nPursuant to RSA 362-F:10 X, the New Hampshire Department of Energy (Department) issues\nthis Request For Proposals (RFP) seeking proposals for community solar photovoltaic (PV)\nprojects that will provide direct benefits to New Hampshire low, moderate, or low and moderate\nincome (LMI) residential electric customers who reside within the same electric distribution\nutility service territory. Proposals must present a comprehensive plan that clearly demonstrates\nand quantifies the net direct benefits to participating LMI customers. Projects or portions of\nprojects that have requested funds from the Department\u2019s Non-residential Competitive Grant\nProgram, Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Renewable Energy Rebate Program, or Residential\nRenewable Electric Generation Incentive Program, are not eligible for funding under this\nsolicitation. Projects or portions of projects that are designed to depend upon LMIEAP\nCommunity Solar designation are not eligible for

funding under this solicitation.\n\nTotal funding available under this RFP will be $1,000,000. The maximum grant request amount\nis $400,000.\n\nElectronic proposals must be received at the Department no later than 12:00 p.m. (Noon) EST on\nMonday, January 15, 2024. Ifthe Department decides to award a contract as a result of this RFP\nprocess, any award is contingent upon approval of the contract by the Department and the\nGovernor and Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire.\n\nPertinent Dates and Information\n\n1. Schedule of Events\n\nEvent Date/Deadline Time\nRFP Issued 11/01/2023\nQuestion Period Closes 12/01/2023 12:00 PM\nResponses to Questions Posted 12/15/2023 12:00 PM\nProposal Due Date and Time 01/19/2024 12:00 PM\nAnticipated Grant Start Date June 2024\n\n2. Written Inquiries\n\nAll inquiries concerning this RFP must be submitted by e-mail to the following RFP\nPoint of Contact:\n\nSusan Gagne, Program Specialist III\nNew Hampshire Department of Energy\n21 S. Fruit Street, Suite 10\nConcord, NH 03301-2429\nRFP@Energy.NH.Gov\n\nInquiries must be received no later than Close of Question Period as specified in the\nSchedule of Events above. The subject ofthe email should state the following: RFP\n\n! Information available at Renewable Energy Rebates | NH Department of Energy\n\nNH Department of Energy RFP #2023-019 Page 1 of 23\n" "#2023-019, REF LMI Community Solar Grants. No phone calls please. It is highly\nrecommended that prospective proposers review the RFP as soon as possible and submit\nany questions promptly. Please note that responses to questions are carefully considered\nand responses may require several days. Responses will be posted by the above-\n\ndescribed deadline at: energy.nh.gov/requests-proposals.\n\n3. Proposal Submission Instructions\n\nElectronic proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be received at the\nDepartment and no later than the time and date specified in the Schedule of Events,\nherein. Late submissions will not be accepted. Delivery ofthe Proposals shall be the\nproposer\u2019s responsibility. The Department accepts no responsibility for damaged,\nmislabeled, or undeliverable mailed or emailed proposals. Proposals must be typed and\nthe paper copy must be double-sided. The strongly preferred format includes 12-point\nfont size with 1-inch page margins. Page numbers should be included.\n\n3.1. Electronic Proposals\nProposals must be submitted electronically to: RFP@Energy.NH.Gov. Proposals\nmust be submitted in PDF format as a file attachment to an email and must be\nsearchable. In no event should a proposal be provided through a link embedded\nin the submitted email. The file will be considered received when it is\nsuccessfully submitted to the mailbox associated with the email address above,\nand the time of the submittal will be based on the timestamp in the receiver\u2019s\nemail. The Department can accept electronic files no larger than 25 MB.\nProposals may consist of multiple PDF attachments or one PDF with all\nattachments combined.\n\nThe subject ofthe email should state the following: RFP #2023-019, REF LMI\nCommunity Solar Grants.\n\nThe Department shall assess completeness and responsiveness of the proposal to\neliminate nonconforming proposals. The Department may waive or offer a\nlimited opportunity to cure immaterial deviations from RFP requirements if it is\ndetermined to be in the best interests of the State. Any response that is filed shall\nbe valid for not fewer than 150 days following the deadline for submission of\nproposals, or until the effective date of any resulting contract, whichever is later.\n\nPaper copies are not required and will not be accepted.\n\n4. Restriction on Contact with State Employees:\n\nFrom the date of the release of this RFP until awards are made and announced regarding\nthe selection, all communications with personnel employed by or under contract with the\nState regarding this RFP are forbidden, unless first approved by the Point of Contact.\nDepartment employees have been directed not to hold conferences and/or discussions\nconcerning this RFP with any potential grantee during the selection process, unless\notherwise authorized by the RFP point of contact, or as otherwise outlined in Section III\n\nNH Department of Energy RFP #2023-019 Page 2 of 23\n" "and IV below. Communications with state personnel not bearing on this RFP are\npermitted.\n\nI. OVERVIEW\nA. Background and Purpose\n\nWith the enactment of House Bill 2, effective on July 1, 2021, the New Hampshire\nDepartment of Energy, an executive branch agency, became responsible for\nadministration of the state\u2019s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program pursuant to\nRSA 362-F, and for management of the state\u2019s Renewable Energy Fund? (REF) pursuant\nto RSA 362-F:10. The purpose ofthe Renewable Energy Fund is to support thermal and\nelectric renewable energy initiatives in New Hampshire.\n\nPursuant to RSA 362-F:10, X, the Department is required to allocate not less than 15\npercent ofthe Renewable Energy Fund annually to benefit:\n\n(a) Low-moderate income residential customers, including, but not limited to, the\nfinancing or leveraging of financing for low-moderate income community solar\nprojects in manufactured housing communities or in multi-family rental housing.\n\n(b) Residents of a public housing authority created pursuant to RSA 203, or a\nhousing project as described in RSA 78-B2, XXIIL, where the electric bills are\neither paid directly by the residents or by the public housing authority or housing\nproject, provided that at least a majority of the residents benefitting are at or\nbelow 80 percent ofthe Area Median Income (AMI) calculated by the\nDepartment of Housing and Urban Development.\n\nThe phrase \u201clow-moderate income community solar project,\u201d is defined as \u201cground-\nmounted or rooftop solar arrays that directly benefit a group of at least 5 residential end-\nuser customers, where at least a majority [at least 3] of the residential end-user customers\nare at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. No more than 15 percent of\nthe projected load for such project shall be attributable to non-residential end-user\ncustomers.\u201d RSA 362-F:2, X-a. In addition, RSA 362-A:9, XIV(c) requires each utility\nto provide on-bill credits for each member and the host along with a 2.5 cent per kWh\naddition for low-moderate income community solar projects.\n\nPursuant to RSA 362-F:10, VII, the Department may, after notice and hearing, by order\nor rule, establish \u201cadditional incentive or rebate programs for customer-sited thermal and\nrenewable energy projects\u201d to be supported by the REF. This RFP is issued pursuant to\n\n? See 2021 N.H. Laws Chapter 91 (House Bill 2-FN-A-Local).\n\n3 The REF is funded through alternative compliance payments (ACPs) made by the distribution utilities and\ncompetitive electric power suppliers in lieu of renewable energy certificates (RECs). RECs are available in the\nmarket, for sale, at a price that is equal to or less than the applicable ACPs. ACP amounts are adjusted each year,\npursuant to RSA 362-F:10, IH and II.\n\nNH Department of Energy RFP #2023-019 Page 3 of 23\n" "RSA 362-F:10, VIII, and Department Order Approving Request for Proposals\nCompetitive Solicitation for Low-Moderate Income Solar Project Funding in Fiscal Year\n2023, issued November 8, 2022.\n\nThe Department is seeking proposals from qualified individuals, entities, or multiple\nentities for community solar projects that would provide direct benefits to LMI residential\nelectric customers or to residents of a public housing authority or housing project as\ndescribed in A(b) above, as the means of meeting the statutory requirements. For the\npurposes of this RFP, a residential electric customer is a residential customer of an\nelectric utility that receives electric bills in the customer\u2019s name. The total funding\navailable under this RFP is $1,000,000.\n\nAll grant awards are contingent upon final grant agreement approval by the Governor and\nExecutive Council.\n\nB. Definitions\n\nAs used in this RFP, the term \u201cproject\u201d includes both the equipment and facilities\ncomprising the solar PV system, and the management and administration of financing,\nfunding, operations, maintenance, benefits provision, participating customer income\nverification, admission, replacement, education, communications, and other related\nmatters.\n\nE Basic Project Eligibility Requirements\nTo be eligible for funding, projects must meet the following minimum requirements:\n\n1. Proposers must propose new resident-owned or third party-owned\nground--mounted, carport, or rooftop, community solar PV projects, including,\nbut not limited to, those located in or otherwise serving affordable multi-family\nrental housing or resident-owned manufactured housing communities.\n\n2. Projects must utilize grant funds primarily for capital investments in new solar PV\nprojects that will result in a quantifiable direct benefit to a minimum of five\nresidential electric customers or to residents of a public housing authority or\nhousing project within the same electric distribution utility service territory and\nwhere at least the majority of participants must be LMI. Consistent with RSA\n362-F:2, X-a, \u201cLMI\u201d is defined as end-user customers whose income is at or\nbelow 300 percent ofthe federal poverty guidelines.* For the purposes of this\nproposal, moderate income participants are defined as end-user customers whose\nincome is more than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines but less than or\nequal to 300 percent of those guidelines.\n\n* The 2023 Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) may be found at: Federal Register :Annual Update of the HHS\nPoverty Guidelines.\n\nNH Department of Energy RFP #2023-019 Page 4 of 23\n" "3. Projects must adhere to the statutory requirements of RSA 362-F:2, X-a and\nprovide direct benefits to LMI customers from the date of initial operation\nthrough the earlier to occur of (i) 20 years, or (ii) the end of the project\u2019s useful\noperational life.\n\n4. Projects must be operational no later than 24 months after grant agreement\napproval by the Governor and Executive Council.\n\n5. Proposers may not also request and/or receive funding from the Non-residential\nCompetitive Grant Program, C&I Renewable Energy Rebate Program, or\nResidential Renewable Electric Generation Incentive Program for the same\n\nproject.\n\n6. Projects shall not be eligible for the grant ifthey are designed to depend upon\nEAP LMI Community Solar Project designation provided for under Senate Bill\n270 (2022).\n\nT. Grantees must commit to seeking REC eligibility in New Hampshire for the\n\nproject, including but not limited to submitting a complete application for REC\neligibility to the Department.\n\n8. Only community solar PV projects are eligible for funding under this RFP.\n\n9. Projects must be physically located in New Hampshire; any point of grid\ninterconnection must also be in New Hampshire. Neither the project nor the end-\nuser customers to be served by the system may be located in, or a customer of, a\nmunicipal electric utility.\n\n10. Proposers must confirm that control of any site(s) on which their project(s) will be\nconstructed has been secured, through ownership, lease, or binding option to\nacquire or lease such site(s).\n\n11. Projects requesting full funding through this RFP must demonstrate that a\nminimum of 75% of the project\u2019s net revenues from electric generation will\ndirectly benefit LMI participants.\n\nu. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS\n\nThe overall proposal emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. Proposals that\nare incomplete or unsigned will not be considered. Proposals shall include the following\ninformation, and respond to all areas listed below, in the order listed.\n\nA. Letter of Transmittal\n\nInclude the name of the proposer, contact information for, and signature of, the\nindividual authorized to bind the proposer (or of the proposer), and identify the\nproposer\u2019s point of contact for this proposal. (1 page)\n\nNH Department of Energy RFP #2023-019 Page 5 of 23\n"