Notice of Intent to Single Source Doble Equipment Rental Services

THIS IS A SPECIAL NOTICE PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) SUBPART 5.2 “SYNOPSES OF PROPOSED CONTRACT ACTIONS”NAICS 532490, Other Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and LeasingResponse Deadline: 16 December 2022The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Contracting, Portland District (CECT-NWP) intends to negotiate/award a firm-fixed price (FFP) service, single source procurement to Doble Engineering Company (Doble). This regional requirement covers all five districts within the US Army Corps of Engineers, Northwest Division (CENWD), and supports the CENWD’s Hydropower Test & Evaluation program, whose function is to perform testing in accordance with CENWD Regulation 1130-2-7, which requires periodic testing of Generators, Power Transformers and Transformer Bushings, and Circuit Breakers and Bushings. This contract will provide specialized test equipment and associated equipment support services necessary for CENWD personnel to test,

evaluate, and assess the health of high voltage electrical equipment installed in CENWD Hydropower generating stations.Equipment and Services required:Doble M4100 High Voltage Apparatus Tester w/ Doble Service Agreement; Doble M7100 High‐Voltage Asset Analyzer w/Doble Service Agreement; Doble M5500 Sweep Frequency Analyzer w/Doble Service Agreement; Doble Universal Controllers; Doble PDS200 EMI Surveyor; Doble Lease Agreement; Doble Oil Client Committee Service Membership; & Doble F6080 Calibration Service.REASON FOR SOLE SOURCE ACQUISITION:The statutory authority for this non-competitive acquisition is FAR 13.106-1(b)(2).The services to be acquired will support CENWD's Hydropower Test & Evaluation (HT&E) program. The mission of the CENWD HT&E Program is to ensure, by test and analysis in accordance with CENWD Regulation 1130-2-7, that Generators, Power Transformers and Transformer Bushings, and Circuit Breakers and Bushings are suitable for initial and continuing service; to minimize risk of damage to equipment and maximize power system reliability; evaluate effectiveness of repairs, adjustments, and modifications; and provide technical support for the condition indicators utilized in the justification for equipment replacement. CENWD Regulation 1130-2-7 requires periodic testing of the listed equipment using power-factor testing. Power-factor testing is a test technique providing information about the integrity of the insulation systems. The test is effective in detecting insulation contamination, the quality of the semiconducting and stress gradient coatings, the amount of void content, partial discharge damage, insulation delamination, and the quality of the impregnation process. The primary function of the testing is for predict preventative and predictive maintenance needs of the high voltage apparatus at the dams. For the testing to be reliable and usable each year Division wide, the data needs to be compatible with the previous year’s data, using the same methods and equipment.For the last 30 years, Doble has been the only company that can execute the performance testing requirements of the HT&E program. CENWD uses the equipment and associated technical services to perform testing and maintenance of installed power system equipment at Corps hydropower facilities (13 dams). The testing method consists of high voltage insulation testing and analysis techniques utilized to perform diagnostics and predictive maintenance as part of a larger asset management strategy for high value capital equipment, and critical infrastructure. The results allow CENWD to identify and correct incipient problems before they become major failures.CENWD currently leases seven (7) Doble M4100 High Voltage Apparatus Testers and two (2) Doble M7100 High-Voltage Asset Analyzers, and associated software packages. CENWD also owns and employs additional Doble test equipment, which it uses in conjunction with the leased Doble test equipment to perform and document insulation integrity, excitation, and other electrical tests on major hydropower electrical apparatus. The CENWD-owned Doble equipment includes Leakage Reactance test set modules and Sweep Frequency Response Analyzer (SFRA) test sets. The owned SFRA M5200 are obsolete and only a few districts currently have it functional with no means of replacement except purchasing a new M5500.The contract to be awarded is for the continued provision of highly specialized electrical testing equipment and services that CENWD currently obtains from Doble, and it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.While market research has shown there are other vendors who provide equipment which is capable of performing similar electrical testing, acquiring this equipment from another vendor would result in a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Approximately 32 CENWD engineers and technicians have spent roughly 40-60 hours annually in Doble training courses, conferences, seminars, and process development (including test records database development), specific to the usage of Doble's diagnostic systems. A departure from the Doble equipment lease agreement would incur significant impact to CENWD’s HT&E program in terms of retooling, retraining, test schedules changes, and testing processes and procedures development. $400K is estimated for initial retraining of the 32 members and a full year to complete. The government would also incur the additional costs to purchase the equipment in lieu of the proposed strategy to lease the equipment.Furthermore, there would also be a duplication of costs due to the equipment support services included with Doble's equipment lease. Doble is the only vendor that provides equipment leasing. Doble's equipment leasing includes the following equipment support services:-              Historical test records database for test results comparison and trending.-              24/7 engineering consultation and technical support including annual equipment calibration and minor equipment replacement/repair; and,-              Field training, maintenance and test guides, and technical reports.If any of the leased equipment fails, under the lease agreement, Doble will replace the damaged equipment within a 24-hour period. Doble is the only vendor that offers this prompt equipment replacement. This quick turnaround time is important to CENWD's hydropower operations because if CENWD's generators and transformers are offline, customers lose hydropower generation, impacting our mission and obligation to agency power partners. If equipment was procured from another vendor, the support services (i.e., equipment repair and replacement services) CENWD currently receives from the Doble lease would have to be procured as brand name or sole source procurements via multiple separate contracts as services were required, resulting in additional procurement and contract administration costs.All test data compiled and analyzed from Doble equipment/testing services has supported CENWD and continues to be the regional benchmark for maintenance and prevention through use of Doble's trademarked diagnostic systems for the last 30 years. CENWD has stored that data in Doble software, and it does not appear that other vendors' products can seamlessly and automatically integrate that data. CENWD owns the raw data, but neither CENWD nor another vendor has developed a similar software system to conduct the required diagnostics, analyses, and trending that the proprietary Doble software does. A change in contractor at this time would introduce substantial uncertainty regarding the integrity of test data, trending capabilities, operability, and overall test program continuity. The ability to compare and trend the data is vital to the extension of CENWD equipment life and prediction of potential equipment failures before they become catastrophic.Furthermore, the Government requires the provided equipment and services to be compatible with testing equipment currently owned by the Government. Similar equipment offered by other vendors is not compatible with CENWD-owned Leakage Resistance test set modules and SFRAs, compromising the ability to continue with established testing methods, techniques, processes, and procedures. In particular, the Doble SFRA test sets that CENWD owns can only use the Doble software included with the M4100/M7100 testing equipment. Acquiring this testing equipment and services from another vendor, therefore, would require the purchase or lease of compatible Leakage Reactance test set modules and SFRA test sets for proper testing and evaluation to continue without disruption. Specifically, CENWD relies on access to the test data reference book developed by Doble to interpret test results. The reference book is comprised of approximately 55 million test results which enables users to troubleshoot issues and adjust maximize energy output. As one of the industry's first producers of this test equipment, Doble has been compiling these test results for eighty years which makes the data base the industry standard and an essential component to the HTRE program.As stated above, if unable to procure Doble equipment, the Corps would lose the capability to compare and trend data that is vital to the extension of CENWD equipment life and prediction of potential equipment failures before they become catastrophic. A loss of any generating unit or transformer would cost the Corps in the millions of dollars not counting the time to replace an asset (one year at a minimum). CENWD would also lose the ability to compare and discuss data, and best practices with the Nashville, Ft Worth, Tulsa, Savannah, Vicksburg and Little Rock USACE Districts, which also use Doble services.The Government intends to solicit Doble directly for this project on or around 06-JAN-2023.  Currently, a solicitation does not exist.  All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.*NO PHONE INQUIRIES, PLEASE.CAPABILITY STATEMENT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS(PLEASE REVIEW ALL BELOW)Responses to this Notice must be submitted electronically (via email) SUBJECT: ‘Doble Equipment Rental for NWD’ to Carl.R.Schmurr@usace.army.mil. A Firm’s response to this shall be limited to (10) pages total, including cover page, and shall include the following information:Firm’s name, address, point of contact, phone number, email address, CAGE code and SAM number;Firm’s small business category and Business Size: Large Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged, 8(a) certified small business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone small business (HUBZone), Woman owned small business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned small business (EDWOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB);Provide relevant and verifiable information on the Firm’s experience/capabilities as it pertains to the proposed requirement;Provide how the Firm will increase efficiencies and mitigate the numerous costs of not selecting Doble stated above; and,Any questions you have on the proposed project.This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this Notice or any follow-up information. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses, a solicitation may be published in the Government point of entry (SAM.gov). All interested firms must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and remain current for the duration of the contract to be eligible for award of a Government contract.