The Program Administrator has published a redline version of the updated Project Selection Protocol, available below, which highlights the changes between the updated Project Selection Protocol and the Protocol used in the previous program year. A clean version of the Protocol will be available soon.
Stakeholders had the ability to provide written comments on the draft Project Selection Protocol released April 21, 2020. The Program Team has considered these written comments and is appreciative of the thoughtful input that they provided. Summaries of the submitted comments are included in the Response to Comments document below, along with the Program Team’s responses.
The Program Administrator wishes to highlight the updated rulings related to MWBE points for subcontractors, which have been revised based on stakeholder feedback. Further detail can be found in the Response to Comments document.
MWBE Points for Subcontractors
Projects will be eligible to receive MWBE attribute points if the Approved Vendor, Approved Vendor Aggregator or the Approved Vendor Designee commits to subcontracting with an MWBE.
Points will be awarded for Approved Vendors working with MWBE subcontractors that have contracts on the project for 50% or more of the REC contract value. For a community solar project, the REC contract value will, for purposes of calculating that commitment, be based upon the REC contract value not including any small subscriber adder.
The Program Team believes it is of the utmost importance to ensure that MWBE commitments protect against gaming by Approved Vendors seeking to receive more points at the time of project selection, without the intent of following through with the commitments. Therefore, the Program Team will be updating ILSFA contracts to reflect that contract rescission prior to payment, including forfeiture of collateral, is a consequence should an Approved Vendor fail to satisfy the minimum required MWBE contractual commitment. Any Approved Vendor that is awarded MWBE points based on the commitment of working with MWBE subcontractors will be held to fulfilling the minimum requirement of 50% of the contract value with the MWBE subcontractor as compared to the REC contract value.