July 12, 2021 at 3:00 PM (PST)

NOTICE OF RFP AND PRE-SUBMITTAL CONFERENCE
THE CITY OF SEATTLE
SEATTLE CITY LIGHT DEPARTMENT
Request for Proposal #767001474
for
Midstream Commercial Lighting Program Implementation

This Request for Proposal (RFP) is to select an implementer for Seattle City Light’s Midstream Commercial Lighting Program. Seattle City Light (City Light) is seeking a consultant to administer point-of-sale instant discounts through participating distributors to encourage the sale of qualified light emitting diode (LED) lighting instead of less efficient alternatives. The consultant will establish participation agreements with commercial lighting distributors that sell lamps into City Light’s service area and be responsible for recruitment, outreach, engagement, and training of participating distributors in program requirements, processes, and delivery. The consultant will market the program to contractors and customers and will collect sales data from participating distributors to process incentives in a timely manner.

Through the Midstream Commercial Lighting program, City Light aims to help businesses achieve energy savings with high-quality lighting in an easier, faster, and more flexible way by offering instant discounts on qualified commercial LED products at a lower administrative cost to City Light than traditional direct to customer incentive programs. By partnering with local distributors, we hope to increase the LED market share in our service territory and region.
The minimum annual kWh goal for this program is 4,000,000 kWh and the maximum annual budget is $600,000. Should additional funding become available, City Light reserves the option to expand the scope of this program.

City Light initially launched the Midstream Commercial Lighting program—branded “Lighting to Go”—in August 2018 as part of a regional initiative to engage commercial lighting distributors to influence stocking and sales decisions and therefore make more energy efficient lighting available for customers at a discounted price. Currently the instant discount is passed on to the purchaser. More information about the current program, including a list of participating distributors, can be found here: http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/CityLight/LightingToGo.pdf. (Exhibit 1 Attached)
All commercial customer sites, including common area multifamily and industrial customers, new construction, and existing buildings, are eligible for Midstream Commercial Lighting incentives. City Light anticipates roughly 50,000 customers are eligible for this program. More information on City Light and our customers can be found here: http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/CityLight/FingertipFacts.pdf (Exhibit 2 Attached). For the purposes of this RFP, eligible distributors include “brick-and-mortar” distributors with physical locations, online-only distributors, and project-based distributors. City Light welcomes input on distributor eligibility as part of the consultant proposal.

This will be a two-year contract with the option to extend. Funding for year 2022 will not exceed $600,000 per year. The selected consultant will invoice City Light monthly for lighting incentives processed. Goals and budgets will be set on a calendar year basis. Implementation of the work is anticipated to be as follows:
• September 2021: Contract executed
• January 1, 2022: Customer-facing program launch

OBTAINING RFP DOCUMENTS: Documents will be available online June 11, 2021, at https://cityofseattle.bonfirehub.com. Consultants must complete a free registration prior to viewing, printing, and saving to their own equipment at no cost or ordering full or partial document sets and/or CDs through the Web site. For help using this site, please contact Bonfire at Support@GoBonfire.com for technical questions. You can also visit their help forum at https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc.Free internet access to obtain these documents is available at Seattle Neighborhood Service Centers and most public libraries.

Seattle City Light is hosting a Pre-submittal Conference virtually via MS Teams on June 16, 2021, from 2:30 – 3:30 PM (PST). Details are provided in the RFP.

The City’s proposed schedule is outlined in the RFP.
The contract awarded as a result of this RFP will be awarded in a manner that will comply with all applicable laws of the United States, State of Washington, the City Charter, and Ordinances of the City of Seattle.

“WOMEN AND MINORITY AFFIRMATIVE EFFORTS REQUIREMENTS: All proposals are required to meet the Affirmative Efforts requirements as specified in the RFP. An Outreach Plan will be required for the top-rated consultant(s).”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE RFQ