Austin Energy Renewable Capacity & Energy From Wind RFP

Austin Energy, a municipal electric utility serving over 480,000 customer accounts in the Greater Austin area, is soliciting proposals for the long-term purchase of energy, capacity, and renewable energy credits (RECs) from utility-scale wind resources located in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) service region. The utility seeks to purchase between 50 MW to 500 MW of renewable energy capacity from one or multiple projects as part of its strategy to achieve 100% carbon-free energy by 2035, with an interim goal of 70% renewable energy by 2030.

Proposers may offer wind renewable energy projects with energy and capacity delivered on an as-available basis, or firm renewable fixed or shaped energy products delivered with on-site energy storage systems. All resources must meet applicable ERCOT, Texas Reliability Entity (TRE), and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards. The PPA term will range from at least 7 years to a maximum of 30 years, with commercial operation dates that provide the best value to Austin Energy and its customers.

Key submission requirements include a term sheet summarizing principal features and pricing, proposer financial capability documentation (including two years of audited financial statements), corporate and professional experience details, technical specifications of the generating resource, cost information in fixed $/MWh format, and a work site agreement narrative demonstrating compliance with prevailing wage, apprenticeship, and local workforce utilization requirements consistent with the Inflation Reduction Act.

All proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format to EnergySupply@austinenergy.com by the RFP response deadline. Proposers should submit an automatic email confirmation of receipt, and proposals must be valid for a minimum of 120 days following the response deadline. Austin Energy will review all proposals to develop a shortlist for further evaluation using integrated network power market models, with selected finalists potentially participating in final interviews before senior management approval and PPA negotiation.