City of Chicago Issuing RFP For Renewable Electricity Supply For All City-Owned Facilities, Contract Valued At $200 Million

Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Assets, Information and Services (AIS), announced a new Request for Proposals (RFP) to procure a renewable energy electricity supply contract for City-owned buildings.

The contract will provide all City-owned buildings, streetlights and other facilities with renewable electricity supply for at least five years beginning in 2022.

The current cost of powering just City-owned buildings with energy is around $40 million annually, resulting in an estimated renewable electricity supply contract of $200 million for the vendor.

Once a new contract is established, the City anticipates providing other municipal entities, including sister agencies, with the ability to execute their own contracts with the City’s selected provider using the commercial framework established by the City’s RFP process.

AIS also said that it has purchased 95,000 Green-e Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Midwestern wind farms. "The initial REC purchase secures a renewable energy supply for several of Chicago’s most iconic municipal buildings including City Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center and Harold Washington Library for all of 2019 electricity use. The purchase covers nearly 180 facilities citywide including many neighborhood buildings such as libraries and fire stations," the city said

The renewable energy supply RFP will be live on chicago.gov/bids on Friday, September 4, 2020. Applications are due by November 6, 2020, and the City plans to announce the chosen vendor for this contract in January 2021.