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THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) 5.201

NAICS: 334513 – Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables

Response Deadline: 27 February 2023

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Portland District (NWP) intends to negotiate/award a sole-source contract with American Governor Company (AGC) equipment for supplies required to upgrade ten main unit governors at Powerhouse 1, Bonneville Dam (Project) in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The new equipment is consistent with recent and similar upgrades to the existing main unit governors at the project.

REASON FOR SOLE SOURCE ACQUISITION:

The statutory authority for this non-competitive acquisition is 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1 entitled "only one responsible source and no other suppliers or services will satisfy agency requirements."

The purpose is to supply new equipment to upgrade existing aged digital governors for powerhouse 1 units consistent with recent and similar upgrades to the existing powerhouse 2 governors at the Project. The contract includes fabrication of ten PLC based digital governor retrofit kits, O&M manuals, and commissioning support for all units. Installation of the new equipment will be done by Project staff.

1. Background: The Government currently owns 145 AGC Digital PLC Governors throughout the Pacific Northwest Region, including the 10 main unit governors at Bonneville Powerhouse 2. The AGC Digital PLC Governors were part of a broad regional effort to upgrade the existing governors due to age and the decreasing availability of spare parts and technical expertise. In 2008 a contract was awarded to retrofit all the plants in the Portland, Walla Walla, and Seattle Districts with new AGC Digital PLC Governors. A similar contract was recently awarded to retrofit all of Omaha District. Although the contract retrofitted all Bonneville powerhouse 2 unit governors, Bonneville Powerhouse 1 governors, however, were not included in the regional supply contract. The current governors were installed in 2000 and are nearing the end of the expected life of 20-25 years. This contract is for new equipment to upgrade powerhouse 1 governors.


2. Justification: Purchase of governors from AGC avoids substantial duplication of costs to the Government that would not be recovered in competition including but not limited to costs associated with maintenance, training, additional personnel, and technology support. The purchase of powerhouse 1 governors from the same manufacturer as the existing powerhouse 2 governors is required for consistency of operation, interoperability within the system including software and mechanical support, cybersecurity, and avoidance of additional training, different system maintenance, and hiring of additional personnel that is not within budget. Pursuing a different governor manufacturer is not practical given the historical and on-going investment both by the regional stakeholders and by the Corps throughout the Northwestern Division. Purchasing the equipment from AGC is necessary to ensure integration and compatibility with the existing governors at the Project, to capitalize on the existing investment made by the Corps and our regional partners, to take advantage of existing Government owned AGC equipment, and to ensure sensible and efficient maintenance of all the governors at the Project. If a different type governor was installed, additional cyber security reviews and modifications would be required, it would require further training, a separate set of spare parts, and have different maintenance requirements than the other units at the Project. A different governor would require the operators to interact with the equipment in a manner not consistent with powerhouse 2 units and would require additional equipment in the control room to operate powerhouse 1 units. Additionally, given that hydroelectric dams are part of the nation’s critical infrastructure sector with heightened awareness and responsibility for national security, it is critical to obtain supplies that are known to be tested and compatible with the existing systems. Purchase of the same parts helps maintain security and resilience of the system that is already in place.

Since the Project is already outfitted with AGC governors, Project personnel and staff have received training in their operations and maintenance, and have experience installing them. Therefore, it is logical and economically efficient for the Government to continue purchase of replacement or upgraded parts with this company for purposes of upgrading the station service governors. The best value to the Government is to purchase the additional governors from AGC to allow for interoperability with the existing Government owned AGC equipment (i.e., powerhouse 2 governors), to ensure efficiency/compatibility with the existing network infrastructure at the Project, and to ensure efficiencies with respect to equipment servicing, repairs, maintenance, and operation already established through the use existing AGC equipment.

The Government intends to advertise a solicitation for this project on or around April 2023. This is not a solicitation for competitive proposals, quotes, or bids; however, if any interested party believes that they can meet the above requirement, they may submit a capability statement to the point of contact listed in this Special Notice. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow USACE to be able to determine if the interested party can perform the requirement described herein.

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement for this requirement.

**NO PHONE INQUIRIES, PLEASE.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

(PLEASE REVIEW ALL BELOW)

1. Point of Contact name, email address and phone number, CAGE code and DUNS number (if available);


2. In the event that the organization is a small business, please state the category of small business, such as 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB/VOSB, Women-Owned Small Business.


3. The Government will evaluate the capabilities of an interested party based on their ability to manufacture and supply items equal to those listed above, and the proven reliability of those equal parts through evidence of their installation on other projects similar to Bonneville Dam.

Send responses, labeled as “W9127N23Q0002 – Bonneville Dam Digital Governors,” to the following:

Kristel.M.Flores@usace.army.mil

Janie.L.Roney@usace.army.mil

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