21 States join the initiative, other States invited. RFP due date Sep 7.
In the U.S. State of Oklahoma, the Department of Central Services has issued a request for proposals (RFP) that could eventually lead to the purchase of thousands of compressed natural gas powered vehicles. The announcement comes a week after the governors of Colorado and Oklahoma sat down with officials from Chrysler, Ford and GM to discuss their desires that the automakers supply more natural gas vehicles (NGVs) for the national market.
The Solicitation Specifications of the RFP define the Scope of Contract (ref. C.1.1.) : “The intent of this solicitation is to establish a Statewide Contract for Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) for the State of Oklahoma as well as to all participating National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) member States.”
NGVAmerica says 21 states have joined the initiative, including the thirteen states that previously signed onto the NGV MOU (Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming), plus eight more states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia). Other states are invited to participate as well. All of the states contracting for the purchase of NGVs are expected to sign participating addendums to the Oklahoma contract, and may need to negotiate additional terms of conditions with vendors.
The RFP indicates that state authorities are looking to receive bids on the following types of bi-fuel and dedicated NGVs: compact sedans, mid to full size sedan, half-ton truck, three quarter-ton truck, three-quarter ton cargo van, one-ton cargo van, and transit cargo van.
Any vehicle provided as a result of this solicitation, must meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s GHG Emissions Regulations as listed in 40 CFR 85-86, 600, 1033, 1036-1037, 1039, 1065-1066, and 1068. Some of the participating States listed in Section B.18 have additional requirements. For instance, vehicles offered for purchase in states that have adopted the California emission standards must meet California’s emission regulations.
Potential purchasers of NGVs have indicated pre-contract interest amounting to almost 1800 NGVs, not including vans for which quantities were unknown at the time of RFP publication.
Solicitation responses are due September 7, with award announcements planned for October 5. The original contract period is expected to run for 12 months with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods, which means that the solicitation more than likely will involve several different model years.
Solicitation detail is available by clicking here.
