Frequently Asked Questions

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pplelectric > Business Partners > polr-cbp > Frequently Asked Questions - Qualifications

Frequently Asked Questions - Qualifications

1.	Q:	Will PPL make Word documents of Bidder Qualification Forms and the POLR SMA available so that information can be easily added to required documents?
	A:	PPL's Web site has Word versions of supplier documents available for download. These documents are formatted to facilitate submission of bidder information, but the documents cannot be changed. Please see the Supplier Documents page.
2.	Q:	Our courier service requires a contact phone number. Could you please provide a phone number for deliveries to PPL Electric Utilities POLR RFP Manager?
	A:	For parcel deliveries to the RFP Manager requiring a phone number, please enter 215-568-0200.
3.	Q:	When is the Credit Application due?
	A:	The Credit Application, along with all other Bidder Qualification materials, is due on the Bidder Qualifications Due Date. The complete schedule for the RFP is available on the PPL web site. However, bidders are encouraged to submit credit qualifications earlier if possible as this will help ensure the timely resolution of any clarifications that may be required.
4.	Q:	What is the due date for mark-ups to the Bid Assurance Letter of Credit?
	A:	Any mark-ups must be provided by the Bidder Qualifications Due Date. As stated in Article 4.8.2 of the POLR RFP Rules, an applicant may propose modifications to the Bid Assurance Letter of Credit (“LOC”) that are non-substantive or clarifying in nature. The applicant proposing modifications the Bid Assurance LOC must provide three (3) copies of this LOC with the proposed modifications. Bidders are encouraged to submit any such materials earlier if possible as this will help ensure the timely resolution of any clarifications that may be required. Please consult the list of already allowed and disallowed changes to the Letters of Credit, available at http://www.pplelectric.com/Business+Partners/polr-cbp/faq.htm. Please note that the acceptability of an alternative LOC form will be at PPL Electric's sole discretion, and such acceptability will be communicated to the applicant no later than forty-eight hours before the Cure Deficiency Deadline indicated in Article 2.2 of the POLR RFP Rules (RFP Schedule).
5.	Q:	What must be provided in the “Bank Reference Information” section of the Credit Application? What is a revolving credit facility?
	A:	In section 4 of the Credit Application ("Bank Reference Information"), you must provide the contact information of at least one bank with which either the applicant or the guarantor does business. If the applicant/guarantor has a revolving credit facility with this bank, you may indicate the amount of such facility and the date of its expiration. A revolving credit facility is a dollar amount up to which the applicant/guarantor may borrow and which is replenished upon repayment.
6.	Q:	When are mark-ups of the Performance Assurance Evergreen Letter of Credit (Exhibit C) and/or the Unconditional Guaranty (Exhibit F) due?
	A:	You may submit mark-ups to the Performance Assurance LOC and the Guaranty with your Credit Application, before the Bidder Qualifications Due Date. PPL will review any such documents along with your Bidder Qualification Materials, but is under no obligation to accept them. Please consult the list of already allowed and disallowed changes to the Letters of Credit, available at http://www.pplelectric.com/Business+Partners/polr-cbp/faq.htm. Please see Article 4.9 of the POLR Rules, "Alternative Forms of Performance Assurance."
7.	Q:	For the purposes of meeting the Bidder Qualification requirements, may we submit a link to our financial documentation instead of hard copies?
	A:	Links to financial documents on the Internet are not acceptable. As stated in Article 4.5.1 of the RFP Rules, "[t]he applicant must provide as part of its Bidder Qualifications three (3) originals of the completed Credit Application and one (1) copy of any supporting documents to this Credit Application including the associated financial information as directed in Article 6.1.2." Article 6.1.2 directs the applicant to "...deliver its Bidder Qualifications described in Article 4 by certified mail, registered mail, hand delivery, or courier service to PPL Electric at the following address: PPL Electric POLR RFP 1835 Market Street, Suite 1205 Philadelphia, PA 19103 Attn: PPL Electric POLR RFP Manager Fax: 215-568-9364 For parcel deliveries requiring a phone number, please enter 215-568-0200..
8.	Q:	May we submit electronic copies of an alternative Letter of Credit?
	A:	As stated in Article 4.8.2 and Article 4.9.1 of the RFP Rules, an applicant that proposes modifications to the Bid Assurance Letter of Credit (“LOC”) or the Performance Assurance LOC that are non-substantive or clarifying in nature must provide three (3) hard copies of this LOC by the Bidder Qualifications Due Date. The applicant may also provide an electronic copy at pplpolr@pplweb.com for the convenience of the Bidder Qualifications Evaluation Team.
9.	Q:	Our bid qualification package included our financial institution's redline version of both the Bid Assurance letter of credit language and Performance Assurance letter of credit language. When will a bidder be advised that the proposed letter of credit language be accepted by PPL Electric Utilities?
	A:	As stated in the Articles 4.8.2 and in 4.9.1 of the RFP Rules, the acceptability of alternative LOC forms will be communicated to the applicant no later than forty-eight hours before the Cure Deficiency Deadline indicated in Article 2.2 (RFP Schedule). However, PPL Electric and the PPL POLR RFP Manager will endeavor to provide review as early as possible and all bidders are encouraged to provide their materials early.
10.	Q:	With respect to Bid Assurance letters of credit, may a single letter of credit be put in place for all of the Solicitation periods with the intent to appropriately value the letter of credit, by amendment, for each of the six (6) planned solicitations?
	A:	As stated in the Article 5.4.2 of the RFP Rules, the RFP Bidder may request that the Bid Assurance Collateral reside with PPL Electric through the entire multi-solicitation period. The rules do not specifically contemplate amendments to value for each solicitation, but PPL Electric will allow for that, providing that the amendments are acceptable and are received prior to the Bidder Qualifications Due Date.
11.	Q:	Does PPL Electric Utilities have wire transfer information available for posting Bid Assurance Collateral?
	A:	Yes. Please send an email to pplpolr@pplweb.com to request wire transfer information.
12.	Q:	In our Credit Application we listed ourselves (The Applicant) as the creditworthy company, with no need for a parent guaranty. Please confirm that we do NOT need to prepare the Exhibit F, the Unconditional Guaranty.
	A:	That is correct. The Unconditional Guaranty should not be provided when the seller is applying for unsecured credit.
13.	Q:	If we supplied qualification documents for a previous solicitation, do we need to resubmit everything again for the current solicitation?
	A:	If an RFP Bidder qualified for a previous solicitation, the RFP Bidder does not need to resubmit all documents again, but the RFP Bidder must submit to an abbreviated qualification process that requires the submission of some documents by the Bidder Qualifications Due Date of September 14, 2009 (at noon). Each RFP Bidder that qualified for a previous solicitation will receive a letter from the PPL Electric Utilities POLR RFP Manager Team providing a detailed description of the documents that must be submitted in order for the RFP Bidder to be qualified again for the upcoming solicitation. If you are an RFP Bidder that qualified for a previous solicitation and you have not received this letter (because your contact information has changed, or for any other reason) within a week of the Bidder Qualifications Due Date, please contact the PPL Electric Utilities POLR RFP Manager Team at (215) 568-0200 or by e-mail at pplpolr@pplweb.com. The letter to all RFP Bidders qualified for a previous solicitation states that, after an RFP Bidder has qualified for a solicitation in the RFP, that RFP Bidder can qualify again for a subsequent solicitation by: a) verifying, in writing, that the previously submitted credit and financial information is up-to-date and accurate, or providing updated documentation if any previously submitted credit and financial information has changed; and b) providing three (3) originals of the Binding Bid Agreement for that solicitation. For the upcoming solicitation, these documents must be provided by the Bidder Qualifications Due Date of September 14, 2009 at noon. Please see Section 4.1.3 of the RFP Rules for further information on the abbreviated qualification process for previously qualified RFP Bidders.
14.	Q:	My company was a Qualified Bidder in a previous solicitation. We wish to apply to participate in the sixth solicitation, and our Guarantor has recently issued a 10-Q that was not available during the previous application period. Must we submit this additional financial information as part of the abbreviated application process specified in the RFP Rules?
	A:	The Credit Application requires that you submit the most recent two years of audited financial information for the entity which is applying for credit. If your Guarantor's new 10-Q contains revisions to the annual financial information that you provided in your previous Credit Application, then you must submit this new 10-Q as part of your Bidder Qualification Materials for the sixth solicitation; however, if the new 10-Q only provides new quarterly financial information and no changes have been made to the previously stated annual financial information, you do not need to submit the new 10-Q.
15.	Q:	For the Credit Application (Appendix 6), if we are relying on a Guarantor, would the “Bank Reference Information” be for the Guarantor or the bidder?
	A:	In the Credit Application, all information in sections 3-5 (including the bank reference information) should be for the entity applying for credit, as specified in section 2 of the Credit Application. If you are relying on a Guarantor, sections 3-5 should be filled in with information for this Guarantor.
16.	Q:	Our company already has a Guaranty in place with PPL. Is this current Guaranty acceptable to use if we were to win at the RFP?
	A:	No. Any Guaranty for the RFP is acceptable only if it complies with the specific terms of the POLR SMA, which would not be the case for a Guaranty already in place for provision of another service.
17.	Q:	Are credit instruments that were approved for use in a previous solicitation approved for use in the current solicitation? May we assume that proposed changes that were deemed acceptable to PPL Electric in a previous solicitation are still acceptable in the current solicitation?
	A:	In general, the fact that an alternative form of a credit instrument was approved for use in a previous solicitation does not necessarily mean it is approved for use in future solicitations, as modifications to paragraphs that were changed would no longer be relevant or approved. However, the credit instruments that were standard in the fifth solicitation have not changed for this sixth solicitation. The list of proposed modifications to the credit instruments for the sixth solicitation that are approved, as well as those that are not acceptable, will be posted to the web site at http://www.pplelectric.com/Business+Partners/polr-cbp/faq.htm. The credit instruments, as posted to the RFP Web site, are the standard forms for the sixth solicitation, and are approved for use by all RFP Bidders; applicants who wish to make changes to these standard forms that are non-substantive or clarifying in nature will have the opportunity to submit such changes for review by PPL Electric with their Bidder Qualification Materials. Please see Sections 4.8 and 4.9 of the RFP Rules for further details.
18.	Q:	We received a notice that our Bidder Qualification Materials are being considered. Does this mean that there were no deficiencies and that our Bidder Qualification Materials are complete?
	A:	In general, applicants are notified of deficiencies in their Bidder Qualification Materials on the day such materials are received by the RFP Manager Team. However, PPL Electric does not bear any responsibility for failure to notify applicants of deficiencies prior to the Cure Deficiency Deadline indicated in Article 2.2, and PPL Electric assumes no liability or obligation for a defective submission or for notifying any RFP Bidder of a defective submission. Applicants will be notified whether or not they have qualified by noon on the Qualified Bidders Notified Date noted in Article 2.2 of the RFP Rules, which for this sixth solicitation is Monday, September 28, 2009.
19.	Q.	In Appendix 6, the Credit Application states "financial data [must be] denominated in United States currency, and conform to generally accepted accounting principals ("GAAP") in the United States." Our parent company is an Australian entity with financial statements denominated in AUD and adhering to Australian Accounting Standards ("AASB"). As per Article 4.5.3, PPL may consider these financial statements at its sole discretion, but is it possible to learn now if these statements will be acceptable?
	A.	An RFP Bidder will not be disqualified from participating in the RFP solely on the basis of its financial statements not being denominated in US Dollars or being based on accounting standards other than US GAAP. PPL Electric will, in its sole discretion, consider these financial statements and determine whether the supplier qualifies for unsecured credit under the POLR SMA. In order for the RFP Bidder to be granted Unsecured Credit under the POLR SMA, the parent company acting as guarantor would be required to execute the Unconditional Guaranty (Exhibit F) as it appears in the POLR SMA, and would then need to be able to make all representations and warranties therein.
20.	Q.	Since we last submitted our financial statements, we have received a more current 10-K. Nothing else has changed with respect to our Credit Application (Appendix 6). Must I resubmit the entire Credit Application again, or can I just submit the new 10K and verify that all credit and financial information (with the exception of the 10K) remains up-to-date and accurate?
	A.	After an RFP Bidder has qualified for a solicitation in the RFP, that RFP Bidder can qualify again for a subsequent solicitation by: a) verifying, in writing, that the previously submitted credit and financial information is up-to-date and accurate, or providing updated documentation if any previously submitted credit and financial information has changed; and b) providing three (3) originals of the Binding Bid Agreement for that solicitation. If the RFP Bidder provides updated documentation, that RFP Bidder must also certify that aside from the updated documentation provided, all other previously submitted credit and financial information remains up-to-date and accurate. For the upcoming solicitation, these documents must be provided by the Bidder Qualifications Due Date of Septmeber 14, 2009 at noon. Please see Section 4.1.3 of the RFP Rules for further information on the abbreviated qualification process for previously qualified RFP Bidders.
21.	Q.	May we propose modifications to the Confidentiality Agreement?
	A.	The Confidentiality Agreement, which is Appendix 3 to the PPL POLR RFP Process and Rules document, was approved by the PaPUC in Docket No. P-00062227 and is not subject to change or comment.
22.	Q.	Our previously submitted financial and credit information remains up-to-date and accurate, with the one exception that the representative at our bank reference has changed. May we avoid re-submitting the entire Credit Application in this circumstance, considering that the bank itself and the account number are the same?
	A.	In lieu of re-submitting the Credit Application in its entirety, a previously qualified RFP Bidder may submit new or revised credit and financial information and also certify that all other information in the Credit Application remains up-to-date and accurate. In the circumstances you describe, you may qualify for the current solicitation by (a) providing the updated contact information for your bank reference, (b) verifying, in writing, that all other previously submitted credit and financial information is up-to-date and accurate, and (c) providing three (3) originals of the Binding Bid Agreement for this solicitation.
23.	Q.	How can I know if my company is eligible for the abbreviated Bidder Qualification process?
	A.	As stated in Qualifications FAQ #13, each RFP Bidder that qualified for a previous solicitation will receive a letter from the PPL Electric Utilities POLR RFP Manager Team providing a detailed description of the documents that must be submitted in order for the RFP Bidder to be qualified again for the upcoming solicitation. These letters were will be sent to the point of contact for each previously qualified bidder in advance of the Bidder Qualifications Due Date for this sixth solicitation. If you are an RFP Bidder that qualified for a previous solicitation and you have not received this letter (because your contact information has changed, or for any other reason) within a week of the Bidder Qualifications Due Date, please contact the PPL Electric Utilities POLR RFP Manager Team at (215) 568-0200 or by e-mail at pplpolr@pplweb.com. Please see Qualifications FAQ #13 for further information.
24.	Q.	Our company, that was previously qualified to participate, was rolled up into its parent. Can we still apply using the abbreviated qualification process?
	A.	The abbreviated qualification process is only available to the Bidder that previously qualified, not to any subsidiaries or parent organizations. In a situation where a Bidder has been absorbed into its parent and no longer exists as a stand-alone entity, many previously submitted Bidder Qualification materials would no longer be valid, such as the Confidentiality Agreement, PJM & FERC Certifications, and the POLR Supply Master Agreement, which were submitted in the name of the Bidder, not its parent. The Bidder's parent may qualify to bid in the RFP by submitting all Bidder Qualification Materials as specified in Article 4 of the RFP Rules by the Bidder Qualifications Due Date, which for this October 2009 Solicitation is September 14, 2009.
25.	Q.	Can an un-rated entity participate without a guarantor?
	A.	As a requirement of bidder qualification, each prospective supplier must show that it or its guarantor is rated. Please see section 4.1.1 of the RFP Rules, which states, “An applicant is qualified to bid in a given solicitation if, by the Cure Deficiency Deadline of that solicitation, it satisfactorily completes or updates the following: … 3) demonstrates that its, or its guarantor's, unsecured senior long-term debt rating (or issuer rating, if the unsecured senior long-term debt rating is unavailable) is currently available from Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings, or Moody's Investor Services.”
26.	Q.	If a supplier has just qualified under the DSPP plan and provided its most recent financials in the August 2009 solicitation, does a qualified supplier in the CBP plan have to provide the financials again for that abbreviated process for the October 2009 solicitation?
	A.	You correctly noted that the POLR RFP under the Competitive Bridge Plan and each of the Full Requirements RFP, Block Supply RFP, and the AEC RFP under the Default Service Procurement Plan (“DSPP”) are separate RFPs. As such, qualification materials must be provided separately for the POLR RFP and for the RFPs under the DSPP.