The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) established the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Qualified List of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and 10 C.F.R. 436. The DOE Qualified List of ESCOs is composed of about 100 firms that have submitted applications and have been approved by the DOE qualification review board.

Companies approved for the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs may compete for energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) with federal agencies.

Applications for the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs are accepted throughout the year. Each ESCO on the list is required to recertify each calendar year.

FEMP strongly recommends that a firm contacts Douglas Eisemann (571-454-1420, Douglas.Eisemann@gdit.com) before preparing or submitting an application to the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs.

To be considered for the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs, applicants must do the following.

1. Complete a statement of qualifications using Standard Form 129 and the Supplemental Questionnaire. DOE Qualified List of ESCOs application requirements, instructions, and guidance are provided in the box below, and in Sections 2, 3, and 4.

DOE Qualified List of ESCOs
Application Guidance

  1. All questions in the supplemental questionnaire must be completed with special attention to two project descriptions that demonstrate design and build experience with ESPCs or energy conservation measures (ECMs) (question 10B[a]). The project descriptions should demonstrate the applicant firm’s ability to successfully design and implement projects of the scope and characteristics generally required by ESPC projects for the federal government. Illustrative examples of representative federal facilities include office buildings; warehouses; scientific, technical, and medical centers; and military bases and installations.

  2. Provide a complete and thorough description of the Technology Categories and Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) implemented through each project, including the size and scope of each ECM.

  3. The project implementation price or investment value for each project must be $200,000 (U.S. dollars) or greater.  

  4. The projects must have been completed by the applicant firm as the prime contractor with overall financial responsibility for the design and construction of each project. Experience in design only, or experience in construction only, is not sufficient for qualification. Construction management or construction administration experience without financial responsibility for the construction is insufficient for qualification. Projects performed by company personnel at previous employers are not approvable.

  5. There should be no more than five years from the start of the project's performance period.

  6. The two projects must have a sufficient post-installation performance period for which energy savings or utility demand reduction have been measured. Typically, the post-installation performance period should be one year or more.

  7. The project description must include a clear explanation of the measurement and verification (M&V) methodology that was used, the entity that performed the M&V, and the amount of measured energy and cost savings.

  8. The responses for question 10B(a) 10 and 12 must include the measured energy savings or utility demand reduction, and the energy cost savings, in energy units and in U.S. dollars.

  9. The project description should include other pertinent information regarding project performance, such as utility rebates or rate adjustments, or state tax incentives, if applicable.

  10. Personnel qualifications must be in the form of resumes (question 10D[a]). Resumes should be provided for representative personnel that develop and implement ESPC projects or ECMs. Labor categories or descriptions of the firm’s professional and skilled trade personnel should be provided for question 10D[b]. These resumes and labor categories should demonstrate the applicant firm’s ability to design and implement the ECMs provided for question 10C(a).

  11. Responses of "not applicable" to questions 10E(a), (b), and (c) will be considered incomplete and may delay the qualification review process. Only "yes" or "no" answers will be accepted for 10E(b) and (c).

 

2. Complete two client questionnaires (located at the end of the Supplemental Questionnaire), which include signatures from two project clients.

  • Both questionnaires must be completed and submitted with client signatures as part of the application. These questionnaires should correspond with the two project descriptions identified in the statement of qualifications (question 10B[a]).

3. If you include data in your application that you do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the government except for evaluation purposes, please provide the following information.

  • Prepare a title page marked with the following legend:
    • "This application includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed—in whole or in part—for any purpose other than to evaluate this application. If, however, this firm is selected for placement on the Qualified List as a result of—or in connection with—the submission of this data, the government shall have the right to duplicate or use the data. This restriction does not limit the government’s right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [Insert numbers or other identification sheets];" and
  • Mark each sheet of your data you wish to restrict with the following legend:
    • "Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this application."

DOE reserves the right to determine the confidential status of the information and to treat it accordingly under 10 CFR 1004.11.

4. DOE Qualified List of ESCOs Application documents should be uploaded to the eProject Builder System. eProject Builder is a secure web-based data entry and tracking system for energy savings performance contract (ESPC) projects. eProject Builder standardizes data collection for ESPC projects, and enables ESCOs and their customers to securely:

  • Upload, track, and access ESPC project information for the life of the contract.
  • Quickly generate data for project and portfolio reports.
  • Develop project scenarios using standardized amortization calculations.
  • Benchmark new ESPC projects against historical project data.

An eProject Builder overview is available. More information is available on the eProject Builder Help, Documentation, and Training webpage.

You must request an eProject Builder account to upload your application documents. The eProject Builder (ePB) login webpage is https://eprojectbuilder.lbl.gov/login. Click on the link that states: "New to eProject Builder? Request an Account."

You must upload these five required files:

  1. Standard Form 129
  2. Supplemental questionnaire
  3. Client questionnaire for project #1
  4. Client questionnaire for project #2
  5. Resumes for firm personnel (single file)

You may upload any of these five optional files:

  1. Introductory cover letter
  2. Title page with DOE non-disclosure statement
  3. Supplemental information for project #1
  4. Supplemental information for project #2
  5. Other supplemental documentation for the Qualification Review Board

Project Data Templates

You must input project data into eProject Builder for your two reference projects.

The Project Data Templates are available from the ePB Help webpage. Instructions for the input process are provided in the "Getting Started" guide, included in the Training Documentation section of the webpage. Some project data specific to the ESPC project financing methodology may not be applicable for non-ESPC projects.

Applying for the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs

Evaluation Process

A qualification review board (QRB) evaluates applications for the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs. As per 10 C.F.R. § 436.32(b), on the basis of statements of qualifications received and any other relevant information, the QRB selects firms for inclusion under the following circumstances.

  • The company has provided ESPC services or services that saved energy or reduced utility costs for at least two clients, and the company possesses the appropriate project experience to successfully implement the technologies that it proposes to provide.
  • Previous project clients provide ratings that are fair or better.
  • The company, or any principal of the company, has been neither insolvent nor declared bankruptcy within the last five years.
  • The company, or any principal of the company, is not on the list of parties excluded from procurement programs (in other words, has not been debarred by the federal government) under 48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4.
  • There is no adverse information that warrants the conclusion that the company is not qualified to perform energy savings performance contracting.

Please allow at least three months to complete the evaluation process.

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