6804 Addendum No 1
Purchasing Department
901-B Texas St.
Denton, TX 76209
(940) 349-7100
www.dentonpurchasing.com
ADDENDUM #1
RFP # 6804
ENERGY TRADING RISK MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Issue Date: February 5, 2019
Response due Date and Time (Central Time):
February 14, 2019, 11:00 A.M. C.S.T
RFP # 6804
ADDENDUM #1
The attached pages are the City’s response to clarification questions
submitted by potential respondents and the City’s confidentiality agreement
for the ETRM project.
NO OTHER CHANGES AT THIS TIME.
Please acknowledge addendum on Attachment F of the
main solicitation document when submitting a proposal.
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
1. We received the referenced RFP and noticed the sentence: “The settlement functionality may
potentially include invoicing, bilateral and ISO/Exchange settlements, or alternatively interfacing
with existing systems that perform those functions, as well as cash application and accruals”
We want to clarify if Denton is looking for stand-alone ETRM software or a complete solution which
includes the back-office/settlements functionality?
Denton’s response:
The short answer is that we want a tool with what is commonly known as “back office” functionality,
and that would include things like settlement and invoicing.
Through experience we have seen that for some vendors this comes as standard, but for others it is
offered as an option at additional cost. For the former type it’s no issue as their offer will include
it. For the latter type however, they need to be sure that the back office option is added. That way
we can be comparing ‘apples to apples’ as the saying goes.
I would add for context that there is a significant difference between wholesale/exchange
settlement in an ETRM and ISO settlement. Typically ETRM systems can and should be able to settle
standard wholesale and Exchange transactions, but will have a more troublesome time with ISO
settlements, where data comes in much small time buckets that vary for both prices and quantities
on a regular basis. We are not requiring an ISO settlement tool to be built in, but we do expect a
reasonable wholesale/Exchange, physical and financial capability to assist/support middle and back
office functions.
2. For questions received for which related to the Confidentiality Agreement:
Denton’s response:
For the purpose of responding to the RFP, the section below is applicable:
1.6 Confidentiality
DME has the expectation that detailed mutual exchanges of information that may be
confidential, commercially sensitive, or are protected intellectual property may need to
occur between Respondent(s) and DME at a future point during product exploration, or
negotiation. For any such confidential information disclosed as part of a response to this
RFP, the City of Denton will keep such information confidential and will not disclose to
third parties to the extent that it is legally permitted. All respondents should be aware that
Denton is required to comply with the Texas Public Information Act (Chapter 552 of the
Texas Government Code) (“TPIA”) when responding to records requests made under the
Act.
The City of Denton has the expectation that it will select a group of semi-finalist from the
RFP respondents and will engage in a deeper examination of the product or service in this
phase. In this deeper examination detailed mutual exchanges of information that is
confidential, of a competitive nature that may reveal cyber system architecture/security
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
features, or may be protected intellectual property may be required between Respondent
and the City Denton.
In anticipation of this, the City of Denton has provided a proposed Confidentiality
Agreement as part of this RFP that Respondent may execute and include with its
response. Respondent my also propose its own Confidentiality Agreement or Non-
Disclosure Agreement for review by the City of Denton’s Legal Department, who will
review and advise the City of its acceptability. If not acceptable, additional negotiations
and changes will occur prior to execution.
The respondent should mark the portions of their response as ‘confidential’ or ‘protected’ and as
described above we will respect that designation.
It also described that there may be an additional phase where a few vendors will have demonstrations
involving additional information where they prefer to have a CA in place. In anticipation of that,
Denton has supplied the attached document as a template with this addendum.
If your company has an existing CA with DME, a new CA will need to be established.
3. What is the physical power scheduling system you currently use to interface with ERCOT to do your
DA/RT trading?
Denton’s response: Currently DME utilizes nMarket as its ERCOT ISO communications interface but
expects to phase out nMarket and utilize OSI as its future ERCOT ISO communications interface with
the successful ETRM system for its QSE scheduling activities with ERCOT.
4. We request that we have an additional one more week to send us our response. Please let us know if
this is possible.
Denton’s response: The RFP submittal deadline will not be extended.
5. In the 6804-4 ETRM Technical Questionnaire spreadsheet, question 42 and 43 refer to “question 69”,
but there are only 43 questions, and 53 rows. Please clarify which question this is referring to.
Denton’s response: References to “question 69” should be replaced with “question 41” (on row 51
of the spreadsheet.
6. Section 1.1 of document 6804-3 outlines roles for 10 unique users. Has DME considered the required
number of concurrent users (ex: 10 unique users but max of “x” in the system at any given time)?
Denton’s response: Six (6) concurrent users
7. Please can you clarify what is expected in response to the SOW? Based on the RFP submission
requirements it states that the document 6408-3 should be reviewed as part of the process. Can you
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
confirm if you are expecting responses to the questions outlined in this document to be included
within the document and returned as part of the response?
Denton’s response:
Responses should include answers to the questions shown in the SOW labeled as 6804-3 ETRM
Software SOW Technical Specifications as well as the technical questions in the document labeled as
6804-4 ETRM Technical Questionnaire. See Question 27 for further detail.
8. In section 1.2 of document 6804-3 one of the front office management functions listed is scheduling.
Please can you clarify if this is referring to gas and/or power scheduling and provide detail of the
scheduling activities you are doing / plan to do that would be in scope of the project?
Denton’s response: See answer to Question 3.
9. Part of the middle office functionality that is requested in section 2.5 of document 6804-3 is around
market data gathering. Please can you elaborate on the market data you are capturing here- for
example is this referring to price data, bids / offers from ERCOT, etc.?
Denton’s response: The market data referred to in section 2.5 described in paragraph 3 includes all
information needed for pricing and trade valuation decisions and includes ERCOT day-Ahead and real
time prices, results of ERCOT congestion auctions (for CRRs), forward and futures price curves for
energy and ancillary services (bids and offers), interest rates, correlations and volatilities.
10. Is there any intent to capture/migrate historical data in the selected system?
Denton’s response: Yes. See answer to Question 18.
11. What are DME’s expectations for participation by their resources during Project Implementation (i.e.
# of FTE’s and their roles)?
Denton’s response: One (1) FTE has been approved for Project Implementation.
12. Are there any blackout periods to be noted pre or post implementation (i.e. Q4)?
Denton’s response: No blackout periods have been identified at this time.
13. What are the business continuity and disaster recovery requirements for the proposed solution
(Target RPO and RTO)?
Denton’s response: DME is only interested in a hosted solution. We are looking for a target RPO of
15 minutes and a target RTO of one (1) hour.
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
14. Most ETRM platforms require significant up-front analysis and planning, followed by continuous
oversight and review by independent business & technology experts, to be successful. With this in
mind, is Denton Municipal Electric (DME) open to response submissions from respondents who are
not "software providers" per se, but "system integrators" (SIs) with deep implementation experience
across a variety of leading ETRM software platforms? These responses will address the project
planning, execution methodology, approach and expertise which such a respondent can provide to
DME, regardless of the ETRM software platform they choose.
Denton’s response: Yes, DME is open to response submissions from respondents who are not “system
integrators”
15. If the ETRM platform's 'Reporting Solution' is unable to fulfill all requirements out of the box, then is
there going to be a ""Reporting Database"" which will be distinct from the ETRM and the Data
Warehouse?
Denton’s response: There are no plans for a separate “Reporting Database”. DME is looking for an
ETRM system that supports its full reporting requirements
If yes, then:
a. Should this be included in the respondent's proposal?
Denton’s response: N/A (see above)
b. Should it contain (possibly redundant) data that might be needed in the Data Warehouse as well?
Denton’s response: N/A (see above)
Asking this question because of multiple references to ""denormalized"" tables for various
activities such as Trade Data, Credit Exposure, Accounting, Invoices et al in the requirements for
the software vendor.
c. Is it correct to assume that this requirement for a "Reporting Solution" is valid only if the ETRM
software supports it out-of-the-box, and it is not required to create another reporting DB in parallel
to the ETRM for reporting?
Denton’s response: N/A (see above)
16. Does DME use a single source vendor for price feeds or do they receive prices from each publication
individually?
Denton’s response: This has not yet been determined. The system should be capable importing prices
from multiple vendors.
17. Methodology: Have DME identified the project execution methodology or are you expecting direction
from the vendor or system integrator (SI)?
Denton’s response: DME has not yet adopted a project execution methodology. As noted in Section
19 of 6804-0 Energy Trading Risk Management Software Main Solicitation, 10% of the Evaluation will
be based on the Respondent’s schedule to complete the project, including the ability to meet required
milestones for completion.
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
18. Data Migration: Please provide the counts and ranges of transactions, books, counterparties, pipelines
(PZL) and other relevant data entities which are expected to be migrated to the new system. Also,
please provide any guidelines or requirements for migration (such as trade history etc.).
Denton’s response: Data migration from existing system will be minimal; about 600 transactions, 12
Books, 17 Counterparties and 1 Pipeline covering mid-2014 to present. However, the ability to upload
data programmatically (with no user intervention) is an important feature DME is looking for (e.g.
several years’ worth of forward prices for multiple time of use periods and ERCOT locations).
19. In case of DME selecting a cloud based ETRM implementation, there will be requirements to integrate
the cloud solution with existing, on-premise decision support tools, applications, database and shared
folders.
a. Is the Implementation Provider expected to design and provision the connection, VPN and
integration routes between the two setups, or will it be handled by DME's own network teams?
Denton’s response: DME’s network team will be the primary contact for designing and
implementing the VPN connection and integration routes. DME will perform the networking
activity on its side of the connection. The vendor will perform the networking implementation
for their side of the connection.
b. If the Implementation Provider is expected to provide these services and include them in the
scope of the RFP; please provide a detailed list of locations, VPN/security requirements,
integration routes (protocols, ports etc.) and any other details which might have an impact on
such design/implementation.
Denton’s response: N/A. DME will provide the VPN services in collaboration with the Vendor.
c. Will there be similar requirements for development and test environments?
Denton’s response: A Dev/Test environment, if required, should meet all the design specifications
of the production system.
20. Does DME IT have guidelines for development and integration technologies? If yes, please share them
with the respondents.
Denton’s response: DME does not have formal guidelines for development and integration
technologies. DME does not have any developers on staff to perform application development or
software integrations. However we follow industry standards and best practices and we are also
subject to various regulatory requirements that could impact design. If there is a specific
development or integration question or concern, please let us know and we will address it.
21. List the number of external systems (Price sources, ISO's, Pipeline, exchanges etc.) that connect to
ETRM or provide current system landscape diagram.
Denton’s response: See diagram below
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
22. Would DME like to utilize a system integrator's (SI) advice and inputs in choosing ETRM products?
Denton’s response: DME is open to considering proposals that utilize a system integrator’s advice and
inputs.
23. The requirements provided with the RFP provide a high level view of DMEs business and technology
landscape. This means that the estimates need to include time for detailed requirements gathering.
Is this a correct assumption, or would DME provide detailed requirements after respondent selection?
Denton’s response: DME will provide detailed requirements after respondent selection as part of its
negotiation of final pricing, terms and conditions.
24. Implementation provider (SI) can only identify the customization/out of box areas after the vendor
product selection is complete, and based on the detailed requirements. Does DME expect a
refinement of estimates and implantation plan after vendor product selection?
Denton’s response: Correct, DME expects a refinement of estimates and implantation plans after
vendor product selection as part of the negotiation of final pricing, terms and conditions.
25. Does DME's Project Steering Committee (or a similar body) have any "guiding principles" for handling
scope changes or schedule interruptions, e.g. prioritize schedule over functionality; or prioritize
functionality over budget, etc.? If so, please share.
Denton’s response: No “guiding principles” for handling scope changes or schedule interruptions have
been adopted at this time.
QUESTIONS RECEIVED FROM PROSPECTIVE RESPONDENTS
RFP 6804 – ETRM SOFTWARE
26. Does DME envision extensive, full team trainings, or a "train the trainer" approach?
Denton’s response: DME prefers a full team training approach.
27. Regarding the submission format for RFP #6804. In the RFP, the outlined submission format does not
include Exhibit 3. Can you please tell us where in the proposal we are supposed to include the answers
to the questions in Exhibit 3?
Denton’s response: Please include your response to the questions in Section 2.9 of Exhibit 3 in a
separate document and clearly label it as “Response to Exhibit 3, Section 2.9 Questions”.