During the Public Utilities Commission technical conference on proceeding 21-0141E, commissioners pressed the company about how it treats bidder red lines, how it identifies backup projects, and whether an option‑payment structure could preserve tier‑2 projects as safe‑harbors for later solicitations.

A commissioner asked if backup bids listed in the JTS report are tied to specific projects or are generic 'like-for-like' backups. The company replied that most tier‑2 backups are generic and available "to fill in gaps wherever they may appear," while two tier‑1 projects were intentionally paired 1:1 with tier‑2 backups because of site‑specific concerns. The company described those two pairings as a "long shot" that would require coordination among multiple independent power producers and the utility.

On bid evaluation and red lines, company witnesses described their approach as negotiation‑oriented: "These are negotiated contracts ... everything is negotiable," and said due diligence provides a qualitative score on how likely a negotiation will reach a mutually agreeable outcome. Company staff said they will notify bidders when an issue is so divergent that it might be a nonstarter, using email to give a "fair warning" that an item is "so egregious and so out of normal business practices" that it may warrant walkaway consideration.

Commissioners also discussed a specific example, bid 134, which the company said was difficult to model because "their bid package stated that their pricing was not firm" and therefore could not be reliably modeled for revenue requirements.

Why it matters: commissioners are weighing whether to advance a set of projects in a compressed timeline while preserving options for later solicitations. The treatment of red lines and the structure of backups affects which projects can proceed quickly and how the commission and company manage developer risk and tax‑credit eligibility.

Provenance: Topic coverage is drawn from the portion of the hearing addressing backup bids, due diligence and the example of bid 134 (topic start: SEG 499; topic finish: SEG 844).