Specifications include, but are not limited to: In this Request for Proposals (the “RFP”), the Renewable Energy Fund (“REF”), a division of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (“The Corporation”), is soliciting a Request for Proposal from a firm or firms qualified to: ● Provide solar leases and/or solar Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”) to low- and moderateincome (“LMI”) homeowners, i.e., households with income less than or equal to 80% of the Area Median Income in Rhode Island, in environmental justice focus areas as defined by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (the “EJ Focus Areas”); 1 ● Receive up to one million ($1,000,000) in elevated incentives from RI Commerce through REF grants (the “Elevated Incentives”); ● Specifically target LMI communities to receive the benefit of solar including by using community-based marketing tactics, either alone or with a partner; ● Within EJ Focus Areas, or based on the EJ Focus Areas state maps, updated as the case may be following the issuance of guidelines by the Inflation Reduction Act’s federal implementation agencies,2 manage a flexible income verification process, following the broad guidelines set in this RFP, and any further guidelines set forth by the REF; ● Receive marketing support from staff and/or consultants of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (“RIOER”) and REF; and ● Over time, work with RIOER and REF to align programs, processes and products with neighboring states to lower solar costs for customers, for instance collaborating on solar workforce development strategies and programs, coordinating and aligning income verification processes, consolidating approaches to paperwork submission and processes, and otherwise helping RIOER develop streamlined programs to benefit LMI solar and Solar + Storage (“S+S”) customers.
