Commercial & Industrial Public Sector Barriers and Opportunities Research
RFP Overview
The Brightline Group, on behalf of ComEd Customer Innovation, is seeking proposal submissions for a two-phase research project related to commercial and industrial (C&I) public sector energy efficiency (EE) and energy efficient electrification (EEE) improvements. The research will help ComEd identify priority public sector customer segments, including government, municipal, public safety, transportation, and cultural institutions. It will also identify opportunities to strengthen engagement with these entities to increase participation in ComEd’s EE Program as they pursue efficiency upgrades and building electrification.
This research should address the following objectives:
- Provide an assessment of ComEd’s C&I public sector to identify customers with the highest achievable potential for cost-effective energy and demand savings.
- Collaborate with ComEd to select 2–3 priority public sector customer segments that will be the focus of the remaining research tasks.
- Assess opportunities to maximize participation and savings through ComEd’s existing offerings applicable to the C&I public sector and identify barriers that may limit adoption or program effectiveness.
- Identify potential new opportunities for ComEd to increase participation and/or savings within the C&I public sector and characterize the associated barriers to implementation or adoption.
- Explore successful C&I public sector offerings outside of Illinois to:
- Understand how public C&I customers are commonly defined in terms of program eligibility and program design,
- Identify and assess new technologies, offerings and program designs
- Assess potential new customers to serve, and
- Evaluate innovative collaboration solutions or braiding/partnership models.
- Quantify the technical and market potential of EE and EEE projects in ComEd’s C&I public sector for select customer segments.
- Develop a foundational understanding of the ComEd current C&I public sector landscape and how it may influence and impact participation and engagement in EE and EEE efforts. This will include, at a minimum:
- Understanding the management and decision-making structure of selected key public sector customer types (e.g., forces influencing maintenance and upgrade decisions, project oversight, vendor selection and contracting).
- Common practices for operation and maintenance, end-of-life equipment replacement, renovations, and major building rehabilitations, as well as how/when EE and EEE considerations and decisions are made.
- State and federal rules’ impact on facility maintenance, operation, and upgrades, especially those related to EE and EEE.
- Financing structures and how energy performance or other constraints could impact projects.
- Available resources, incentives, vendors, and project structures commonly used for system or building upgrades, especially those related to EE and EEE.
- Stakeholder dynamics relevant to facility maintenance, operation, and upgrade decisions.
- For selected key market actor, develop journey map(s) that synthesize learnings about key processes and experiences and outline actionable program design, outreach, and engagement recommendations for ComEd program(s).
Download Materials
Note: The BrightLine Group, E Source, and Swift Strategy team is the Administrator for the ComEd Customer Innovation initiative. BrightLine is the Prime contractor. As BrightLine’s subcontractor, E Source’s primary responsibility is subcontracting to organizations selected to run pilots. Accordingly, E Source, on behalf of BrightLine and ComEd, will hold the contract with the selected vendor. Terms and Conditions for subcontracts are provided by request.
Intent to Bid
If your organization is interested in bidding on this RFP, please email [email protected] by 11:59 pm CT on April 13, 2026, the following:
- Any questions about the RFP or process;
- Whether your organization wants its name released to other vendors to facilitate potential partnerships on this RFP; and
- Your organization’s intent to bid.
In the email subject line, please include 1) your organization’s name, and 2) the title of the RFP. The deadline for submitting an intent to bid is April 13, 2026.
ComEd strongly encourages that interested vendors allow their organization’s name to be released to facilitate potential partnerships on this RFP. Please indicate in your intent to bid whether your organization is interested in having its name released by ComEd for potential partnership on the RFP.
RFP Submissions
Email your proposal to [email protected] by 11:59 p.m. CT on April 27, 2026. In the email subject line, please include 1) your organization’s name, and 2) the title of the RFP.
Submit your proposal by 11:59 p.m. CT on April 27, 2026 to [email protected]
Please be sure to include 1) your organization’s name, and 2) the title of the RFP in the subject line of your email.
RFP Schedule
| RFP issued by BrightLine, on behalf of ComEd | April 6, 2026 |
| Intent to bid due | 11:59 pm CT on April 13, 2026 |
| Deadline to submit questions | 11:59 pm CT on April 13, 2026 |
| Deadline to indicate interest in having the organization name released by ComEd for a potential partnership on the RFP | 11:59 pm CT on April 13, 2026 |
| BrightLine, on behalf of ComEd, releases names of vendors interested in potential partnership on RFP | 11:59 pm CT on April 15, 2026 |
| BrightLine, on behalf of ComEd, posts responses to questions | 11:59 pm CT on April 20, 2026 |
| RFP submissions deadline | 11:59 pm CT on April 27, 2026 |
| Respondents will be notified of the next steps after ComEd and the Customer Innovation Admin Team have reviewed submissions | Week of May 18, 2026 |