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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) is currently in the acquisition planning phase for a contractor to manage and operate the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), located in Golden, CO. CMEI is conducting market research to inform a prospective Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals to operate NLR under a Management and Operating (M&O) contract.
Background
NLR is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) primarily funded by CMEI. NLR is presently operated under M&O contract DE-AC36-08GO28308, which will expire September 30, 2028. Included as Attachment A is the current Statement of Work and Performance Goals for the M&O contract. The complete NLR M&O contract can be found at: https://www.NREL.gov/extranet/primecontract.
NLR bridges research with real-world applications to advance energy technologies that lower costs, boost the economy, strengthen security, and ensure abundant energy. To carry this out, NLR currently employs approximately 2,600 scientific, technological, management, and operations personnel at multiple locations, with an annual budget of approximately $1 billion.
Purpose
CMEI is seeking input from interested organizations concerning their capability to manage and operate NLR, and the likelihood they would submit an offer in response to a solicitation for an M&O contract. CMEI also requests industry input on any physical, financial, legal, or technological barriers to full and open competition or other risks CMEI should consider in planning for a possible competition. This market research will assist CMEI with identifying and minimizing barriers to competition, identifying and mitigating risks, and developing the acquisition strategy.
Due to the preliminary stage of this acquisition, a draft Statement of Work (SOW) is provided for informational purposes as Attachment A.
Responses to this notice should include the following information as appropriate and applicable:
1. Business name; business size status (e.g., large, small, 8a, etc.); and a point of contact, including a telephone number and an email address.
2. Identify any major ambiguities, challenges, and risks in performing the scope provided in the attached draft SOW. Based on the draft SOW, identify key information needed to augment and/or address in the subsequent RFP. Define targeted information on current performance challenges that is essential to advise an interested party.
3. Describe any concerns you perceive as barriers or significant risks that would prevent qualified companies from submitting a proposal to the subsequent RFP (e.g., a perceived competitive advantage by one or more other prospective offerors, the incentive structure in M&O contracts, partnering arrangements, etc.).
4. Based on the concerns identified above, describe any suggestions that could help mitigate those perceived barriers or significant risks. Additionally, describe any perceived barriers or significant risks you might perceive as too difficult to reasonably mitigate (if any).
5. This contract will require the management of a significant project management portfolio within CMEI, substantial interface with international partners, and modernization of business and operational systems/processes. Identify any information regarding these challenges and expectations that would be pertinent to provide to interested parties to promote an understanding of the requirements.
6. Describe partnering arrangements (as appropriate) which might facilitate your submission of a proposal or mitigate perceived barriers to formulating a successful proposal.
7. If CMEI decides to issue an RFP for the NLR M&O contract, would your organization be proposing as a prime contractor or as a member of a team/consortium?
8. Are you currently capable of performing the work outlined in the draft SOW? If so, elaborate on why you believe you would be able to complete the work, particularly concerning maintaining and advancing NLR's intellectual and physical capabilities, and leadership in energy innovation.
Request for Information Response Guidelines
All interested parties are invited to submit a response to this RFI. Interested parties are not required to respond to all items. Submissions can include responses to one or all the items above. While there is no specific format required, responses should be no more than fifteen (15) pages with a font no smaller than size 12 and shall not exceed 50MB in size. Submissions in response to this notice do not commit an interested party to submitting a proposal, nor does failure to submit a response preclude an interested party from submitting a proposal.
CMEI will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses.
Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:
• Company/institution name;
• Company/institution contact;
• Contact's position/role, address, phone number, and email address.
The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of the RFI or otherwise pay for the information requested. Responses will be treated as information only and not as a proposal. The Government will not respond to questions submitted by telephone, e-mail or in person at any time.
Submissions will only be accepted through FedConnect. It is imperative that the interested party read and understand how to submit its response using the FedConnect web portal by going to www.fedconnect.net. Questions regarding FedConnect shall be addressed directly to FedConnect in accordance with instructions found on its web site. Submissions in response to this RFI must be submitted and received in their entirety in the FedConnect Response Builder web portal no later than 4:00pm, Mountain Time, Wednesday, April 20, 2026. Responses submitted via hardcopy, email, or the FedConnect Message Center will not be accepted.
If applicable, interested parties must mark each individual page appropriately that they believe contains proprietary information. Marking all pages of the submission is highly discouraged.
CMEI looks forward to engaging with the community, industry, and other interested parties in a transparent and collaborative manner throughout the solicitation process to identify and select a contractor to manage and operate NLR.
Evaluation and Administration by Federal and Non-Federal Personnel
Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 USC 1905. The Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel. The Government may also use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, nondiscretionary administrative activities. The respondents, by submitting their response, consent to CMEI providing their response to non-Federal parties. Non-Federal parties given access to responses must be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to being given access. Submissions may be reviewed by support contractors and private consultants.
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