Polar Power, Inc.

B-270536 Mar 18, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Sole source award is unobjectionable where the contracting agency has an urgent requirement for generators and has reasonably determined that there is insufficient time to approve additional sources. Stating that it was awarding a sole source contract to Mechron for 600 2kW alternating current (AC) generator sets and 50 2kW direct current (DC) generator sets for delivery beginning in February 1996 and ending in April of that year. The announcement further provided that the acquisition was "under urgent and compelling circumstances" and that the "time required for approval of new suppliers is such that award and delivery cannot be delayed pending approval of new sources.". The acquisition was supported by a justification and approval (J&A) prepared pursuant to 10 U.S.C. View Decision Matter of: Polar Power, Inc. File: B-270536 Date: March 18, 1996 Sole source award is unobjectionable where the contracting agency has an urgent requirement for generators and has reasonably determined that there is insufficient time to approve additional sources, and the urgency did not arise as the result of a lack of advance planning. Attorneys DECISION Polar Power, Inc. protests the proposed sole source award of a contract for 2 kilowatt (kW) generator sets to Mechron Energy Systems, Ltd. by the Department of the Army. Polar principally alleges that the agency lacks sufficient justification for a sole source procurement. We deny the protest. On November 3, 1995, the agency published an announcement, DAAK01-96-R- 0031, in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD), stating that it was awarding a sole source contract to Mechron for 600 2kW alternating current (AC) generator sets and 50 2kW direct current (DC) generator sets for delivery beginning in February 1996 and ending in April of that year. The announcement further provided that the acquisition was "under urgent and compelling circumstances" and that the "time required for approval of new suppliers is such that award and delivery cannot be delayed pending approval of new sources." The announcement also indicated that the government intended to issue a fully competitive solicitation for additional sets in January 1996. The acquisition was supported by a justification and approval (J&A) prepared pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2304(c)(2) (1994). In 1988 and 1989, the Army began to experience problems with the operational readiness of its field-deployed standard 3kW and less than 3kW (.05kW and 1.5kW) generator sets because they were becoming obsolete and unreliable. In 1989, a contract was let for new 3kW Tactical Quiet Generators (TQG) to replace the standard 3kW units. As reported by the agency, considerable technical difficulties arose during contract performance. In 1990, the agency began a market survey regarding less than 3kW generators to determine if commercially available generators could meet military requirements. Polar Power participated in the survey. The results of the survey were published in November 1991 with the conclusion that commercially available generators could not meet the government's requirements. In March 1992, a draft solicitation was issued for a two-step research and development (R&D) program aimed at designing a 3kW generator capable of meeting the agency's needs; that solicitation was canceled when funding became unavailable. Following the cancellation of funding, the Army sought alternative solutions for obtaining a 2kW generator set which met military standards and could be used for essentially the same applications as the 3kW sets. Based on a survey of domestic engine technology conducted in 1993, which did not include Polar Power, the agency concluded that commercial generator sets that met user requirements were still unavailable. In January 1994, the Army submitted a request to test Mechron generator sets under the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) program since the Canadian National Defense (CND) had previously tested and approved those sets. [1] Approval for testing was granted in October of 1994. The Army procured 12 sets and conducted FCT testing for a 7-month period ending in September 1995. On March 23, 1995, the 1989 3kW TQG contract was terminated for the convenience of the government due to reported technical difficulties. The Army developed another 3kW acquisition strategy using a multi-step R&D approach, which will result in deliveries of 3kW generators beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2000. In February 1995 the Army, through a contractor, surveyed members of the Electrical Generating Systems Association (EGSA), the official trade association for electrical generating systems manufacturers, to determine the commercial availability of generators meeting the military's requirements.