Protest of Proposal Rejection by Department of Energy

In an attempt to clarify a decision made earlier, GAO replied to a protester who objected to the award of a contract to a competitor. The protester objected to the fact that the Department of Energy (DOE) notified a competitor about his contract award protest. Since the competitor was an interested party, DOE was obligated to notify the firm, furnish it with copies of the protest, and provide an opportunity to comment. GAO held that a bidder cannot protest anonymously in order to protect a business relationship with a competitor. The fact that the filing of a bid protest may offend a potential commercial customer does not make the submission proprietary. A bid protest is a challenge to the legality of the expenditure of public funds; GAO will consider the protest on this issue and will not be concerned with other issues raised in the bid protest.