File #: CONS 16-154   
Section: Consent Status: Passed
Meeting Body: City Council
Agenda Date: 4/5/2016 Final action: 4/5/2016
Subject: Advanced Metering Infrastructure: Authorization for the City Manager to Execute a Contract for the Purchase and Installation of an AMI System
Attachments: 1. Attachment I Resolution with Aclara, 2. Attachment II Resolution with Delta, 3. Attachment III Resolution Modifying Transfer
DATE: April 5, 2016

TO: Mayor and City Council

FROM: Director of Utilities & Environmental Services

SUBJECT
Title
Advanced Metering Infrastructure: Authorization for the City Manager to Execute a Contract for the Purchase and Installation of an AMI System

End
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the City Council adopts the attached resolutions:

1) Authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with Aclara for the purchase and installation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system in an amount not to exceed $3,113,000, and;

2) Authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with Delta Engineering for the purchase of project materials, including water meters, meter transmission units (MTUs), and meter box lids in an amount not to exceed $9,500,000, and;

3) Modifying the $10M transfer for this project from the Water Operating Fund to occur in FY 2016 ($8M) and F Y2017 ($2M).

Body

BACKGROUND

The City receives all of its water supply from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and distributes the water to residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers. Customers are billed for actual water use as measured by water meters, which are manually read on a bimonthly basis. For context, the City has approximately 34,000 customer endpoints (water meters).

Even with safety procedures in place, City meter readers have been prone to injury due to the repetitive nature of the work. Bimonthly meter reading also provides customers with limited and outdated consumption information, which can be inefficient in terms of conservation efforts because customers are unaware of their consumption throughout the bill period; and leaks can go undetected for too long.

In recent years, the use of a technology known as AMI has become more widespread in the water utility industry. AMI enables two-way communication over a fixed network between the utility s...

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