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Louisville Water Company Advanced Metering, Automated Reading
Project Information
- Project Location:
- KY
- Status:
- Completed
- Structure Type:
- Sewage / Water Treatment Plant
Scope Of Work
In 2017, LWC requested Jacobs to assist with competitively procuring an AMI system. Using the Jacobs AMI RFP template that was customized and updated to meet LWC needs, six proposals were received from major metering and AMI manufacturers.
The procurement process began with soliciting technical proposals for qualified firms that met LWC’s minimum requirements. Next, Jacobs assisted in developing a short list of proposals with selection committee members which were invited to present their solution and provide a demonstration of their software packages to LWC.
Jacobs led the question and answer session with each vendor including discussion on system integration with LWC’s CIS, customer portal features and capabilities, and hardware-specific technical questions unique to each proposal. After the interviews, the short-listed firms were provided with fee tables to complete, and cost evaluations were added to the overall scoring. The program team presented to the Board for approval in November 2018. They received approval to move forward with executing a contract after negotiations are complete.
Jacobs performed a cost benefit analysis for automated meter reading (AMR) and AMI for 240,000 endpoints in Jefferson County. We’ve worked with LWC since 2014 to review prior pilot programs and develop business goals and functional requirements to evaluate the range of potential benefit of various technical solutions. By comparing the related costs of each system to the expected benefits, expected financial impacts and rewards were calculated to define the business case. A narrative of the operational impacts was developed to summarize the recommended path forward. Based on this study, we developed a roadmap and path forward for LWC to successfully implement an AMI system for their specific operational environment.
Following the proposal scoring, Jacobs support the negotiations process with the number one ranked vendor and perform startup services and ongoing reporting for the implementation phase of the program.
Negotiations are actively underway and nearing completion. As a result of the negotiations process, we’ve identified over $2 million in possible discounts and savings to LWC. This additional savings is on top of the program coming in under budget compared to the Business Case study. The implementation phase of the project is expected to occur over 22 months at an average rate of 12,500 per month.
During the start of this phase, we’ll be developing the project controls manuals with LWC, and the selected vendor, to detail the procedures that will be used during the project on a day to day basis. It will also include defining the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) associated with reporting successes and issues requiring attention. Jacobs will be assisting the vendor with reviewing joint use lease agreements (JUAs) throughout the service territory that will ultimately become the responsibility of LWC.
