CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Sole Source Procurement 24-033, Smartworks MDMS Renewal, to Harris Computer Systems for an amount not to exceed $113,285.80, and for a one-year term
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DEPARTMENT: Electric Utility
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Groth, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The Naperville Electric Utility (Utility) uses meter data management system (MDMS) software for smart meter data. Originally approved by the City Council in December 2010, the MDMS has been a critical piece of the Naperville Smart Grid initiative since its deployment in 2012. The MDMS software, SmartWorks, manages smart meter data and provides billing information to the Customer Information System so customers can be billed for their electric consumption.
The Smartworks MDMS solution provides a repository for meter data and supports the following functions:
1. Provides electric consumption information to the City’s Utility billing system and Empower customer portal.
2. Maintains meter to transformer to substation feeder relationships for use by the Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) program.
3. Performs electric vehicle consumption and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) analysis to determine impacts as well as opportunities for reconfiguration on the Utility’s system.
DISCUSSION:
The Utility leverages the SmartWorks software maintenance agreement to receive MDMS security patches and software upgrades as well as access to Harris’s technical support team to troubleshoot issues.
The 2024 software maintenance agreement cost of $113,285.80 is a 10% increase over the 2023 cost of $103,099.80. This is due to the addition of the electric vehicle and photovoltaic SmartWorks machine learning module and the annual inflationary increase.
Staff has identified this purchase as a Sole Source because the SmartWorks software is the proprietary intellectual property of Harris Computer Systems, which is the only company capable of providing support, licensing, and the services associated with the maintenance of SmartWorks software. A Sole Source letter from the software developer is attached.
If the SmartWorks software maintenance agreement is not renewed, the Utility would not be able to receive upgrades and technical support when system issues arise. This would negatively impact billing, Utility savings from CVR, and the Utility’s Empower portal; which would not be in the best long-term financial, or customer service, interests of the City.
Due to the evolving environment of the MDMS, the Utility requests to contract for one, one-year term from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 to ensure that only the programs that are essential are carried from year to year.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP#: N/A
The SmartWorks MDMS renewal is budgeted in the Software and Hardware Maintenance accounts listed below. The Electric Utility budgeted $93,500 for the renewal of this service in 2024. Additionally, the Water Utility budgeted $20,000 for renewal in 2024. The 2024 SmartWorks MDMS renewal is within the budgeted amount for this expense.
|
Account Number |
Fund Description |
Total Budget Amount |
|
40331300-531312 |
Electric Utility Fund |
$1,544,691 |
|
41101500-531312 |
Water Utility Fund |
$164,043 |