CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Approve the award of Cooperative Procurement 25-217, Electric Gatekeepers, to Wesco Distribution for an amount not to exceed $136,140
body
DEPARTMENT: Electric Utility
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Groth, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The City of Naperville- Electric Utility (Utility) deployed smart meters and gatekeepers as a part of its AMI deployment in 2011.
Gatekeepers are field devices that remotely collect 15-minute voltage data, real-time consumption data, and real time outage notifications from installed meters and transmit this information back to the Utility ’s two datacenters for use in various utility processes including billing, conservation voltage reduction and outage detection. During the initial smart grid roll out, the Utility had installed approximately 125 gatekeepers to cover its entire service territory. Each year, the Utility staff performs an AMI communication evaluation and optimizes the system. These annual evaluations have allowed the Utility to reduce the number of gatekeepers deployed to 90.
DISCUSSION:
While still functional, the existing gatekeeper system has become end of life and the Utility has planned a several year project, as part of its CIP, to replace these 90 devices with modern gatekeepers. While upgrading the gatekeepers, the Utility will be removing its Tropos Wi-Fi backhaul network and moving to secure cellular service for data transmission where necessary. This migration reduces the equipment in the field and thus reduces Utility’s cost to maintain its AMI system. Additionally, the new model gatekeepers have improved outage management capabilities providing the Electric Control Room more accurate outage data to respond to customer outages. Due to supply chain issues, the current lead times have increased to 36 weeks to acquire new gatekeepers.
Staff has identified an approved cooperative contract, Sourcewell Cooperative Contract
091422WES through Wesco Distribution, for the procurement of the meters and
gatekeepers. The gatekeepers will be delivered by March 31, 2026, this date is approximately 36 weeks from the date of order.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP#: EU022
The requested award will be charged to the Infrastructure account number listed below. The 2025 Budget includes $1,160,000 for the completion of this project. The award amount is $136,140, which is favorable to budget.
|
Account Number |
Fund Description |
Total Budget Amount |
|
40251300-551502 |
Electric Utility Fund |
$27,261,400.00 |