CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Receive the staff report regarding the implementation of the Water Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project (Item 1 of 5)
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DEPARTMENT: Water Utilities
SUBMITTED BY: Darrell Blenniss, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION
The Public Utilities Advisory Board recommended moving forward with the Water AMI implementation at a special meeting held in August. In addition, the Financial Advisory Board recommended debt issuance as the funding source for Water AMI implementation at its July meeting.
BACKGROUND:
As part of the City's continued commitment to serve our public well, Naperville Water Utilities staff has been preparing to move towards implementation of a wireless water meter reading system. This report and subsequent related agenda items, the compilation of more than a year of interdepartmental efforts, outline the necessary financial, technical, legal, and customer choice actions to successfully implement this program for Naperville's water customers.
Project History and Benefits
On June 18, 2019, City Council directed staff to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for implementation of an automated metering infrastructure (AMI) system for the Water Utility. The RFP was issued following completion of a business case analysis by West Monroe Partners, LLC, which explored the options and feasibility of implementing a new system within the utility. The business case showed that an AMI system had significant customer benefits and a lower total cost of ownership over continuing to read the meters manually.
The Water Utilities have approximately 43,500 water meters, which require monthly reads for billing. For numerous reasons, manual water meter reading is no longer viewed as a sustainable method to obtain water meter reads. This manual process currently generates estimated reads for our customers approximately 25% of the time. In addition, high employee turnover rates and environmental and man-made condit...
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