Title
Approval of Amendment No. 1 to Services Agreement No. AGR20-912 with SmartPhone Meter Reading, L.L.C. in the amount of $25,512.90, for the Purpose of adding a second seat to the SPMR WEB licensing for the Smart Phone Meter Reading System, plus approval of additional funding for the ten percent escalator enumerated in the agreement but not included in the funding total previously approved, for a revised base contract total of $94,713.64 plus a contingency in the amount of $10,488.00 for a revised project total of $105,201.64, plus Applicable Gross Receipts Tax.
Recommended Action
I move that the Board of Public Utilities approve Amendment No. 1 to Services Agreement No. AGR20-912 with SmartPhone Meter Reading, L.L.C. in the amount of $25,512.90 for the purpose of adding a second seat to the SPMR WEB licensing for the Smart Phone Meter Reading System, plus approve additional funding for the ten percent annual escalator enumerated in the agreement but not included in the funding total previously approved, for a revised base contract total of $94,713.64 plus a contingency in the amount of $10,488.00 for a revised project total of $105,201.64, plus applicable gross receipts tax.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board approve as presented.
Body
In September 2019 DPU launched the Smart Phone Meter Reading application to replace the old Datamatic hand held devices and meter reading system. While implementation has gone smoothly and the expected benefits are being realized, staff has realized that the billing team needs regular access to the system to upload or verify route changes or schedules and verify reads. With current licensing only one person can be in the system at a time, meaning if the meter readers are in the system downloading their routes for the day or performing other activities, billing staff must wait to perform their functions. This requires coordination and other delays, occasionally exacerbated if the meter readers are all in the field when Billing needs access to the system. Addition of one license will allow both to be in the system at the same time and will facilitate efficient operations and timely billing.
It was also noted during review of this item that funding for the ten percent escalator included in the agreement was not included in the previous approval. Approval of that funding is included in the recommended motion as well.
Alternatives
The Board could elect not to approve the proposed amendment in which case staff would have to continue to coordinate between billing staff and metering staff and billing errors or delays may result.
Fiscal and Staff Impact
Staff impact is to facilitate efficiency in operations and coordination between the billing staff and the meter reading staff and avoid delays in billing. Fiscal impact is $25,512.90 over the life of the contract if all renewals are taken, assuming the maximum allowed escalation of costs each year.
Attachments
A - AGR20-912-A1 Smartphone Meter reading_SPMR_FINAL 12-10-2019