Utilities authority approves outage‑management system upgrade to serve electric and water

The Stillwater Utilities Authority on Sept. 8 approved an outage‑management system (OMS) upgrade to replace the city’s aging outage software and add functionality for both electric and water utilities. Staff selected DataVoice International Inc. after an RFP; the contract authorized by trustees totals $405,315 and includes implementation and an ongoing support agreement. Trustees authorized expenditures of up to $228,004 from the electric rate stabilization fund and up to $177,844 from the capital water fund (amounts recorded in the minutes include contingency allocations).

Electric and water staff told trustees the 2012 system had become antiquated, relied on multiple vendors and lacked a single integrated solution for water and electric notification and mapping. The new system will include interactive voice response, two‑way text messaging (opt‑in), crew self‑dispatching, web‑based outage maps for customers, integration with the city’s AMI and SCADA systems, and dashboards accessible at multiple organizational levels. Staff estimated an implementation timeline of three to four months.

Trustees praised the cross‑departmental approach and noted the immediate customer benefits of clearer outage notifications and improved internal visibility. Staff said the selected vendor is used by other utilities in the region, offers 24‑hour support, and maintains ongoing product development. Trustees approved the contract 4‑0.

Staff said the system will allow the utility to notify customers during unplanned outages (text, email, IVR) and for planned outages to provide advance notice, and that the system will better serve water customers where outage detection is less instantaneous than for electric meters. Annual support fees are part of the contract and the vendor may adjust renewal costs in future years; trustees asked staff to monitor recurring costs and performance.