Council approves amendment to Department of Water and Power billing contract; total project cost cited at $49 million

The City Council approved an amendment to the Department of Water and Power’s billing-system contract, authorizing an agreement amount of $21,300,000 for vendor work while DWP staff described the total capital expenditure for the project as about $49,000,000 over three years.

Randy Howard, DWP manager for energy rates and contracts, told the council the $21.3 million figure is the contract amount before the council today and that the whole-program capital expenditure—covering department staff, labor, hardware and other implementation costs—totals $49 million. Howard said the city’s legacy billing system dated to 1974 and the department had lost some in-house expertise during earlier downsizing; DWP expects vendor assistance and substantial staff training.

Peggy Misamoto, lead on the DWP project, said training began in 1997 and the contract includes training budgeted with the vendor (identified in the transcript as “Severant Trent Systems”). She said the department planned in-house technical staff to support the proprietary system once deployed and additional training for third-party products used with the system.

Council concerns and vote

Councilmember Holden objected to late circulation of the report and asked for more time; staff explained the matter was time-sensitive because a contract expiration was approaching at the end of the month. After discussion, the council adopted the amendment by a recorded vote of 13 ayes, 1 no.

Details and next steps

DWP staff defended the procurement and training plan and said the amendment is intended to move forward with implementation while maintaining in-house support. The council’s approval allows the department to proceed with the vendor contract portion; DWP will continue implementing training and system rollout activities.