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Committee forwards $58.7M appropriation for advanced water meters, seeks local-hire details
Summary
The committee endorsed forwarding a $58,747,600 supplemental appropriation for an Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) program to replace 180,000 water meters; PUC staff described benefits, financing, and workforce targets and pledged to report back on local‑hire and apprenticeship outcomes.
The Budget & Finance Committee voted June 3 to forward to the full Board a supplemental appropriation of $58,747,600 to fund the Public Utilities Commission's Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) project, which would replace or retrofit roughly 180,000 water meters.
Todd Reedstrom, assistant general manager and chief financial officer for the PUC, told the committee the AMI system would provide hourly customer usage data (projecting four reads per day), improve leak detection, increase meter accuracy, and yield monetary benefits over financing of roughly $80 million over a 10‑year period. "Costs about $140 per meter, including the electronic transmitter," he said. Reedstrom said the technology component was about $34 million and installation about $24 million of the appropriation and that financing would be pursued through a 10‑year lease program under a state GSMART-type program.
Budget analyst Mr. Rose outlined the budget-office review, saying the contract and lease financing will return for committee approval; he noted the average monthly impact to a single‑family household would be "20¢ per month" (about $22.40/year under the plan) as estimated on the report's bottom-line analysis.
Supervisors pushed PUC staff for local-hire details. Project manager Heather Lehi said strict technical qualifications for prime contractors meant meter and AMI equipment would be procured from non‑local manufacturers but that local installers would be hired for physical installation work under the PLA and CityBuild coordination. Reedstrom said the installation portion represented about one-third of the contract value and that the team projected 43 craft workers at peak and roughly 60 jobs over the two‑year implementation period; the PLA includes a 20% apprenticeship component.
PUC officials said the system would not enable remote flow restriction (the AMI transmitter battery and transponder lack sufficient power to actuate a valve), but it would allow much faster detection of leaks and the potential to reduce leak allowances and billing write‑offs. PUC staff also said they did not anticipate net layoffs: meter readers would be redeployed to inspection, leak response, and customer service duties.
A single public commenter praised the job aspects of the project. The committee took the motion to forward Item 5 to the full Board without objection; the contract and lease agreements will return later for final approval.
Next steps: the PUC expects to return with the negotiated contract and final financing for committee and Board review in late July or early August; the committee requested follow-up reporting on local-hire and apprenticeship results at contract time.
