FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC) Application for a Certificate of Public ...

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FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC or the Company)
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Response to British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC or the Commission)
37.0 Reference: Project Description
Response:
Information Request (IR) No. 1
Exhibit No. B-1, Tab 4.0, Section 4.2.1, p. 53
Itron
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 66
37.1 From Exhibit A2-4, it appears the value of the Itron RFP is $21 million. Please
provide a listing of all planned procurement contracts, their dates, and amounts.
If the contract amounts must be kept confidential, then file the response under a
confidential cover.
FortisBC has one procurement contract for the proposed AMI project, with Itron, dated March,
19, 2012 for approximately $21 million.
38.0 Reference: Project Description
Response:
Exhibit B-1, Tab 4.0, Sec. 4.2.1, pp. 53-54
Procurement Process
38.1 Why did the RFP Requirements include the ability to provide meter reading
service for other utilities within the same service area?
FortisBC applied the collaboration objectives outlined in Section 8.2.2 when considering
adjacent utilities:
• Consistent advanced metering benefits available to customers throughout the
province;
• Lowest possible cost;
• Minimized duplicate assets;
• Meet individual utility needs and objectives; and
• Consistent provincial reporting available from utilities.
These objectives resulted in additional RFP requirements (none of which would exclude a
vendor if not met):
a) Back office software ability to scale for higher data throughput (i.e. from more than
simply FortisBC’s AMI meters) without degrading performance (consistent advanced
metering benefits, consistent provincial reporting);