REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
(RFP)
Professional Services for
2026 AMI Customer Facing Portal
Issue Date: April 13, 2026
Proposals Due Before 2:00 PM PDT on
May 11, 2026
Santa Fe Irrigation District
5920 Linea del Cielo
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92057
I.
INTRODUCTION
The Santa Fe Irrigation District (District) is seeking proposals from qualified firms (firm)
for a new Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) customer & utility facing portal (Portal).
This Portal will be utilized by District customers to view, track, and estimate their billing(s)
for their potable water use & for the District to track water use information.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) describes the project, the required scope of services,
the consultant selection process, and the minimum information that must be included in
the proposal. Failure to submit information in accordance with the RFP requirements and
procedures may be cause for disqualification. The District reserves the right to waive
minor proposal deviations or omissions at its sole discretion.
II.
GENERAL INFORMATION
There is no express or implied obligation for the District to reimburse responding firms for
any expenses incurred in preparing proposals in response to this request. Materials
submitted by respondents are subject to public inspection under the California Public
Records Act (Government Code Sec. 6250 et seq.), unless exempt.
The District reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and to use any ideas in a
proposal regardless of whether the proposer is selected. Submission of a proposal
indicates acceptance by the firm of the conditions contained in this Request for Proposals,
unless clearly and specifically noted in the proposal submitted and confirmed in the
contract between the District and the firm selected.
Interested parties may obtain additional information about the AMI program on the
District’s website: www.sfidwater.org.
III.
DISTRICT & AMI BACKGROUND
The District was formed in 1923 and supplies water to approximately 19,600 customers
via 7,000 meters on 10,300 acres of land in northern San Diego County through
approximately 170 miles of pipeline. The District’s service area comprises the City of
Solana Beach and the communities of Fairbanks Ranch and Rancho Santa Fe. The
population of Solana Beach is denser than the inland communities and, therefore, the per
capita use is lower. Fairbanks Ranch and Rancho Santa Fe are larger inland warmer
temperature zones with larger irrigation users.
The AMI program was one of the most significant capital improvement programs for the
District, as it provided enhanced tools for both District and customer use. With an
increased emphasis on water conservation in California, the AMI system provides greater
information to the customer to track their water consumption, including their ability to
determine leaks and adjust consumption patterns, among others. Additionally, the AMI
2026 AMI Customer Facing Portal – RFP
SFID
April 2026
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system enables the District to be able to read meters more efficiently, safely, and timely,
in addition to the ability to monitor water use for better planning purposes.
In June 2016, the District Board of Directors (Board) approved the implementation of a
six phase program to replace the District’s approximately 7,500 manual read meters with
a fixed base automated metering system. The Board also approved a sole source
purchase and installation utilizing Sensus equipment. Aqua Metric is the authorized
vendor for Sensus equipment in the area and was responsible for primary installation of
meters and other equipment. The sixth and final phase of the AMI program was completed
in July 2021.
IV.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The District currently employs the standard Sensus customer-facing portal for its
ratepayers use. Additionally, District Staff also utilizes the standard Sensus utility-facing
portal for AMI maintenance information reports. The District is seeking to replace the
customer-facing portion and supplement the utility-facing portion through information
reporting / analytics functions from the most qualified firm.
The most qualified firm will be awarded a two-year (2) contract, with three (3) one-
year renewal options at the District’s discretion.
V.
PRE-SUBMITTAL ACTIVITIES
All communications relating to the RFP should be directed to:
Mackenzie Christie, Management Analyst
mchristie@sfidwater.org
There will be no pre-proposal meeting for this project. Please address all questions
relating to the RFP and any requests for a demonstration of the current standard Sensus
platform to Mackenzie Christie by April 23, 2026.
1. Due Date and Delivery
Electronic proposals marked “Request for Proposals for the “2026 AMI Customer Facing
Portal Proposal” must be sent to Mackenzie Christie via email to mchristie@sfidwater.org:
Time:
2:00 p.m. PDT
Date:
Wednesday, May 11, 2026
Proposals received after this time will not be accepted. Faxed and hardcopy proposals
will not be accepted.
2. Questions Concerning Proposals
Requests for interpretation, clarification and/or explanation regarding any aspect of this
RFP must be received in writing by District no later than 2:00 P.M. PDT, Pacific Daylight
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April 2026
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Time (PDT), Wednesday, April 23, 2026. Questions must be sent to the attention of
Mackenzie Christie, Management Analyst, via e-mail to mchristie@sfidwater.org.
Questions submitted via e-mail shall contain the following title in the Subject line: 2026
AMI Customer Facing Portal - RFP Question.
Questions will not be accepted by telephone. Any questions received after this date may
not receive a response. All responses to questions will be sent to all Proposers.
3. Project Schedule
The solicitation, receipt and evaluation of proposals and the selection of the provider of
Professional Services will correspond to the following schedule:
Release of RFP
April 13, 2026
Question Deadline
April 23, 2026
Proposal(s) Due Date
May 11, 2026
Short List Candidates notified
Online Portal demonstration to
District Staff – Short List Candidates
Best & Final Offer with Short List
candidates
Admin & Finance Committee Portal
Presentation & Contract Review
Board of Directors Portal
Presentation & Contract Approval
AMI portal integration begins
May 13, 2026
May 18, 2026
May 21, 2026
June 9, 2026
June 18, 2026
July 1 2026
*(Note: dates are subject to change)
VI. SCOPE OF WORK
Santa Fe Irrigation District (SFID) is seeking a fully cloud-hosted Advanced Metering
Infrastructure (AMI) Customer Portal that delivers near real-time water usage visibility, automated
leak detection, predictive bill forecasting, customer engagement tools, and robust utility analytics.
The system must integrate with SFID's existing ERP, AMI, billing, and communication systems
and begin work on implementation July 2026.
1. REQUIRED ITEMS (30% WEIGHT)
The proposed solution must meet these baseline requirements. Vendors must respond to each
item. Pricing for these items must be included in the Base Price.
1. Platform & Access: 100% cloud-hosted platform providing a web-based portal and
dedicated mobile apps for both iOS and Android.
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2. User Experience: Must provide a clean visual dashboard that is interactive, informative,
intuitive, and high engagement. Dashboards must be user friendly letting users track,
analyze, and manage water use with near real-time visibility.
3. Data Ingestion: Direct linkage of each account to actual AMI consumption data (ingestion
of hourly or sub-hourly intervals).
4. Usage & Visibility: View usage across hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and
annual intervals.
• Migration of all customer accounts and a minimum of three years of historical
consumption data.
• Display data in gallons, cubic feet, or hundred cubic feet.
5. Leak Detection: Detection of continuous flow, nighttime anomalies, and irrigation-related
leaks with configurable customer thresholds.
6. Customer Notifications: Automated, preference-based multi-channel communications
(SMS, email, push notifications, and in-portal messaging).
7. Security: Documented policies for data security, breach response, and disaster recovery.
8. Administrative Access: Role-based access control for District staff with robust account
management tools.
2. REQUESTED / OPTIONAL ITEMS (20% WEIGHT)
Vendors must provide confirmation of these capabilities. Please specify if these are included in
the base price or provide a separate pricing add-on for each.
1. Auto-Account Creation: Automatic account creation for all existing customers in addition
to the ability to create new accounts as the District signs up / transitions customers at
established addresses.
2. Advanced Analytics: Use of artificial intelligence in leak detection and notifications.
Examples would include dynamic analysis of historical water use combined with current
localized weather to aid in determining if their use if weather based or if a leak is the
suspected issue”. Other areas of AI integration for analysis and insight would be
preferred, including bill prediction.
3. Weather Integration: View temperature and rainfall overlays (specify which weather
zones/services are available).
4. Vendor Support: Vendor-managed toll-free number for customer login, account creation,
and general troubleshooting.
5. Advanced Bill Prediction (Potable Water Cycles): ability to show customers charges-to-
date based on water use up to the point of their accessing their portal, in addition to
estimated bill at end of current cycle (~60-day billing cycle). Modeling for projected bill
outcomes must accommodate the District’s specific bi-monthly billing structure:
a. Four Equal Billing Cycles: Approximately 6,400 customers split into four cycles.
b. Bi-Monthly Cadence: Reads and bills generated every two months.
i.
Cycle Timing:
• Cycle 1: Month 1, 1st of month.
• Cycle 3: Month 1, 15th of month.
• Cycle 5: Month 2, 1st of month.
• Cycle 7: Month 2, 15th of month.
* Flexibility: Predictions must accommodate floating open/close dates for weekends and
holidays.
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This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
