RFI24-63 Utility Billing and Work Order Software

Agency:	Los Alamos County
State:	New Mexico
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	D - Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunication Services
Posted:	Mar 7, 2024
Due:	Mar 28, 2024
Solicitation No:	RFI24-63
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

Closing date March 28, 2024, 02:00 PM

Reference number RFI24-63
Status Open
Summary This solicitation is a Request for Information (“RFI”). The County may utilize the responses received from this RFI to develop specifications and/or scope of services for a future procurement. As part of this RFI, the County also wishes to gauge interest in a future procurement. No award will be made as a result of this RFI.

Responses may be submitted electronically by email, subject to the conditions set forth in the instructions to respondents and in the solicitation documents, will be received until 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time, March 28, 2024, for this solicitation. Emails should be addressed to: lacbid@lacnm.us . Subject line of the email must contain the following information:

RESPONSE – Utility Billing and Work Order Software

Documents may be downloaded from the County website at https://lacnm.com/Bids , or may be obtained from Jaime Kephart at the Procurement office at:

Los Alamos County

Procurement Division

101 Camino Entrada, Bldg. 3

Los Alamos, NM 87544

(505) 709-5503

jaime.kephart@lacnm.us

Office Hours are 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday.

No Proposal may be withdrawn after the scheduled closing time for receipt of proposals.

All forms of bribes, gratuities, and kickbacks are prohibited by state law.

Contact details

Jaime Kephart

505.709.5503

jaime.kephart@lacnm.us

Related Information

RFI24-63 Solicitation Documents (PDF, 279KB)

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LOS ALAMOS COUNTY

PROCUREMENT DIVISION

101 Camino Entrada, Building 3, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544

(505) 709-5503

Advertised: March 7, 2024

Closing Date: March 28, 2024

Request for Information (“RFI”)

RFI Number: 24-63

RFI Name: Utility Billing and Work Order Software

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. This solicitation is a Request for Information (“RFI”). The County may utilize the responses received from

this RFI to develop specifications and/or scope of services for a future procurement. As part of this RFI,

the County also wishes to gauge interest in a future procurement. No award will be made as a result

of this RFI.

2. The following terms may be used interchangeably throughout:

a. “Respondent,” “You/Your”

b. “System,” “Software,” “Solution”

3. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Emails should be addressed to: lacbid@lacnm.us. Subject line must

contain the following information: RESPONSE – RFI24-63 Utility Billing and Work Order Software.

It is strongly recommended that a second, follow up email (without the submission included or attached)

be sent to Jaime Kephart, Senior Buyer, at jaime.kephart@lacnm.us to confirm the submission was

received.

The body of the email must contain enough information for the identity of the Responder to be clear,

including company name, name of person sending the email, and contact information including email

address and phone number.

Only emails with submissions received in the lacbid@lacnm.us email box prior to 2:00 p.m. Mountain

Time, March 28, 2024 will be reviewed.

Submissions submitted by email will be opened only after the closing date and time stated in the

solicitation document.

4. The Incorporated County of Los Alamos (“County”) invites submissions from all qualified Responders.

No submission may be withdrawn after the scheduled closing time. Submissions will not be accepted

after the scheduled closing time. Please make note of the submittal requirements outlined in this

solicitation. Read and follow the instructions carefully. Include the required documents provided in

this RFI as part of your submittal packet. Any misinterpretation or failure to comply with the submittal

requirements could result in rejection of the submission. Submission preparation is at the Responder’s

expense.

5. Any change(s) to the solicitation will be conveyed through the written addenda process. Read carefully

and follow all instructions provided on any addendum, as well as the instructions provided in the original

solicitation.

6. Any questions must be received in writing at least five (5) days prior to the date fixed for when submissions

are due.

7. County reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to accept or reject any responses; to waive any and all

irregularities in any or all statements or responses; to request additional information from any or all

respondents.

The County of Los Alamos is an Equal Opportunity Employer

8. Solicitations are Public Records. Pursuant to the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, NMSA

1978, Chapter 14, Article 2, all materials submitted under this RFI shall be presumed and considered

public records. Except to the extent any information may be protected by state or federal law,

submissions shall be considered public documents and available for review and copying by the public.

CONTACT INFORMATION

To request documents, submit written questions, or request procurement process or project specific

information, contact the following and include all contacts listed on all correspondence sent via e-mail.

1. Jaime Kephart, Contract Manager, at jaime.kephart@lacnm.us or (505)709-5503

2. Karen Kendall, Deputy Utility Manager for Finance and Administration and Project Manager for this

solicitation, karen.kendall@lacnm.us.

3. As an additional courtesy to interested parties, this RFI and related documents may also be

downloaded from the County’s website at the following address: https://lacnm.com/bids

NEED STATEMENT

The Incorporated County of Los Alamos (“County”) Department of Public Utilities (“DPU”) is seeking

information from qualified service providers who provide fully hosted utility billing and work order software

solutions. Desired services may include, but are not limited to, utility billing for electric, gas, water and

sewer services; work order system for DPU field crew related to outages, meter change outs, meter

testing, temporary service disconnections, meter reading validation, leak determination, etc. System

should include utility bill generation and cashiering functions.

The County would like more information to develop a Scope of Work prior to proceeding with a

possible future procurement.

BACKGROUND

1. General County Background Information. The County is situated at the foot of the Jemez

Mountains on the Pajarito Plateau with an elevation ranging from 6,200 feet to 9,200 feet. Two

distinct communities, Los Alamos Town site and White Rock, each with its own visitor center, are

home to ~18,000 people. Los Alamos is mostly known for the historic accomplishments of its

largest employer, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and continues to gain notice for its vast scenic

assets and recreational opportunities. Visit the Los Alamos County website (www.losalamosnm.us)

and the tourism website (www.visit.losalamos.com) for more information.

2. About the DPU and Current Billing and Work Order Processes.

a. DPU is a department within the County providing citizens with electric, gas, water and

sewer services. The County processes approximately 9,000 utility bills (an approximate

average of 8,100 printed bills and 900 electronic bills) monthly on a four (4) cycle billing

schedule for electric, gas, water, sewer and refuse services. All services are included on

one (1) monthly billing statement. The County currently utilizes the Tyler Munis Enterprise

Resource Planning (“ERP”) system for its utility billing, uses the Master’s Touch for utility

bill printing and mailing, and uses Paymentus for credit card or electronic bill payments

received from customers in person or via the web. Customers can also mail or drop off

payments to Enterprise Bank.

b. Work orders are used to communicate with DPU’s Electric Distribution, Gas/Water/Sewer

field crews, and Meter Readers about meters, outages, disconnections, reconnections,

meter change outs, new and old customer (move in/move out) locations and re-reads for

billing or customer questions.

RFI No. 24-63

Issued by Procurement Division: J. Kephart

SCOPE OF RESPONSE

1. Abilities and Functionality.

a. Provide a product overview of the solutions and tools your company offers to meet the

County’s Needs Statement above, address in detail your ability to provide the following

solutions, tools, and services and describe specifically how your solution provides the

following needs:

i. A robust, fully-hosted, billing system that accommodates multiple rate classes

and includes advanced rate structures, including but not limited to the

following:

1. Electric time-of-use,

2. Electric residential demand,

3. Electric net metering for solar customers,

4. Street and area lighting,

5. Water tiered (seasonal and time of day) rates,

6. Effluent,

7. Sewer – winter average calculation for non-residential and flat rates

for residential,

8. Gas – monthly variable rates, and

9. Budget Billing capability.

ii. Utility bill generation and cashiering functions.

iii. Reporting capabilities with both standard out-of-the box reports and ad hoc

reports.

iv. Tools for accounts receivables and collections.

v. A work order system for DPU field crew related to outages, meter change outs,

meter testing, temporary service disconnections, meter reading validation,

leak determination, etc. A work order system that includes, but is not limited to

the following, abilities and functionality:

1. Work order system ties to the billing system for meter maintenance,

meter change outs, meter disconnects, and new customers.

2. Work order system provides methods for full communication to field

crews to correct and inquire about sewer issues; electric, gas, and

water meter issues; meter irregularity and install issues; meter re-

reads; leaks; valve issues; Advanced Meter Infrastructure (“AMI”)

maintenance and issues; area lighting issues; and needs for tree

trimming around utility assets and facilities.

b. Software Feature and Functionality Matrix. Provide a product or software feature

and functionality matrix or list that provides, in detail, all the abilities and functionality

of each tool, module, app, etc. you offer to meet the County’s needs. If you offer other

optional tools and products you think may also be of interest to the County, please

provide a product or software feature and functionality matrix or list for those as well.

2. Integrations. Describe if and how your solution can integrate with the County’s following

current systems:

a. Integration with County’s current Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) system which

is Tyler Munis such as daily upload files for detailed general ledger data relating to

RFI No. 24-63

Issued by Procurement Division: J. Kephart

Utility billing. County’s current version of Munis is 2021.9, but may be updated to at

least 2021.12 prior to completion of a possible future procurement.

b. The County collects meter usage data via Sensus Smart Meters. The billing solution

should ideally include customer portals for access to meter data, billing data, leak

notifications and bill payment options. Describe specifically how your system could

integrate with Sensus Analytics.

c. The County uses a smartphone-based manual reading app (“SPMR”), which is an

application for smart phones, or similar devices to record utility meter data and to

communicate such data to its remote server. Describe specifically how your solution

could integrate with SPMR for limited, manual meter reading?

d. The County uses the Master’s Touch for utility bill printing and mailing services. The

billing system must produce a PDF version of bills per read cycle that can be exported.

The County then submits the PDF files by cycle to the Master’s Touch. Describe

specifically how your solution could produce these files.

e. The County uses Paymentus for credit card and electronic bill payments received from

customers in person or via the web. Please describe your process for

receiving/importing payment data. Currently, the file is in notepad text file. Please

provide the upload/import data structure you use.

f. Customers can either mail or drop off payment to Enterprise Bank. The bank produces

a notepad text file to upload the payment data. Please describe your process for

receiving/importing payment data. Please provide the upload/import data structure you

use. Single Sign On (“SSO”) integration with County’s Azure Active Directory.

g. Describe any other helpful integrations offered or commonly requested by customers

and provided by respondents.

3. Pricing and Costs.

a. The County desires to and may contract for up to fifteen years for software. If your firm

chose to respond to a future RFP or other type of procurement describe your ability to

provide pricing for and contract for a multi-term agreement up to fifteen years and

describe any concerns or challenges with being able to provide pricing and contract for

that length of time.

b. In order to provide pricing and costs in response to an RFP or other type of

procurement, what kind of detail and background information might you require from

the County if you chose to propose to a future RFP or other type of procurement? If

you have an intake or new customer questionnaire you typically provide, please attach

it to your response to this RFI.

c. Provide a typical cost for initial product implementation.

d. Describe a typical pricing format for your services. Provide a rough order of magnitude

or a range of typical annual costs based on your most basic service vs. a more all-

inclusive package of products and services.

4. Implementation and Training. Describe your implementation and training process and

timeline for new customers and whether your company provides the following implementation

and training services:

a. Assigned Account Manager or Client Success Manager,

RFI No. 24-63

Issued by Procurement Division: J. Kephart

b. Initial training during implementation,

c. On-going training program with, live, virtual, or on-demand training,

d. In-app product walkthroughs, or

e. User conferences or meetups.

5. Security Policies and Questions. Provide a copy of your security policies and answer the

following questions related to security.

a. Do you maintain operations within the continental United States and where would our

data be stored? Where are your datacenters located?

b. Do you use encryption in-transit and at-rest?

c. How often and where do you back up data?

d. Who owns the data in your system?

e. Which cloud provider do you use?

f. Do you offer a production environment separate from your development/testing/staging

environment?

6. County Technology Standards. In response to a future RFP or other type of procurement,

Offerors would be asked to affirm their ability to conform to the County’s Applicable Technology

Standards, which are included in this RFI as Exhibit B, and describe how they conform to the

applicable standard. For this RFI, please briefly respond to the applicable standards. County

wishes to identify any areas where potential Offerors for a future RFP or other type of

procurement may have concerns about providing the information and details requested in the

County’s Technology Standards. Respondents are asked to also review the standards, identify

any provisions that may be problematic in an proposal, and describe why they might be

problematic.

7. County Technology Questionnaire. To the extent possible, please briefly respond to the

questions found in the County’s Technology Questionnaire found in Exhibit C. If Respondents

are unable to respond to any question, please describe why the question may be problematic.

8. Contract Terms and Conditions. In response to a future RFP or other type of procurement,

Offerors would be expected to enter into an agreement with the County using a sample services

agreement, with the County’s standard terms and conditions, which would be provided to

offerors at that time. For this RFI, Respondents are asked to include a link to or attach a copy

of any of their own master services agreement or terms and conditions the County might be

asked to consider if your firm chose to respond to a future RFP or other type of procurement.

9. Service Level Agreement. Provide a copy of your Service Level Agreement and describe your

support features and processes for both customers and bidders/suppliers.

10. Software Development and Updates. Describe your software development and update

lifecycle and process.

11. User Account Management. Describe user account management.

a. Include whether your company offers single sign-on authentication to allow customers

to authenticate to the software using their agency identity provider.

RFI No. 24-63

Issued by Procurement Division: J. Kephart

This is the opportunity summary page. You are currently viewing an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation. For more information, please visit the Publication URL Web page.

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RFI24-63 Utility Billing and Work Order Software

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