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Home My WebLink AboutC29110 - Agmnt CVWD - Smart Water Meter Proj Contract No. C29110 CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT REQUEST: Authorize the City Manager to Execute the Agreement between the City of Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley Water District for the Smart Water Metering Project. SUBMITTED BY: Mark Greenwood, P.E., Director of Public Works CONTRACTOR: Coachella Valley Water District P.O. Box 1058 Coachella, CA 92236 DATE: June 25, 2009 CONTENTS: Agreement Coachella Valley Water District Board Action Item RECOMMENDATION: By Minute Motion: 1. Approve the agreement between the City of Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley Water District for the Smart Water Metering Project; 2. Approve the City of Palm Desert's Funding of $20,000 for the project; and 3. Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement. Funds are available in General Fund Account No. 110-4614-453-3915, Special Program —Water Conservation. Discussion: The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) approached the City of Palm Desert (City) in mid-2007 regarding a joint participation in a demonstration study that will develop a database and the tools to determine the potential to reduce water and electrical demand Staff Report- Smart Water Metering Study Page2of3 June 25, 2009 during on-peak periods within the City. This study is unique to the western United States, with only one other study being conducted in Florida. CVWD serves as a sub-contractor to The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), which is the prime contractor for this California Energy Commission grant funded research study. The City of Palm Desert's $20,000 contribution will be part of CVWD's matching contribution and will be used for water user incentives and a portion of the general project costs. The agreement between CVWD and ACWA was signed on June 1, 2008. At the May 21, 2008 Landscape Beautification Committee meeting Dave Koller, Conservation Coordinator for CVWD, made a presentation on the Smart Water Metering Project and the committee approved it. However, CVWD did not submit the agreement to the City for Council approval until March 5, 2009. Because of this time delay, staff returned the project to the Landscape Beautification Committee Meeting for a confirmation of support on May 20, 2009. At this meeting, staff was directed not to move the project forward. At the City Council Meeting of June 11, 2009, funding for this project was approved with another agenda item; therefore, staff is now moving the project forward. The project is designed to investigate two hypotheses: 1. Can water customers be enticed, through time-of-water use information and incentives, to shift water consumption out of the electrical utility on- peak period (summer weekdays noon to 6 pm); and 2. If shifts in customer water consumption out of electrical utility on-peak period will result in reduced water agency on-peak electrical demand. The project will study the water use patterns of 100 water customers in the City of Palm Desert from three classes of users: irrigation customers, business customers, and residential customers. These customers will be contacted by letter and invited to participate in the project. There will be a test group that will be aware of the goals of the study and a control group that will know that they are part of the study, but unaware that they are in the control group. Data will be collected through the use of automatic meter read (ARM) meters. This data will be analyzed to determine how much water is used and when. In addition the analysis will identify the types of water use, differentiating between various appliances, sprinkler use, and water leaks. The test group will be able to access their water use patterns on a secure website and they will receive a $25 per month incentive during the summer months, if they shift their water use to non-peak hours. Staff Report— Smart Water Metering Study Page 3 of 3 June 25, 2009 This study will keep the City of Palm Desert on the cutting edge of water and energy conservation as well as meet the City's water conservation and energy reduction goals. Staff is developing a comprehensive landscape water conservation program that will be brought back for City Council's review and approval in September of 2009. The agreement has been reviewed and approved by the City Attorney. Therefore, staff recommends that, by Minute Motion, City Council approve the agreement between the City of Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley Water District for the Smart Water Metering Project, approve the City of Palm Desert's funding of $20,000 for the project; and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement. Fiscal Impact: This is a one-time contribution and there are no continuing maintenance expenses. Funds are available in the General Fund Operating Account 110-4614-453- 3915 Prepared By: Departme t ead: H. pe cer ight Mark Gree wood, P.E. La dsc pe anager Director of Public Works Approval: , G��✓��i � �� Homer Croy Paul S. Gibson ACM for Develo ment Services Director of Finance 1TY COUNCILACTIO�,� APPROVED_..CGt��_+Z DENiED RECEIVED OTHER Jo M. Wohlmuth MEETING DATE • � C' Manager AYES: NOES: � HSK/bg ABSENTr ABSTAIN: �-'Approved Recommendtion �ios. 1 and 3 VERIFIED BY: (Funding approved at the meeting of Ortglnnl on File with City rk's OtTrq June 11, 2009). 4-0 (Relly Absent) Contract No. C29110 COACHELLA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT AND THE CITY OF PALM DESERT SMART WATER METER DEMONSTRATION STUDY AGREEMENT This Agreement is entered into as of , 2009, between the Coachella Valley Water District (District) a special district organized and existing under the laws of the State of California and The City of Palm Desert(City) a municipal corporation. RECITALS The District and the City desire to enter into this agreement for the purpose of conducting a Smart Water Meter Demonstration Study. Now therefore, in consideration of the shared funding responsibilities, the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties agree as follows: A. The purpose of this agreement is to formally document the intention of the District and the City in cooperation with the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), to participate in a Smart Water Meter Demonstration Study. B. The parties desire to help fund and implement a"Smart Water Meter Demonstration Study" with the goal to develop the necessary database and tools to determine the potential to reduce water and electrical demand during on-peak periods within the City. NOW THEREFORE, THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS: 1. District obli ations 1 Contract No. C29110 a. It is understood that the District has entered into an agreement effective June 1, 2008 with ACWA to provide subcontractor services. This Agreement will be subject to, and consistent with, the terms of that agreement and scope of work. b. This study will address smart water meter potential and cost effectiveness for reducing water consumption and peak electrical demands for water agencies in California. This study will provide development and implementation of smart water meters and rates, customer response and impact on water agency on-peak electricity demand. c. The District will work with the City to implement certain aspects of this study, i.e. meter device selection, site selection, customer relations and data gathering. d. A grant from the California Energy Commission will pay a portion of District's costs to conduct this project. The District will also provide match funding in the form of facilities, indirect overhead, and staff time estimated at $60,000. 2. City Obligations a. The City agrees to provide funding for this joint District/City project in the amount of$20,000. b. The City will work with the District to implement certain aspects of this study, i.e. site selection, customer relations and data gathering. 3. General Terms and Conditions a. Termination Any party to this Agreement may terminate its participation in this Agreement by giving not less than(90) calendar days prior written notice of intent to terminate to each of the partners. In such case, termination by one or more of the parties to this Agreement does not alter the terms or obligations of the other parties to this Agreement. 2 Contract No. C2�LQ� IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Smart Water Meter Demonstration Study is duly executed this day of , 2009. Signed and approved by: �-� � � Date: � �� d Steve Robbins General Manager-Chief Engineer Coachella Valley Water District Date: John Wohlmuth City Manager City of Palm Desert 3 � , . CDACHELLA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT BOARD ACTI�N ITEM Subject: Consideration of Project for Approval Date: January 16,2009 To: Board of Directors File: 0022.125 1150.06 Project ID No.: WC0007 Name of Proiect Initiate Field Study Efforts for the Smart Water Metering Reseazch Project Description, Location and Purpose of Pro'� The purpose of this Board actian item is to authorize the Smart Water Metering Reseaxch Project (project),the purchase of materials required for the field stud.y portion of the project, a contract for a website design subcontractor,and an agreement with the City of Palm Desert accepting the City's financial contribution to this research project. The project will be loca#ed within ttxe city of Palm Desert. The project is designed to test two hypotheses: 1) With time-of-use water information and incentives,water customers can be enticed to shift water consumption otzt of the electric utility on-peak period(summer weekdays noon to 6 pm);and 2) Shifts in customer water consumption out of the electric utility on-peak period will result in reduced water agency on-peak electrical demand. On May 13,2008,an informational memorandum was presented to the Board of Directors during the regular Board meeting describing the project. The project is funded chiefly by a grant from the California Energy Commission(CEC),through its Public Interest Energy Research(PIER)program. The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA}is the prime contractor for this project. The District and Water and Energy Consulting of Cameron Park, California, aze the key subcontractors. In December 2008 inquiries were made with the CEC concerning the stability of these grant funds, and whether the funds are at risk during the cunent economic status of the State. We were assured that these PIER funds axe secure and that we should be confident about going forward with the ' proj ect. On July 28,2008,the District signed an agreement with ACWA for this project. A copy of the agreement is attached. This agreement outlines the project goals and tasks and describes the project budget. The agreement shows a total project cost of$479,7b4. Of this, $399,141 will be contributed by PIER and$80,623 will be funded through matching funds. Of the$399,141 grant, $227,936 is budgeted to go to the District. This will cover all but the matching funds contribution . by the District. Page 1 of 4 Name of Project Smart Water Metering Research Project The manner in whicl�these matching funds contributions will be made is as described in this pazagraph. Any and all labor,including markups,expended by the District from June 2008 until September 2008 will be considered in-kind services and the valve,therefore,will be considered matching funds. From October 2008 onward,matching funds wili be made up tk�rough District indirect overhead forgone,un#il the matching funds reqnirement is met. PIER allows for salary, fringe benefits(40%of salary),indirect overhead (50%of salary),and general and adrninistrative overhead(15%of salary). Our agreement with ACWA(the prime contractor)provides that the District will be reimbursed for salary,benefits and general and administrative overhead,but that we vv�ll contribute the indirect overhead as our matching funds. This is how the matching fund total amount of$80,623 was calculated. The District will be required to provide a total matching fund amount of$60,000. Indirect overhead is designated to pay for items such as bnilding office space, building utilities and se�pport staff. In this case,total District indirect overheads costs will be borne by the various other activities of the District with negligible impact on those other activities. The field information gathering portion of the project witl consist of establishing test groups among three classes of domestic water customer within the city of Palm Desert portion of oz,u�service area. Certain customers will be invited,by letter,to participate in the project. There will be 10 irrigation customers, 10 business customers and 30 residential customers in the test group. There will also be 10 irrigation customears, 10 business customers and 30 residential customers in the control group. The test group will be seiec#ed from the customers who respond favorably to the letter inviting participation in the project. The test group will be told of the goal of the project and they will be paid$25 per month for each peak summer month,June 2009 through September 2009,where water use has been shifted to off-peak hours. The cost of these incentives will be no more than$5,000 total. The control group may be aware of the project in general terms,but they will not know that their meter is being used to collect control data. The research plan calls for 100 automatic meter read(AMR)meters to be equipped with advanced metering infrastructure(AMI)technology. This will consist of AMRs being fitted with antennae that can broadcast meter readings up to one miie, an antenna that can collect this data at a central loeation, in our case the District's Palm Desert office,and the computing power to reduce the data to nsable information. There are several quality manufacturers of AMI technology. However,staff recommends sole sourcing this material purchase#o our current AMR vendor,Master Meter. Staff is familiar with ow current product,we have these AMRs in place in many locations,customer service during the design of the system has been excellent and we may be a,ble to garner some post-project value by staying vvith our current vendor's technology. The estimated cost of a1I materials for this project is $47,000. This is fully reimbursed thraugh the PIER grant. The City of Palm Desert is enthusiastic about that City being the host study azea. For the reasons described above,all project metering will be done within one mile of the District's Palm Desert office. The City has offered to contribute$2Q,000 to the project. This contribution will fund the customer incentives as well as a portion of general project costs. Page 2 of 4 • Name of Pro,j_,ect Smart Water Metering Research Project As the study progresses,customers in the study group will be able to review their water consumption data online. The data will allow customers to see how much water was used, and at what time. This data can be very useful in identifying the types of water use, since different appliances or usage such as showers or irrigation show distinct usage patterns over time. This will also help to identify leaks,since these have a constant use over time pattern. Virus W oman,Inc., (Virus Woman)of Los Angeles is the selected web page design subcontractor. Vinzs Woman is a disadvantaged business enterprise recognized by the State of California. Virus Woman will be a subcontractor to District,paid by the District,with all costs fully reimbursed by the PIER grant. The contract with Virus Woman is estimated at$12,000. A Categorical Exemption was prepared for this project per CEQA guidelines and a Notice of Exemption was filed with Riverside County. No fizrther CEQA review is required. Because this project is funded by a CEC PIER grant,and District matching funds consist of indirect overhead foregone,there will be no adverse impact ta the budget as a result of approving this project. Prior Board Authorization on Project None. Staff Recommendation Board authorization far: . Estimated Cost 1. Agreement with Associatian of California Water Agencies to provide subcontractor services and receive grant funding $ (227,936) 2. Project work by District forces A. Direct labor 117,894 B. Fringe benefits(40%of 2. A. direct labor) 47,158 C. Travel � 1,200 3. District matching funds 60,aoa 4. Purchase of automatic meter read from Master Meter 47,000 5. Customer incentives 5,000 6. Award of Consulting Services Agreement to Virus Woman,Inc.,for web page design 12,000 7. Authorize Agreement with the City of Palm Desert accepting contribution to the project (20,000} Subtotal $ 42,316 8. Administrative and general overhead��s��o ofttem 2,A.only) 17,6g4 Total authorized . $ 60,000 Page 3 of 4 Name of P�ect Smart Water Meterin�Researeh Project .r'"�� . Prepareci by: Date: /3��,,+�?�"�` an Farns Director of C)perations Appraved by; Date: � �t� �,j Steve Robbins Creneral Manager-t;hief Bngineer Attachment/as DFlbrdlpatjan 27/smRrt water metering Page 4 of 4