Hamilton to spend $200,000 to hire consultant on best model for water billing

thespec.com
Kevin Werner
Feb. 22, 2022

Hamilton is expected to spend $200,000 to hire a consultant that will help the city transition to a new water billing system after Alectra Utilities Inc. decided last year not to renew its contract with the city.

John Savoia, a senior policy advisor, told members of the Feb. 17 audit, finance and administration committee that the funding will help hire Kaihen Inc. as a consultant for the city's water billing transition project. Staff recommended the sole source procurement of the company for the project.

The company, said staff “provides a unique combination of specialized skills and utility industry experience,” with Durham Region, Peel Region and Toronto Hydro.

Savoia said the consultant will guide the city through the project discovery phase to determine what services are needed, identify best practices and “come up with what models will look like.” The ideal system will be influenced by a series of factors, he said, including “cost and reliability.”

The estimated $200,000 price tag, Savoia acknowledged, is “only” an estimate. An update will be provided to the committee in August. The funding is being taken from a reserve fund.

“We are anxious to engage with Kaihen,” said Savoia. “We are very interested to see what possibilities there are. There are a whole range of models out there.”

The committee also agreed to establish a collaboration agreement with the municipalities of Guelph, Markham and Vaughan, who are also losing the billing services Alectra has been providing them. Savoia said it is expected the other municipalities will contribute funding towards the consultant and possibly in a joint procurement for a new water billing system.

“We have been working with the other municipalities,” said corporate services manager Mike Zegarac.

Hamilton officials have been studying various water billing options after Alectra’s board of directors decided in June 2021 to end its water billing contract with the city by the end of 2024. Hamilton didn’t find out about the decision until August.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger is a member of the board of directors, but recused himself from the decision.

Brian Bentz, president and chief executive officer for Alectra Inc., said during a contentious general issues committee meeting in November the “rationale to continue the (water billing service) really doesn’t exist anymore."

“The benefits to electricity and water billing customers are diminished. There really isn’t a profit. If we were to continue to do this, we would have to incur significant costs and investments,” he said.

Hamilton Hydro Corp. and then Horizon Utilities, prior to the Alectra Utilities merger, provided the water billing service to the city since about 2001. The contract was renewed between Hamilton and Alectra Utilities in 2020 with an expiry date by the end of 2024 at a cost of about $5.6 million.

The utility provides water billing for about 156,000 customers across Alectra’s service area.

The City of Vaughan, through a spokesperson, stated its staff are “reviewing available billing service options including working with other municipalities on a potential solution.”