Item - 2025.GG26.15

The General Government Committee recommend that:

1. City Council, in accordance with Section 71-11.1.C of the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 71 (Financial Control By-Law), grant authority to the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management to amend Blanket Contract 47025889, issued to EnergyCAP Inc., for the provision of EnergyCAP web hosting and Bill CAPture services, to increase the contract value by $60,000 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($61,056 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), increasing the non-competitive contract value from $1,057,297 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($1,075,905 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries) to $1,763,464 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($1,794,501 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries).

The purpose of this report is to request authority to amend Blanket Contract 47025889, issued to EnergyCAP Inc., for the provision of EnergyCAP web hosting and Bill CAPture services to support the City's utility bill payment process. The total amendment being requested is $60,000 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($61,056 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), increasing the non-competitive contract value from $1,057,297 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($1,075,905 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries) to $1,763,464 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($1,794,501 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries).

This amendment will cover utility bill processing charges through the end of 2025. A new contract with EnergyCAP Inc., for services in 2026-2030 is being procured, following Council's approval of GG24.9 - Review and Renewal of Technology Maintenance Contracts for Sustainment of City Services from 2026-2030.

The EnergyCAP bill processing software is used by City staff to store, analyze, audit, and process approximately 45,000 utility invoices every year, valued at approximately $300 million per year. This includes invoices for all City Divisions as well as three agencies: Toronto Parking Authority, Toronto Transit Commission, and Toronto Public Library. The automation and system integration of EnergyCAP with the City's financial management system minimizes late payment fees, and the software is able to audit all utility expenditures for accuracy. EnergyCAP is also able to support regulatory reporting, City buildings' energy performance tracking, utility budgeting, and financial variance reporting.

Bill CAPture is a module of the EnergyCAP software that uses optical character recognition to extract invoice details and upload the invoices into the EnergyCAP database. Through the upload process, the module automatically audits the invoice data for accuracy, using a series of metrics based on cost and energy consumption patterns. Bill CAPture, in conjunction with EnergyCAP, alerts staff to potential errors on utility bills and minimizes the risk of overcharges.

EnergyCAP and Bill CAPture were instrumental in the City's ability to proactively identify unusual invoicing patterns that led to an avoided potential loss of $2.5 million in 2019. Details of the investigation are detailed in 2025.AU9.10 - Fraud Investigation Involving Multiple City of Toronto Electricity Accounts.

Over the past several years, staff have worked to standardize and centralize the processing of utility invoices. While some invoices were previously managed through EnergyCAP, others were handled manually. Recently, all utility invoices for City Divisions and the three Agencies have been transitioned to a standardized system using EnergyCAP and Bill CAPture.

Additionally, as part of the City's 5-Year Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan, developed in response to provincial regulation, the City is required to report on its total renewable energy generation. This tracking and reporting were previously managed manually by reviewing individual invoices but has now been automated by enrolling these accounts through Bill CAPture. The addition of new renewable energy generation accounts has further increased the volume of data processed through the system.

As Bill CAPture use costs are calculated based on the number of invoices processed and the number of energy accounts enrolled, an amendment is required to enable the continued use of this critical software.