Item - 2025.IE25.4

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorizes the General Manager, Toronto Water, in consultation with the Chief Procurement Officer, to initiate the strategic procurement planning process for the City's advanced metering infrastructure system which will include:

a. retaining an industry expert to develop a detailed implementation and procurement strategy, document requirements and specifications in support of the procurement process; assist in the evaluation of vendor submissions, and serve as contract administrator, system integrator, and program manager following award;

b. collaborating with key City stakeholders, to ensure alignment of needs and responsibilities; and

c. report back to Infrastructure and Environment Committee by the first quarter of 2027 with the strategic procurement and implementation plan, which will include comprehensive Terms of Reference and a detailed Request for Proposal that reflects the full range of technical, operational, and customer service requirements of the new Advanced Metering Infrastructure system, as well as funds necessary to support the implementation.

2. City Council direct the General Manager, Toronto Water, in consultation with the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, Director, Revenue Services, the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and the Chief Technology Officer, to retain an industry expert to assist in:

a. gathering requirements, analyzing options and preparing a recommendation for a new rate-based budget billing system;

b. establishing a governance framework to ensure alignment of needs and responsibilities;

c. developing a detailed implementation and procurement strategy in alignment with the work underway as part of recommendation 1; and

d. reporting back to Infrastructure and Environment Committee by the second quarter of 2026 the resulting recommendation and implementation plan for a new rate-based budget billing system, as well as funds necessary to support the implementation.

In 2015, the City of Toronto modernized its operations with the completion of its Automated Meter Reading system, which enabled automated transmission of water consumption data to support water billing processes. While this system was considered state-of-the-art at the time, industry standards and technology have advanced significantly. The next generation of water metering, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, enables new features and functionality that extend well beyond basic meter reading to support broader strategic business outcomes.

In 2024, Toronto Water engaged an industry expert to assess options for the City's next generation of water metering. The assessment confirmed that the current system no longer meets the evolving customer experience expectations, engineering and operations requirements of Toronto Water, and recommended transitioning to Advanced Metering Infrastructure. The consultant further advised adopting a new approach to managing Advanced Metering Infrastructure assets that takes advantage of the flexibility offered by modular, “plug-and-play” solutions. Unlike the City’s current proprietary Automated Meter Reading system, which limits flexibility and constrains asset management decisions, modern Advanced Metering Infrastructure systems can be tailored to a utility’s needs and managed at the component level rather than a single integrated system.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure offers a range of advantages over the existing system, including real-time or near real-time water consumption data, improved leak detection, enhanced customer consumption management tools, better water demand forecasting, outage detection and alerting, and improved estimated billing logic. A critical enabler of this transition is the replacement of the City’s 26-year-old legacy billing system (WMACS) used for billing water and solid waste rate-based services. Although the need to replace WMACS has been previously identified, no implementation planning is currently underway.

This report outlines the benefits of transitioning to Advanced Metering Infrastructure, identifies the key actions required for successful implementation, and recommends the initiation of the strategic procurement and implementation planning for a new Advanced Metering Infrastructure system and billing system for rate-based services.