Alternative Metering Services

Description

As part of Southern Water’s AMP8 (2025-2030) delivery programme, we aim to reduce overall demand for water, by cutting leakage by 13% and helping our customers become even more efficient by installing more than 1 million smart meters. The successful bidder would manage the overall service provision as a prime contractor, including the supply and ownership of Smart meters and associated devices, installation of those Smart meters, connecting them to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) network, maintaining a service to provide Southern Water with at least hourly meter reading data every day and procured as an end to end financed solution. The successful bidder would own the meter assets, with Southern Water paying service fees over the term. Southern Water has a high percentage of metered customers (88%) through our pioneering Universal Metering Programme. By 2030, the successful bidder would upgrade our household meter estate of ~934k household meters, and 52k non-household meters, to Smart AMI enabled meters, incorporated into the service. The successful bidder would also install 34k new AMI enabled meters to currently unmetered customers. We expect a mix of standard, non-standard, and complex work types that will be managed through this arrangement. Lot 1: The successful bidder will operate across Southern Water’s supply area, for household and non-household premises. In total, the number of Smart meter assets in the scope of the full service is 1.02m. For the installation phase, the award will be for 50% of the volume initially on contract award (Year 1), with the remaining volume to be achieved through meeting overall performance targets in subsequent years in the installation phase. The successful bidder will install and commission, operate and maintain the Alternative Metering Service, inclusive of smart AMI meters and devices, communications network, and data pass back provision to Southern Water. The successful bidder will include enabling activities within the scope of services to deliver the stated outcome. The successful bidder will be responsible for: (i) Supply of Smart AMI water meters warranted for 15 years (ii) Planning, pre-installation surveys and meter installation for standard works i.e. meters to 934k household properties where the meter is situated externally (86%), or internally (14%) (iii) Planning, pre-installation surveys and meter installation for non-standard works i.e. 45.2k meters to non-household properties where the meter is situated externally (80%), or internally (20%) (iv) Planning, pre-installation surveys and meter installation of meters for complex works i.e. 6.4k meters over 20mm in size, 34k new meter installations to unmetered sites, or boundary box replacements in the highway/verges (excavation, backfill and reinstatement, traffic management) (v) Communications network (non-dedicated to Southern Water) recording 24 hourly reads per day and transmitting the data once per day (vi) Adoption of c.9k Smart meters from developers installing new services (adoption of legacy meter base is out of scope of this procurement) (vii) Smart meter and network issue resolution The Contract is expected to be awarded in November 2024 and will be for a total period of 20 years, with the Smart meters being deployed within the first 5 years “installation phase”. Additional information: Contract value range £250m to £300m