Project Information

Bid Title

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Metering System and Integration Services RFP

Issuing Agency

Pella city

Location

Iowa

Published Date

Apr 20, 2026

Closing Date

May 21, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

Bid Title:	Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Metering System and Integration Services RFP
Category:	City of Pella Bids
Status:	Open
Bid Recipient:	Electric Director

Description: See attached Request for Proposals (RFP). Publication Date/Time: 4/20/2026 12:00 PM Publication Information: See attached Request for Proposals (RFP). Closing Date/Time: 5/21/2026 2:00 PM Submittal Information: Pella Municipal Electric Utility Attn: Electric Director 222 Truman Road Pella, IA 50219 Related Documents: 2026 AMI Bid RFP (PDF)

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CITY OF PELLA MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC UTILITY

Pella, Iowa

Request for Proposals

ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE (AMI)

METERING SYSTEM AND INTEGRATION SERVICES

Prepared by:

City of Pella Municipal Electric Utility

Funded in part by the

Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA)

and the

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Grid Resilience Formula Grant Program

(Authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act)

RFP Release Date: April 20, 2026

Proposal Due Date and Time: 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, 2026

Submission Location:

Pella Municipal Electric Utility

222 Truman Rd

Pella, Iowa 50219

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1

Section 2 Project Objectives and Evaluation Framework............................................................... 4

Section 3 Minimum Technical and Functional Requirements ...................................................... 8

Section 4 Instructions to Proposers......................................................................................................13

Section 5 Terms, Conditions, and Grant Compliance .....................................................................17

Appendix A Proposal Pricing Schedule ....................................................................................................19

Appendix B Critical Energy Infrastructure Non-Disclosure Agreement .....................................24

SECTION 1: Introduction

The City of Pella Municipal Electric Utility is undertaking a system-wide Advanced Metering

Infrastructure (AMI) modernization project to improve reliability, operational ef�iciency,

billing accuracy, and grid resilience for all electric customers within the City of Pella. This

project is funded in part through the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) under

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Resilience Formula Grant Program, authorized by

the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). As such, all equipment, procurement

processes, documentation, and reporting requirements must comply with applicable

federal regulations, including Build America, Buy America (BABA) provisions, federal

procurement standards, and DOE program guidance.

The goal of this AMI project is to replace approximately 5,300 existing electric meters

across residential, commercial, and industrial accounts with modern, IP-based, fully

integrated AMI metering technology. The new system will leverage the City’s existing

Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network where available and utilize secure wireless

connectivity where �iber backhaul is not directly accessible. The AMI system shall be

designed to operate without routine reliance on external communication enclosures,

bolt-on radios, collectors, or neighborhood gateway devices, and shall instead incorporate

all primary communication functions—wired or wireless—behind the meter glass as part

of the factory-sealed design. However, in limited cases where the City’s FTTP network is not

available to provide a direct IP backhaul path for a speci�ic geographic area, the use of

external communication devices may be permitted. Any such devices shall be used solely to

provide network connectivity in FTTP-limited areas, shall interface directly with the

utility’s IP infrastructure, and shall not rely on cellular, proprietary radio systems,

third-party network backhaul, or serve as multi-meter collectors or neighborhood

communication hubs.

For planning and evaluation purposes, the City has prepared supplemental GIS reference

data identifying approximate electric meter locations, �iber ONT locations, and streetlight

infrastructure to assist proposers in understanding the system environment.

Because this project utilizes federal funding, the City of Pella has engaged in due diligence

with the DOE BABA-MAX Technical Assistance program to evaluate domestic availability of

AMI metering solutions. DOE’s technical assistance indicated that very few commercially

available AMI electric meters currently meet BABA domestic content thresholds for

residential and commercial deployments, and that the limited BABA-compliant industrial

metering equipment available is neither technically suitable nor �inancially practical for

widespread deployment across the City’s service territory. Accordingly, the City intends to

submit a BABA non-availability waiver request, supported by DOE’s documented �indings.

Vendors responding to this RFP must provide all required domestic-content documentation

and shall support the City’s BABA waiver submission as needed.

AMI meters and �ield equipment will be installed by Pella Municipal Electric Utility

personnel. The successful vendor will be responsible for providing all system integration

services, including head-end software con�iguration, communication system integration,

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meter provisioning support, cybersecurity con�iguration, training, and commissioning. The

resulting AMI system must provide reliable interval data collection; outage and restoration

noti�ications; voltage and power quality metrics; event logs; secure �irmware maintenance;

and seamless communication across residential, polyphase, and transformer-rated

metering installations.

As part of the City’s operational requirements, the AMI system must fully integrate with the

City’s existing Civic Systems / Caselle Clarity Utility Billing System. The AMI system must

deliver monthly, per-meter time-segmented energy usage, including on-peak, off-peak, and

mid-peak watthour consumption in accordance with Caselle’s data import speci�ications.

The system must also provide timestamped 15-minute interval peak demand

measurements (kW) for customers who qualify for demand-based billing, ensuring

accurate demand determination and billing in accordance with the City’s established rate

structures. In addition, the system must capture and report reactive power (kVAR), power

factor, and related power-quality metrics to support load monitoring, system diagnostics,

and evaluation of customer demand characteristics during on-peak and off-peak periods.

Standard Class 200 Form 2S meters supplied under this project must include a remote

disconnect capability, fully integrated behind the meter glass, to support service

connection, disconnection, and reconnection functions. The AMI system must also support

bi-directional, detented watthour measurements for accurate accounting of both delivered

and received energy for customers with distributed generation, including solar and other

behind-the-meter renewable technologies. Vendors must provide secure, automated

data-exchange work�lows that ensure dependable synchronization between the AMI system

and the City’s billing platform to maintain accuracy in billing, rate structures, time-of-use

programs, and distributed-generation settlements.

In support of customer engagement and transparency, the AMI system shall include or

support a secure, web-based and mobile-accessible Customer Interaction Portal that

provides near real-time visibility into electric usage, time-segmented energy consumption,

demand values, and available power-quality information. The portal shall operate

independently of the City’s existing Civic Systems / Caselle Clarity Utility Billing System.

The portal shall also be capable of displaying water-usage data once the City deploys

compatible water-metering technologies, including interval or daily water-consumption

history and usage trends. Customers shall have the option to enroll in automated alerts for

both electric and water usage, including high-usage noti�ications, abnormal-consumption

alerts, potential leak-detection alerts, continuous-�low warnings, or other exception-based

conditions derived from AMI data. Although water-system integration is not included

within the scope of this project, the AMI system and customer portal shall be designed and

evaluated for compatibility with future water-metering endpoints, including ERT-based

devices, to support seamless integration in subsequent phases of system deployment.

The AMI system shall be designed to support future demand-response (DR) and

demand-voltage response (DVR) programs as part of the City’s long-term

grid-modernization and resiliency strategy. While implementation of DR or DVR programs

is not included within the scope of the current project, the system architecture must be

capable of securely supporting utility-initiated load and voltage-response strategies based

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on real-time and interval metering data. This includes the ability to communicate with

customer-side load-control devices or devices with voltage-responsive functionality, such

as air-conditioning condenser controls, electric water heaters, electric vehicle supply

equipment (EVSE), and other controllable or responsive loads. The AMI platform shall

support standards-based, IP-connected control and veri�ication work�lows delivered over

utility-owned network infrastructure and shall enable future customer participation,

noti�ication, and reporting through the AMI head-end and customer-interaction portal

without requiring fundamental changes to the deployed system.

All metering devices furnished under this speci�ication shall be factory-tested and certi�ied

for accuracy by a NIST-traceable source. Meter accuracy veri�ication shall follow the testing

principles established in Iowa Administrative Code 199—21.6, including evaluation at

intermediate and maximum load points and determination of meter error using the

algebraic average of these test results. The vendor shall provide complete electronic test

data for each meter, including serial number, test points, and percent error at each point, in

a standard digital format such as .csv or .xlsx suitable for the City’s internal

quality-assurance and recordkeeping processes.

This speci�ication establishes the minimum technical, performance, cybersecurity,

interoperability, and integration requirements for the procurement of the City’s

next-generation AMI metering system. The City seeks a long-term, scalable,

standards-based solution that enhances operational capability, improves grid monitoring,

supports future automation and resiliency initiatives, and aligns with DOE’s grid resilience

objectives.

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Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541330Engineering Services
• NAICS 541511Custom Computer Programming Services
• NAICS 541512Computer Systems Design Services
• NAICS 541513Computer Facilities Management Services
• NAICS 541519Other Computer Related Services

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