Exhibit A - Specifications and Requirements for RFP AAAA 2027-0062.pdf

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DPA Solicitation #:

RFP AAAA 2027*0062

Utility Management Software

EXHIBIT A – SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

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SECTION 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1. INTRODUCTION

1.1.1. The State of Colorado is seeking to contract with a vendor (Contractor) for utility bill management software (Services). The State is seeking a fully automated, to the extent feasible, online, intuitive, interactive, Offeror-hosted utility management tool to track, report, and analyze utility costs and usage across all state facilities.

1.1.2. The tool must be easy to navigate, provide visual and graphic representations of data, and allow for drill-down reporting based on organizational structure, with the ability to drill down from statewide reporting to department, division, account, specific facility, etc., in order to showcase savings from projects. The software should allow seamless data import directly from other systems or through spreadsheets. Additionally, the State is seeking software that will increase employee capacity by alleviating manual entry and validating utility data.

1.1.3. The State seeks to implement a utility bill management system that is easy to maintain and upgrade or expand to satisfy future needs for additional functionality and/or processing capacity.

1.2. BACKGROUND

1.2.1. In January 2024, the State of Colorado (State) established the Office of Sustainability (Office) within the Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA) to provide services across State government and lead by example in environmentally sustainable government facilities and operations. The primary goals of the Office are to reduce pollution from State government operations, create a cleaner Colorado for future generations, and save taxpayer money.

1.2.2. The Office administers the State’s utility management platform to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and renewable energy generation across fourteen (14) Executive Branch agencies. The State’s facilities include buildings of varying shapes and sizes, warehouses, correctional facilities, offices, and state parks. The Office utilizes this dataset to measure progress against Statewide sustainability goals, identify facilities with high energy or water use for targeted investments, and track cost savings and identify anomalies (e.g., usage spikes and water leaks).

1.2.3. The State currently uses EnergyCAP to track, audit, and report on raw data from weekly, monthly, and quarterly bills issued by regulated and deregulated utility companies. EnergyCAP currently provides multiple ways to manipulate, view, and report data, including by facility, account, agency, fiscal year, calendar year, and month. Data reports and dashboards within EnergyCAP are used at multiple levels, allowing State personnel to better understand how the State funds departments and facilities and how accounts use energy. Utility bills are either entered manually or through a picture-capturing (i.e. OCR or more advanced solution) software within EnergyCAP. The Office also has a grant-funded pilot program with Nimble Energy.

This pilot program automatically gathers utility bills from Contractors, updates the software, and flags any potential issues (such as high water use).

1.3. ANTICIPATED CONTRACT TERM

1.3.1. The initial term of the awarded Contract is expected to begin on April 1, 2027 and end on June 30, 2028.

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1.3.2. The total duration of the Contract, from the Start Date until termination, and including the Department’s exercise of any options, is not anticipated to exceed ten (10) years, three (3) months. The Department may extend the Contract beyond the anticipated term in this subsection, in accordance with the Colorado Procurement Code and its implementing rules, if the Department determines the extension is necessary to align the Contract with other Department contracts, to address State programmatic or policy changes related to the Contract or to provide sufficient time to transition the Services.

1.3.3. The Department may, within its sole discretion, choose to not exercise any option or Extension Term in the Contract for any reason. If the Department chooses to not exercise for any Extension Term, it may re-procure the performance of the Services in its sole discretion.

1.4. TERMINOLOGY

1.4.1. In addition to the terms defined in §5 of the Contract, acronyms and abbreviations are defined at their first occurrence in this Exhibit A, Statement of Services. The following list of terms shall be construed and interpreted as follows:

1.4.1.1. Deliverable - any tangible or intangible object produced by Contractor as a result of the Services that is intended to be delivered to the State, regardless of whether the object is specifically described or called out as a “Deliverable” or not.

1.4.1.2. Key Personnel - The position or positions that are specifically designated as such in this Contract.

1.4.1.3. Other Personnel - Individuals and Subcontractors, in addition to Key Personnel, assigned to positions to complete tasks associated with the Services.

1.4.1.4. Holidays - The State observes the following holidays:

1.4.1.4.1. Independence Day

1.4.1.4.2. Labor Day

1.4.1.4.3. Frances Xavier Cabrini Day

1.4.1.4.4. Veterans Day

1.4.1.4.5. Thanksgiving Day

1.4.1.4.6. Christmas Day

1.4.1.4.7. New Year’s Day

1.4.1.4.8. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

1.4.1.4.9. President’s Day

1.4.1.4.10. Memorial Day

1.4.1.4.11. Juneteenth

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SECTION 2.0 OFFEROR’S EXPERIENCE AND PERSONNEL

2.1. ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

2.1.1. All Services performed as a result of this solicitation must comply with all applicable provisions of §§24-85-101, et seq., C.R.S., and the Accessibility Standards for Individuals with a Disability, as established by the Office Of Information Technology pursuant to Section §24- 85-103 (2.5), C.R.S. and 3) all State of Colorado technology standards related to technology accessibility and with Level AA of the most current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), incorporated in the State of Colorado technology standards.

2.2. SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS

2.2.1. Scope 3 GHG Emissions: Offeror, to the extent feasible, should disclose scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions on an annual basis.

2.2.2. Data Center Environmental Metrics: Offeror, to the extent feasible, should disclose the average power usage effectiveness and water usage effectiveness across all primary data center sites hosting the proposed solution.

2.3. ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERIENCE

2.3.1. The State has determined that it desires specific experience and skills for an Offeror to possess in order for the Offeror to be able to complete the Services efficiently while meeting the demands and deadlines of the Department.

2.3.2. The State is seeking a Contractor with expertise in database management, data presentation, and reporting to provide a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) utility bill management system.

2.3.3. Offerors must have experience mapping and cleaning historical data from a legacy utility management system and loading that data into its system.

2.3.4. The State will evaluate the Offeror's experience pertaining to the following:

2.3.4.1. Offeror has provided service to a similar-sized entity (i.e. another state or large municipality with 14 agencies, ~10,000 meters, and ~180 vendors/utilities).

2.3.4.2. Offeror has provided the service for more than two years.

2.3.4.3. Offeror has experience in directly pulling utility bills from utility accounts (whether through

API integration or other method), uploading PDFs of utility bills, and allowing for direct input of utility bills into the system.

2.3.4.4. Offeror has customer support available and describes this in their service level agreement.

2.3.4.5. Offeror provides in-person and online training.

2.4. PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS

2.4.1. The Key Personnel required are:

2.4.1.1.1. Project Lead

2.4.1.1.2. The Project Lead shall be responsible for all of the following:

2.4.1.1.2.1. Serving as Contractor’s primary point of contact for the State.

2.4.1.1.2.2. Ensuring the completion of all Services in accordance with the Contract’s requirements.

This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of all Services.

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2.4.1.1.2.3. Overseeing all other Key Personnel and Other Personnel and ensuring proper staffing levels throughout the term of the Contract.

2.4.1.1.2.4. Assist the State with obtaining agency buy-in, managing adoption across the state, and change management by teaching personnel key aspects of the software to show cost savings, sustainability improvements, flag for high utility use, etc..

2.4.1.1.2.5. Be the dedicated point of contact for ongoing escalation, feature requests, and system updates. Should the Project Lead not meet expectations as outlined in the contract, leave the organization, or move to a different position, a Project Lead of similar experience shall be appointed as the State’s point of contact.

2.4.1.2. Additional Personnel

2.4.1.2.1. Other than the Key Personnel designated above, the Offeror may propose any other personnel and structure that it believes is most efficient and effective at completing the Services.

2.4.2. Contractor shall not allow for any individual to fill more than one of the roles defined as Key Personnel.

SECTION 3.0 PROJECT SPECIFIC STATEMENT OF SERVICES

3.1. The State requests that Offerors provide their “best” solutions that will satisfy requirements set forth in this RFP. The state will consider all solutions, including solutions that use “off-the-shelf” software packages, custom software solutions, or a combination of “off-the-shelf” software and custom software.

3.2. Current System Data

3.2.1. The state’s current database is structured as a hierarchy with multiple levels that aggregate usage and costs over time.

3.2.2. Exhibit A, Attachment 1 includes the list of reported and active accounts.

3.2.3. In the event that a new system is selected, some of these accounts are old and should be

“cleaned” before being entered into a new system. Additionally, some accounts not on this list may need to be added.

3.2.4. Many facilities have one or more separate utility accounts, each with a monthly bill, which total approximately 10,100 meters across all commodities, including electricity, water, natural gas, steam, and other relevant commodities.

3.2.5. Contractor shall import current data from the current system, dating back to 2015 for approximately 3,000 accounts and approximately 10,100 meters.

3.3. The Contractor shall import historical data from July 2015 forward. This data will be provided by the State of Colorado. Historical data must be migrated by July 1, 2027.

3.3.1. The State expects the Contractor to collaborate with the State while importing historical data to ensure that data is clean and active.

3.4. All data, information, and content stored in the database shall be the sole and exclusive property of the state.

3.5. Contractor shall set up the automated utility Contractor data via API integration or another method for utilities that this is possible (i.e. Xcel, Black Hills Energy).

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3.6. Contractor shall ensure that the proposed software:

3.6.1. Is capable of tracking all utility commodities.

3.6.2. Contains the capacity to input specific state asset management information including type, square footage, age, systems, occupancy, occupant hours, unique identifying numbers, and conditions.

3.6.3. Has the ability to input EV chargers at specific facilities and track usage across different time-of-use rates.

3.6.4. Provides web-enabled access to multiple users with varying levels of access based on job description, need, and authorizations.

3.6.5. Has the capability for multiple data entry methods:

3.6.5.1. Including automatic integration from utilities such as Xcel and Black Hills Energy and other utilities this is feasible with

3.6.5.2. Import bills/photos of bills

3.6.5.3. Manual entry

3.6.5.4. Bulk uploads (i.e. via csv file or other method).

3.6.6. Has the ability to normalize data for weather and possibly other factors, like daylight hours on a facility-by-facility (or account by account) basis, and the ability to roll up aggregated weather-normalized data across multiple facilities. Software should include a weather sensitivity analysis to plot historical utility data against heating or cooling degree days that can separate the non-weather base load from weather-sensitive consumption. Software should be able to calendarize and assign usage and cost data to the correct calendar month instead of the varying billing period.

3.6.7. Is interoperable with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

3.6.8. Has the ability to export data to other applications as .csv or Excel files.

3.6.9. Is compatible with other asset management systems.

3.6.10. Has reporting capabilities that allow a user to generate pre-determined reports as well as custom, user-defined reports using parameter inputs on a graphical user interface. These reports include, but are not limited to:

3.6.10.1. Greenhouse gas emissions reporting.

3.6.10.2. Commodity reporting on use and cost (monthly, and multi-year).

3.6.10.3. Budget tracking/utility forecasting.

3.6.10.4. Cost-avoidance reports.

3.6.10.5. Missing bills.

3.6.10.6. System anomalies.

3.6.10.7. Account and Contractor lists.

3.6.10.8. Automatic reports for specific stakeholders.

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3.6.11. Includes a user-friendly interface with easy-to-understand graphics, where commodity usage and the cost of an account, facility, department, fund, or the entire state can be quickly obtained.

3.6.12. Includes a user-friendly search/report pulling interface and the ability to search the database by part of an account number, facility name, meter number, and possible associated keywords or numbers.

3.6.13. Has the capability to include notes and attachments on accounts and/or facilities and visual indication of existing notes or attachments.

3.6.14. Is able to understand when/if an account number changes and receive a notification.

3.6.15. ability to easily see associations between an account and different levels of the state’s account hierarchy, including departments, facilities, and state funds.

3.6.16. Has the ability to use nicknames or “aka” for facilities that have had their names changed, or when the utility company calls them something different from the department.

3.6.17. Has the ability to set and track facility-, department-, and state-level energy and water conservation goals, and to monitor the progress and impact of implemented, planned, and proposed projects and programs.

3.6.18. Provides analytical reporting tools to benchmark facilities' energy consumption and energy use intensities, compare them year to year, and detect anomalies.

3.6.19. Includes a database organizational structure that, at a minimum, has the following abilities:

3.6.19.1. The ability to reorganize facilities within the hierarchy, if necessary, and to choose the month and year when the switch takes effect.

3.6.19.2. The ability to easily differentiate an account of one utility type from another throughout the database historical import.

3.6.19.3. The ability to import month-by-month historical data during initiation.

3.6.19.4. The ability to easily see historical data associated with an account and report on it

3.6.20. Has the ability to track interval data that, at a minimum, includes

3.6.20.1.1. The ability to either tie in interval data if available and report on it or, if not, at least associate it with that account even though it might be static

3.6.20.1.2. Ongoing importing and auditing

3.6.20.1.3. The ability to incorporate audit mechanisms and approaches to auditing for different kinds of utility billing errors.

3.6.20.1.4. The ability to generate related reports both during monthly data imports and after the data has been added to the system.

3.6.20.1.5. The ability to deactivate an account when it closes.

3.6.20.1.6. The ability to show billing data in reports for closed accounts for the period the account was active.

3.6.20.1.7. The ability to change utility suppliers and incorporate the effects of the change to data imports and tariff information.

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3.6.20.1.8. The ability to easily manage import errors by providing an interface to easily correct and log them once a database user has addressed them.

3.6.20.1.9. The ability to address technical concerns such as date and bill overlaps and gaps.

3.6.20.1.10. Documentation of how the software sets tolerances for these types of issues.

3.6.20.1.11. A database backup in the event of failures or data issues. The database should be backed up at least every 24 hours.

3.6.21. Includes database reporting that, at a minimum, is capable of:

3.6.21.1. Pushing building attribute and monthly bill information to Portfolio Manager and pulling

Energy Star scores, EUIs, and other building attributes from the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

3.6.21.2. Providing analytical reporting to track the effectiveness of energy improvements over time.

3.6.21.3. The ability to report on different levels of the hierarchy without double-counting.

3.6.21.4. Being compatible with other systems and agile enough to adapt to future system needs.

3.6.21.5. Provides an analysis of the following:

3.6.21.5.1. Analysis by site

3.6.21.5.2. Analysis by project

3.6.21.5.3. Analysis by intake project documents (for example, measurement and verification documents)

3.6.21.5.4. The ability to report on all invoice information in a bill, i.e. Demand, peak time of use.

3.6.21.5.5. The ability to report on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy generation, and energy use intensity.

3.6.21.5.6. Versatility in reporting on different parameters

3.6.21.5.7. At a minimum, software shall include the following parameters:

3.6.21.5.8. Time

3.6.21.5.9. Fiscal year (state’s is July 1 to June 30)

3.6.21.5.10. Year to date (ytd)

3.6.21.5.11. Calendar year

3.6.21.5.12. Billing period

3.6.21.5.13. Calendar month

3.6.21.5.14. Year over year

3.6.21.5.15. Year-to-date over year-to-date

3.6.21.5.16. Customized timeframes

3.6.21.5.17. Organizational

3.6.21.5.18. Citywide

3.6.21.5.19. Agency

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3.6.21.5.20. Fund

3.6.21.5.21. Facility

3.6.21.5.22. Selected group of facilities by name, account, type

3.6.21.5.23. Account

3.6.21.5.24. Selected accounts

3.6.21.5.25. Utility

3.6.21.5.26. Utility type

3.6.21.5.27. Utility tariff

3.6.21.5.28. Utility company

3.6.21.5.29. Commodity

3.7. Client reporting

3.7.1. Contractor shall report to the State of Colorado on a weekly basis during importation of the data regarding the status of the project and its progress in providing the contracted services and/or products.

3.7.2. The professional services team shall provide a report quantifying staff capacity improvements in June and December, and each subsequent year under contract.

3.8. Training

3.9. Contractor shall provide a training plan. This training plan shall include, but not be limited to:

3.9.1. The training methodologies.

3.9.2. Materials to be used.

3.9.3. Contractor shall provide training to the State on the use of the system. This training shall include, but not be limited to:

3.9.3.1. Initial Training

3.9.3.1.1. Following the go-live date, Contractor shall provide three (3), one-hour in-person training sessions at mutually agreed-upon times.

3.9.3.1.2. The Contractor shall also provide a recorded copy of each session for the State's internal use.

3.9.3.2. On-going Trainings

3.9.3.2.1. Contractor shall provide the following:

3.9.3.2.1.1. Provide multi-channel training for State personnel who will use the system on an ongoing basis.

3.9.3.2.1.2. Coordinate Train-the-Trainer programs if necessary

3.9.3.2.1.3. One in-person training on an annual basis for State personnel who use the software.

3.9.3.2.1.4. Monthly or quarterly online training for different aspects of the software. These may include pre-recorded trainings as applicable.

3.9.3.2.2. At a minimum, training topics covered shall include, but not be limited to the following:

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3.9.3.2.2.1. Report preparation

3.9.3.2.2.2. Hierarchy structure management and maintenance

3.9.3.2.2.3. Comparative analyses of energy and water costs from previous years

3.9.3.2.2.4. Data entry

3.9.3.2.2.5. Benchmarking

3.9.3.2.2.6. Any new updates or enhancements

3.9.3.2.2.7. Maintenance and support services

3.10. Contractor shall provide ongoing maintenance and support for the system.

3.10.1. Contractor shall provide support on a “turnkey” basis - i.e., Contractor shall provide all maintenance and support services for all elements of the system, including but not limited to all software and any data transport services that are required under the contract, and will be the single point of contact for service and support.

3.11. Customer service

3.11.1. In the event of any issue with the software-as-a-service, Contractor shall be available from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Mountain Time, Monday through Friday, excluding weekends and Holidays.

3.11.2. Contractor shall provide access to multiple customer service options that support multiple user levels, such as a phone line, help menu, screen sharing, and/or live chat.

3.11.3. Data within the system shall be available for use and manipulation 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including all holidays with the exception of planned updates. If data becomes unavailable, contractor shall provide communication and a plan for resolution, to the extent feasible, within three (3 ) business days. (i.e. if the system is being upgraded on a weekend).

3.12. Service level requirements

3.12.1. Contractor shall maintain an average uptime of 99% or higher.

3.12.2. The proposed solution should be designed to achieve at least 90% accuracy in processing

AI/OCR data or in direct utility connections under normal operating conditions. The Contractor shall describe its methodology for measuring and validating accuracy, including any assumptions, dependencies, or source-data requirements that may affect performance. If accuracy falls below the established target, the Contractor will be expected to work with the State to identify contributing factors and implement reasonable corrective actions to improve performance.

3.12.3. Contractor shall ensure that, in the event that an automated read fails, manual validation is completed on all data.

3.13. Value Add

3.13.1. In the event that Offeror provides information about value-added services the Department reserves the right to add these services to the contract at some future date, should the money become available.

3.14. COMPENSATION AND INVOICING

3.14.1. PRICING

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3.14.1.1. The compensation under the Contract shall consist of Offeror’s “best” solution(s) that will satisfy the requirements in this RFP. If the proposal includes more than one solution based on the software applications or hosting platforms, there must be a separate cost itemization for each solution.

3.14.1.2. Proposed pricing must remain firm during the initial term of the Contract.

3.14.1.3. Pricing must include any fees associated with delivery of the goods or services, including, but not limited to, shipping and installation.

3.14.1.4. Offerors shall provide pricing utilizing Exhibit D Pricing Sheet.