Utility Bill Processing Services

The vendor is required to provide utility bill processing services for include:
•    Ability to retrieve electric and natural gas utility bills each month and process them in accordance with utility due dates
•    Accurate data entry and validation of bill amounts and due dates
•    Coding each bill to a specific account string provided by county government
o    Ability to apply any requested updates and changes to account strings in a timely manner
o    Ensures standardized, accurate coding and establishes a clear process for resolving exceptions or missing information.
•    Ensuring payments are made for the correct amount and applied to the correct utility account
•    Providing copies of pdf bill images for recordkeeping and audit purposes
•    Supporting a quick turnaround time to consistently meet 20-30 day payment term limits between bill generation and receipt of payment to avoid late fees or penalties. 
•    This means that bills need to be processed with 7-10 business days for ach payments to clear and checks be delivered and reconciled.
- Data tracking and compliance system requirements:
1. Energy management system:
•    This energy management system shall include the county’s electricity (supply and distribution), natural gas, and fuel. 
•    Raw data (i.e., consumption, cost, and other information) from the county’s utility bills–past, current, and future–shall be entered into the contractor’s energy management system, in addition to scanned images of the bills.
•    Archival data from and scanned images of past bills shall be uploaded in the contractor’s energy management system. 
•    Raw data from and scanned images of current and future bills shall be uploaded to the contractor's energy management system monthly.
•    Energy management system shall automatically flag outliers and errors in bill data, normalize bill data for weather variations, calendarize bill data (subject to the county’s approval), establish baselines, perform benchmarking, analyze and track data, analyze energy use intensity, convert consumption data into greenhouse gas emissions, identify cost saving opportunities, verify cost and emissions savings, evaluate and forecast future energy consumption and cost, and enable dash boarding.
•    Applicable county staff shall have access to the contractor's energy management system to view data and run reports. 
•    Reports shall be available for each facility or business unit, as well as across multiple facilities or the county’s entire portfolio. 
•    Reports shall be available in numerical and graphical format, as applicable.
•    Provide comprehensive onboarding and training related to the navigation and use of the contractor’s energy management system to all designated users, in addition to ongoing customer service, support, and troubleshooting.
2. EPA portfolio manager integration:
•    This integration must provide a seamless data exchange and remain compliant with state BEPS regulations. 
•    Raw data from utility bills shall be automatically uploaded to EPA portfolio manager monthly for each county meter.
•    Although only certain facilities are required to meet BEPS regulations, EPA portfolio manager integration and monthly data uploads apply to all facilities and meters.
3. Complete utility and energy data transfer:
•    The complete and accurate transfer of all utility and energy data from the county’s existing energy management system into the contractor’s energy management system–with no omissions–as part of the transition process.
•    All data must be fully transferred to the contractor’s energy management system to allow for a seamless transition and allow for data reconciliation and validation by the county–and to help the county track, analyze, and better understand usage trends, performance, and opportunities for improvement.
4. Data migration and transition plan:
•    This plan should address data conversion and validation to ensure accuracy and completeness.
•    Due to the nature of the service transition, there is a possibility of overlapping data from the county’s existing energy service provider. 
•    The contractor agrees to establish a plan to address and resolve any such billing overlaps as part of the transition process, subject to the county’s approval.
•    Provide and implement a plan for comprehensive training to designated users to ensure a smooth and effective adoption of the new system and services.
•    Provide historic data. 
•    This information will help the county track and analyze utility usage trends.