Consultant Support Services

The vendor is required to consultants or consulting firms to provide professional services for the development of a comprehensive for the procurement and implementation of an advanced distribution management system (ADMS).
- The utility operates a complex distribution network requiring enhanced visibility, control, and automation to maximize reliability, resilience, and to effectively manage both load and generation.
- To address these needs, these services must define and document the technical, functional, and procurement requirements necessary for issuing for a full-scale ADMS solution that will be equipped with all necessary modules to satisfy present and future needs.
• Needs assessment and RFP development.
• Manage RFP and evaluation (optional)
• Contract negotiation (optional) 1. Needs assessment and RFP development
• Provide a comprehensive needs assessment report through hosting both onsite and remote workshops and stakeholder interviews.
• Identify technical requirements for the system architecture relating to the ADMS deployment (including high availability, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and scalability
• Define integration needs with existing systems (e.g., gis, cis, ami, datawarehouse, etc.) ;
• Provide a requirements matrix for modules within the ADMS including but not limited to supervisory control and data acquisition (scada), outage management (oms), switching plans, network model, FLISR, volt and var control (VVC), der control (DERMS), load and generation forecasting, predictive ai.
•  The consultant shall develop a risk register to track strategic, operational, cybersecurity and financial risks systematically; propose organizational change considerations to prepare sje’s staff and processes for ADMS adoption; incorporate esg metrics into future vendor requirements to support saint john energy’s net zero and community objectives; and recommend a modular procurement strategy that optimizes vendor accountability while ensuring future interoperability across systems
• Provide a recommendation on which tools (or modules) should exist within the amds, and which are best suited to existing outside of the ADMS (e.g., forecasting, vvc)
• Structure the rfp such that any external modules can be bid on, and awarded, separately from the ADMS; with a requirement to integrate with the chosen ADMS solution.
• Draft a complete rfp including technical specifications, implementation phases, service-level expectations, vendor qualifications, and evaluation methodology;
• Support final reviews and revisions leading to the issuance of the final ADMS rfp package
2. Manage RFP and evaluation
• Address proponent questions about the RFP and manage completed vendor responses (i.e.,  proposals) during the RFP response period.
• Provide scoring templates to assist in evaluating vendor responses based on modern ADMS  trends and expected capabilities.
• Facilitate the initial evaluation process, and subsequent consensus scoring sessions with the  agency evaluation team.
• Evaluate and analyze proponent pricing submissions.
• Support shortlisting of the first round of proponent submissions to determine which proponents  will be given final considerations and invitations to oral presentations
• Prepare agendas and assist with organizing proponents to oral presentations
• Facilitate vendor oral presentations
• Request follow-up clarifications from vendors and develop a formal request for final offers
• Develop reference check questions and facilitate reference calls
• Manage the proponent ranking and selection process
• Develop a recommendation report on behalf of the utility to justify the selection of the vendor.
3. Contract negotiation
• Engage in negotiations with the selected vendor(s) to finalize the contract terms and  conditions. 
• This includes discussing pricing, deliverables, timelines, and any other relevant  aspects of the agreement to ensure the contract documents align with the RFP response.
• Define and agree upon SLAs with the vendor to ensure that the project meets the required  standards for performance, reliability, and support. 
• Work closely with the legal and teams to ensure that all contractual obligations are met and  that the agreement is legally sound.
- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: July 25, 2025