DEPARTMENT: Office of Innovation
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Brian Dillard, Chief Innovation Officer
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: District 1, District 3, and District 8
SUBJECT: SmartSA Smart Streetlight RFP Release
SUMMARY:
The purpose of this item is to provide the Innovation and Technology Committee with an update on the SmartSA Smart Streetlight Request for Proposals and upcoming steps.
BACKGROUND:
Smart Cities improve the quality of life for communities by leveraging data and emerging technology to find solutions to community challenges. The SmartSA partnership, coordinated by the Office of Innovation at the City of San Antonio, convenes local organizations that represent critical aspects of citizen life including housing, education, transportation, energy and utilities. These partners coordinate cross-cutting projects, research, and data sharing in support of San Antonio’s Smart City Vision: to build a connected, resilient and inclusive community.
CPS Energy is a municipal utility that provides gas and electric energy services to more than 355,000 gas metered and 850,000 electric metered customers in the greater San Antonio Metropolitan Area. As part of its services, CPS Energy operates and maintains more than 119,000 streetlights. Managing and responding to streetlight failures is a labor-intensive process that currently consumes a large amount of resources.
The City of San Antonio’s Office of Innovation (the City) is currently developing its Smart City strategy, looking to address a number of use cases defined by residents and City Departments. In 2019 the Office of Innovation conducted a Community Engagement survey garnering nearly 4,000 responses from residents and visitors who live, work, and play in the zones. The survey reflected challenges faced by residents in the Innovation Zones, including issues of mobility, environmental quality and pedestrian safety.
ISSUE:
The first Request for Proposals (RFP) released under the SmartSA partnership is the Smart Streetlight RFP conducted in partnership with the Office of Innovation, CPS-Energy, and the San Antonio River Authority (SARA). The RFP seeks pilot solutions from vendors for Smart Luminare Controls, allowing for remote control over streetlight features, as well as five smart technology use-cases developed by City Departments in response to challenges set forth by the San Antonio community as outlined in the by the Community Survey conducted by OISC in Fall 2018 and Spring 2019. The pilot solutions will be deployed in the three Innovation Zones; Downtown, Brooks and the Medical Center.
The City initially intends to focus on the following Smart City Technology Use Cases: i) Air Quality sensing; ii) Acoustic Noise detection; iii) Temperature Sensing; iv) Automated Parking Solutions; and v) Automated Water Level Indication and Monitoring, (in partnership with the San Antonio River Authority (SARA)).
CPS Energy wishes to explore the installation of smart streetlight control technologies that will enable automated location and management of these devices. Ideally, these technologies will provide CPS Energy with the capabilities to: i) assure that its streetlights are operating as designed, ii) provide events and alerts of those devices which are not operating as expected, iii) provide advance notification of devices that need to be pro-actively scheduled for preventative maintenance activities; and iv) provide new schemes for operating streetlights in ways that enhance public perception and safety.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is for briefing purposes only.