Cost of Service and Rate Study

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), Maryland is soliciting sealed responses for a Cost of Service and Rate Study consulting project. WSSC serves approximately 1.9 million residents across Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, operating as one of the largest water and sewer utilities in the country with a service area of nearly 1,000 square miles. The utility operates two water filtration plants producing an average of 146 million gallons of treated water per day and maintains 5,900 miles of water mains serving over 475,000 customer accounts. For wastewater treatment, WSSC operates six water resource recovery facilities and maintains 5,600 miles of sewer lines, conveying an average of 162 million gallons of wastewater per day.

This cost of service and rate study is the latest iteration following a comprehensive study completed in 2017 that led to adoption of a four-tier inclining block rate structure in July 2018. A subsequent cost of service and rate study for fiscal year 2025 was completed on December 7, 2023, which resulted in revised priorities established by WSSC's Commissioners on January 30, 2024. The new priority order for pricing policy objectives is: (1) Cost-Based Rates, (2) Revenue Stability, (3) Rate Stability, (4) Affordability and Minimizing Customer Impacts, (5) Conservation/Demand Management, and (6) Ease of Understanding and Implementation. The current study will inform rate structure decisions affecting the utility's Ready-To-Serve Charge components, including Account Maintenance Fee and Infrastructure Investment Fee.

Key dates for this solicitation include a Q&A deadline of October 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM and a proposal submission deadline of October 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM. Sealed responses must be submitted via WSSC's eProcurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/wsscwater. Late responses will not be accepted. Respondents must meet all minimum qualifications and provide comprehensive pricing proposals. The scope of work includes consulting services for cost of service analysis, rate structure recommendations, and supporting documentation.