Since March 2026, City of Portland goods and services contracts above $250,000, including Portland Water Bureau work, have been advertised as formal solicitations on SAP Ariba, which replaced BuySpeed for bid postings and supplier responses.
What suppliers need first
The City's supplier handbook asks for an SAP Business Network account, a current City of Portland business tax account, a signed W-9, ACH banking details, EEO certification and an Equal Benefits status form.
Council approves the big awards
Large contracts reach City Council as procurement reports. On December 18, 2024, Council accepted the award of a $4,178,130 repair of damaged 58-inch pipe in Conduit 3 to Moore Excavation, and of a customer engagement portal contract of up to $1.7 million to VertexOne for the smart meter program.
The smart meter program
Ordinance 191517, passed in November 2023, authorized up to $76 million of smart meter contracts. About 114,000 older meters are being replaced from early 2026 to 2030, a contractor is due to start installing digital reading technology in early 2027, and activation begins in mid-2027. Diameter Services is the owner's representative under a contract of up to $5,464,248.
Certification counts
On the filtration pipelines, the contract set a 25% goal for COBID-certified firms, and the second-phase report planned $102,000,000, or 34% of hard construction costs, for them.
Where demand sits
The FY 2024-25 Financial Plan set a five-year capital plan of $1.98 billion; a FY 2026-27 plan has since been adopted. The climate plan for FY 2025–2029 calls for new solar and micro-hydro generation and energy savings contracts.
Which Water Bureau projects are open, emerging or paused, who already holds major work and what to watch in 2027 are set out in the full report. The full report, Portland Water Bureau: Utility Account Brief, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Portland Water Bureau Utility Snapshot.