The BWL works with suppliers to maintain and develop strong, competitive business relationships that are mutually beneficial. We are supportive of local suppliers and the economic contributions they make to the Lansing area.
This page contains the resources suppliers need to start a relationship with the BWL. The sections below will outline our purchasing processes, guidelines we follow and how to interact with our online platforms for bidding and invoicing. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to BWL's Supply Chain Department at Purchasing@lbwl.com.
Mailing Something?
Make sure to use our PO Box, even if it's just an invoice.
Mailing Address
Lansing Board of Water & Light
Purchasing & Warehousing Department
PO Box 13007
Lansing, MI 48901
What We Buy
The BWL requires a wide variety of commodities and services to support and maintain our operations. We purchase everything from power plant equipment and parts to office supplies, laboratory equipment, computer products, vehicles, etc. We contract for services that we cannot provide with our own internal labor force, such as temporary staffing, catering, engineering, utility-related consulting, equipment repair, etc.
Some supplier products, such as electric line hardware, are covered by stringent technical specifications and/or standards. These products must be evaluated by the BWL Standards Engineer or the Safety Administrator prior to being placed on the BWL bid list.
How We Buy
As a public utility, we conduct our business in an open and competitive fashion in accordance with regulations approved by our Board of Commissioners as outlined in the BWL Procurement Policy.
All business transactions are a matter of public record. Business should be conducted in a sincere, open and fair manner. It is expected that all pricing, service and delivery agreements will be adhered to.
All initial sales contacts with BWL departments should be arranged through a Supply Chain Procurement Specialist. The Procurement Specialist will also assist you in identifying BWL departments and employees that you should potentially interact with based on your materials or services. You can contact our Procurement Specialists via email at purchasing@lbwl.com.
BWL has high ethical standards, and the provisions of the City of Lansing’s Ethics Ordinance cover doing business with the BWL. In accordance with the Ethics Ordinance, suppliers should not offer gifts to BWL employees. We prefer that incentives be expressed in terms of quality, service, and bid price. Suppliers who are related to a BWL employee should contact Mike Siefker at (517) 702-6132 to discuss the Ethics Ordinance prior to doing any business with the BWL. All BWL employees are covered by the Ethics Ordinance and should contact Mike Siefker at (517) 702-6132 if they have an outside business.
Becoming a BWL Supplier
BWL uses Ion Wave, an online platform, for publishing, collecting, and evaluating all supplier bids for goods and services. All suppliers must register in Ion Wave prior to submitting any bids to BWL. The link below will take you to BWL's Ion Wave landing page. The additional documents below will guide you through the registration and bid processes in Ion Wave.
Bids List
Supplier Invoicing
BWL uses onPhase, an online invoicing platform, to facilitate timely and efficient invoice receipt, payment and tracking. Using onPhase has many benefits for our suppliers such as invoice payment status tracking, historical invoice payment reporting and purchase order reporting.
Follow this link to activate your onPhase supplier account. To activate your account, you will need a unique "Priority ID" and "Password". This will be provided to you in an activation email sent by BWL Accounts Payable. If you have not received an activation email with this information, please contact BWL Accounts Payable at 517-702-6200.
Once your account is activated, follow this link to login to onPhase and begin submitting invoices.
The Supplier Manual below contains step-by-step instructions for navigating the onPhase platform and submitting invoices.
As a public utility, BWL is tax exempt. All invoices should exclude sales tax to avoid processing delays. BWL's sales tax exemption certificate can be found below.
Facility Interconnect
As part of the FAC-001-3 standard, if you are seeking to interconnect with BWL transmission or generation facilities, please review the below document which outlines the technical requirements for metering, communications, system protection and studies needed before work can begin.
Contact Information
Office Address & Location
Purchasing & Warehousing is located at 1110 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Lansing.
Mailing Address
Lansing Board of Water & Light
Purchasing & Warehousing Department
PO Box 13007
Lansing, MI 48901
Business Hours
Receiving hours for deliveries at the warehouse are 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Purchasing hours are 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Suppliers are required to call ahead and make an appointment to see a buyer.
Phone & Email
Office Telephone: (517) 702-6198
Email Address: Purchasing@lbwl.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Complete the online Supplier Registration by clicking here. Your application will NOT be processed until you fully complete your registration.
Price is always a contributing factor, but not the only factor. We also consider other deliverables such as service, quality, and estimated time of delivery.
Bid tabulations can be found by clicking here.
Yes, please visit our Public Notices page for more information.
These are surplus from the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project and are not to be returned to BWL, but to the City Maintenance Department off of South Street.