NIGP 83961: Poles, Telephone and Utility (All Kinds)

NIGP 83961 Poles, Telephone And Utility (All Kinds) is an Item code under which state and local governments procure utility poles, streetlight poles, and related vertical infrastructure for power distribution, telecommunications, and municipal lighting systems. Recent solicitations show a mix of commodity purchases—wood poles (Western Red Cedar, Douglas Fir), galvanized steel poles, and ductile iron poles—alongside infrastructure projects that incorporate pole installation or replacement as a component of larger utility relocation, trail construction, or traffic signal work. Cities, counties, utilities, and cooperatives issue these solicitations through ITBs, IFBs, and RFPs, with response windows typically spanning two to eight weeks. Florida utilities and municipalities account for significant recent activity, with Orange County, Glades Electric Cooperative, and Orlando Utilities Commission all posting opportunities in the past three months; other repeat activity appears from Utah municipalities (Springville City Power Department, City of St. George) and Texas cities (College Station). The work varies from straightforward commodity bids for stock wood or galvanized poles to embedded utility work within larger capital projects—Orange County's Horizon West Trail Phase 1A (IFB, sealed bid due August 13, 2026, estimated $5.66 million) incorporates approximately 400 linear feet of 12-inch water main replacement; College Station's State Highway 6 Utility Relocation Package #2 (RFP due April 29, 2026) calls for 2,700 linear feet of waterline and 1,500 linear feet of sewer line relocation with bore installations, requiring coordination with multi-utility environments and environmental permitting.

Geographic concentration includes Florida (Orange County, Glades Electric Cooperative, Orlando Utilities Commission), Utah (Springville, St. George, City of Madison), Texas (College Station), Oregon (state-level ductile iron pole procurement), Pennsylvania (City of Scranton), and Minnesota (Sourcewell cooperative procurement for utility poles to serve participating entities statewide). Recent pole commodity bids reflect narrow specification windows: Springville City Power's April 2026 solicitation specified Western Red Cedar Penta Butt Treated 45-foot Class 3 poles to AWPA-C7 and ANSI 05.1 standards; St. George's IFB (due July 16, 2026) required Western Red Cedar or Douglas Fir with Starlock and full treatment. Madison's RFQ for twelve 20-foot galvanized poles (due March 10, 2026) emphasized wind-load engineering (90 mph sustained, 117 mph gust) and permanent metal labeling. Sourcewell's cooperative RFP (due June 3, 2026) sought qualified vendors to establish a utility-pole contracting vehicle for Minnesota local government units. Infrastructure projects embedding pole work—such as Orange County's trail with boardwalk and water main or College Station's transmission relocation—carry estimated values in the $5 million to $10 million range and impose prequalification, bonding, insurance, and environmental-permitting requirements on contractors. Activity is active and geographically distributed across state and local jurisdictions; commodity volume is predictable while project-embedded work carries higher complexity and contingency risk.