Overhead Transmission Electrical Services

The City of Austin is requesting proposals for overhead transmission electrical services to support Austin Energy's electric transmission infrastructure, with proposals due August 4, 2026, under RFP 1100 LLM3008.

The scope encompasses labor, equipment, materials, and supervision for routine capital improvement projects and emergency transmission and distribution service work. The contractor must maintain a minimum crew consisting of one daily crew lead/supervisor, one qualified operator, two Distribution Electrician III qualified journeymen linemen, and two Distribution Electrician I grounds hands/trainees/apprentices, and must respond to emergency calls within 90 minutes and non-emergency calls during standard business hours (7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday through Friday). Pricing covers nine labor classifications (Apprentice I/Distribution Electrician I through Distribution Electrician Supervisor/General Foreman) and 35 equipment categories billed on hourly, daily, or weekly bases; all labor rates must be fully inclusive of overhead and indirect expenses, with overtime calculated at 1.5 times base wages. Equipment rates similarly include all associated costs and overhead, excluding operator costs.

The contract has an initial 24-month term with three optional 12-month renewal periods at the City's sole discretion. The contractor must maintain specified equipment on-hand, including two service bodies, one foreman truck, two insulated bucket trucks (125 feet and 150 feet), material trailers, haul trucks, low boy trailers, and 40-ton cranes with man baskets. All work must comply with OSHA and National Electrical Safety Code requirements, and the contractor must designate a qualified safety representative with OSHA 30-hour certification.

Mandatory qualifications include an established safety program, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.269 compliance with training records, and submission of three years of OSHA 0300 incident logs. Prevailing wage requirements apply under City of Austin Ordinance #20160324-015 with minimum cash compensation of $22.05 per hour; wage rates range to $90.03 per hour for certain classifications. The City offers optional Local Business and Small Business Preferences worth up to 10 points each. Evaluation will be based on Program (25 points), Staffing Plan (20 points), Experience and Personnel (20 points), and Price (15 points), for a maximum of 100 points. Performance and Payment Bonds each equal to $4 million are required within 14 calendar days of award. The City reserves the right to conduct security audits and penetration tests at no cost. Contractors must comply with FEMA supplemental requirements, including Davis-Bacon prevailing wage compliance, prohibition on covered telecommunications equipment, System for Award Management registration, and Small and Minority Business utilization where possible. Contractor personnel with data access must pass background checks prohibiting felony convictions or computer security-related misdemeanor convictions.