MTA Construction & Development opened Contract P36730, Rehabilitation of Hunter South Substation and Replacement of Components at Hunter North Substation in Queens, on Feb. 4. Five electrical contractors bid. E.J. Electric Installation Co. is the apparent low at an evaluated $33,407,000. That is the apparent low, not an award.
P36730 is bid A+B: a gross sum construction price plus a value for the milestone duration the bidder commits to. E.J. Electric bid $28,547,000 A and $4,860,000 B. The rest of the field by evaluated total: TC Electric $42,581,622 ($38,081,622 A); TAP Electrical Contracting Service $43,430,000 ($37,940,000 A); Voltamp Electrical Contractors $51,785,300 ($46,295,300 A); and Sea Breeze General Construction $57,573,327 ($53,073,327 A).
E.J. Electric finished $9,174,622, or 27.5%, under TC Electric. The high bid is 72.3% above the low, and the median is TAP's $43.43 million. On A price alone, E.J. Electric was $9.4 million under the next-lowest, TAP. TC Electric and Sea Breeze offered the shortest schedules ($4.5 million B each), but that $360,000 schedule edge was nowhere near enough to cover the price gap. The notice listed the job at $10 million to $50 million, with goals of 15% MBE, 15% WBE and 6% SDVOB, 100% MTA funding and a 1,035-day term. It was first set to open Dec. 4, 2025.
The substations feed the E and M lines. The MTA's capital listing describes substations as the plants that convert utility power into the 650-volt DC that moves trains, and says this project replaces aging equipment at Hunter North and South to stabilize traction power. According to the notice, Hunter South gets new high-tension switchgear, a power transformer, a rectifier, a DC breaker lineup, and new high- and low-tension Con Edison services. Hunter North gets new high-tension switchgear, and Circuit Breaker House 563 gets new DC breakers. The contract also covers property line boxes, ducts, positive and negative cabling, structural and architectural repairs, and asbestos abatement. The site tour met at the E and M's Court Square-23rd Street station.
Why this matters. Traction power is specialty work, and the same handful of transit electrical primes keep showing up for it. A 27.5% lead is a wide margin in a field that small. Expect the MTA to review E.J. Electric's price closely before recommending award, and expect switchgear and transformer lead times to drive the schedule once work starts.
What to do next. Switchgear, transformer and rectifier suppliers, cable pullers, abatement firms, and M/WBE and SDVOB electrical subs should price to E.J. Electric's apparent low and watch for the award. The board listing is RFI-000814.