MTA Construction & Development first set a Dec. 12, 2024 bid date for Contract P36509, Rehabilitation of 5 Circuit Breaker Houses. By May the contract was on its seventh addendum, with a May 29 date. Bids finally opened on July 1, and TAP Electrical Contracting Service Inc. came out on top at an evaluated $55,259,378.12. That is the apparent low, not an award.

The bid form has three parts. The A is the construction price. B1 is the bidder's total for railroad-supplied services, and B2 prices the milestone schedule the bidder commits to. TAP bid $35,100,000 A, $1,530,168.12 B1 and $18,629,210 B2. The full field by evaluated total: TAP $55,259,378.12; FOS Development Corp. $59,534,303.86 ($38,965,505 A); J-Track LLC $63,065,227.70 ($44,122,000 A); RMD Electric Corp. $63,635,245.10 ($40,700,000 A); L.K. Comstock & Company $77,939,090 ($52,957,000 A); Citnalta Construction Corp. $81,165,948.40 ($54,821,000 A); and Judlau Contracting $89,427,945.40 ($60,000,000 A).

TAP led FOS by $4,274,925.74, or 7.7%. The top bid is 61.8% above the low, and the median is RMD's $63.6 million. The schedule half of the bid carried real weight. B2 values ran from $16.3 million to $25.1 million, and J-Track, with the shortest schedule on the tab, still finished third because its A price was $9 million above TAP's. RMD had the third-lowest A price but slipped to fourth once schedule and railroad-services values were added.

The notice lists new or refurbished DC circuit breakers and feeders; repairs to leaking roofs, walls, floors and broken windows; new lighting and vandal-proof doors; new phones and an access intrusion system; new SCADA integration equipment and battery wiring; environmental remediation; and removal of existing equipment. One of the five breaker houses will be built as a modular building. Site tours met at Nostrand Avenue on the 2 and 3 in Brooklyn and at 104 Street on the A in Queens. The job is 100% federally funded, with a 22.5% DBE goal, a 730-day term and an estimated range of $50 million to $100 million.

Why this matters. Circuit breaker houses are part of the subway's traction power network, and the MTA's capital listing describes this project as replacing aging equipment to improve reliability. Seven bids, in a field heavy with transit electrical contractors, is a healthy turnout for power work. The 7.7% gap at the top suggests the prices sit close to the market.

What to do next. Electrical subs, DBE firms chasing the 22.5% goal, roofing and masonry trades, and modular-building suppliers should price to TAP's apparent low and wait for the award. Nothing has been awarded yet. The board listing is RFI-001910.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: The MTA's capital project listing now names TAP Electrical Contracting Service Inc. as prime contractor on P36509, with construction starting in October 2025 and a project cost of $55,958,246. The contract does not appear on C&D's published 2025 or 2026 award lists.