Northwest Public-Works Bid Digest: Week of October 5, 2026

This is our weekly roundup of open public-works bid opportunities across the Northwest that matter to electrical and utility contractors — transmission and distribution work, substations, plant electrical and controls, and the material and service packages that go with them. We update it every Monday. Every listing below came off the owner's own solicitation page or bid documents, links back to it, and had a bid due date in the future when we published. Some weeks that's a dozen jobs; some weeks it's a handful. This week it's six verified lines.

The new one this week is a field job: Mason County PUD No. 1's Eldon-to-Duckabush overhead rebuild on the Hood Canal side, and it carries a mandatory pre-bid you can't skip. The other five are carryovers still open from prior weeks — the Mayfield GSU, Columbia Heights, the Mason No. 3 transformer, and Cowlitz's two equipment buys. We ran the usual WA/OR/ID/MT portals again; nothing electrical or utility with a live future date checked out against an owner's own page in Idaho or Montana this week, so we've left those states off rather than pad the list. Here's what's open.

This Week at a Glance

Project	Agency	Location	Bid Due
Mayfield Bank 2 GSU Transformer (PT26-0110F)	Tacoma Power	Silver Creek, WA	Oct 6, 2026, 11:00 AM PT
Columbia Heights Substation (ITB)	Northern Wasco County PUD	The Dalles, OR	Oct 13, 2026, 2:00 PM PT
Substation Power Transformer (M2-2026)	Mason County PUD No. 3	Shelton, WA	Oct 21, 2026, 3:00 PM PT
Swift No. 2 13.8kV Switchgear — Equipment (SW195)	Cowlitz PUD	Cowlitz County, WA	Oct 29, 2026, 2:30 PM PT
Eldon to Duckabush Overhead Rebuild (RFP)	Mason County PUD No. 1	Mason County, WA	Oct 30, 2026, 10:00 AM PT
Power Transformer Supply (UC1859)	Cowlitz PUD	Longview, WA	Dec 1, 2026, 2:00 PM PT

Mayfield Bank 2 GSU Transformer (PT26-0110F) — Tacoma Power

Tacoma Power is soliciting a three-phase 13.8/240 kV, 38.4/51.2/64 MVA generator step-up (GSU) transformer with an isolated-phase bus connection for Bank 2 at the Mayfield Hydroelectric Project. This is a material procurement — a fit for transformer manufacturers and their reps, and for the specialty crews that handle GSU delivery, setting, and bus tie-in. Estimated value is around $3.7 million, and it closes tomorrow, so it's last call.

• Due: Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 11:00 AM PT, spec PT26-0110F.
• Pre-proposal meeting: September 9, 2026 at the Mayfield Hydroelectric Project, 253 Hydro Lane, Silver Creek, WA — now past, so work from the documents and any addenda.
• Scope: Furnish a three-phase 13.8/240 kV, 38.4/51.2/64 MVA generator step-up transformer and isolated-phase bus connection.
• Source: City of Tacoma request for proposals PT26-0110F

Worth checking: On a GSU buy the long-lead schedule is the whole game, so read for the required delivery date and any liquidated damages tied to it before you price it. Nail down the taps, impedance, BIL, and cooling stages (the 38.4/51.2/64 MVA rating is your ONAN/ONAF/ONAF steps), and whether the isolated-phase bus, bushings, and monitoring are in scope or by others. Confirm factory and field test requirements, who owns offloading and setting at a tight-access hydro site, and the warranty term.

Columbia Heights Substation (ITB) — Northern Wasco County PUD

Northern Wasco County PUD, out of The Dalles, has its Columbia Heights substation project out for bid — a substation build, which for an electrical contractor means the full package of civil, structural, grounding, and equipment-setting work rather than a material buy. The District doesn't keep its own plan-holder list; documents and addenda live on OregonBuys, so register there and watch for addenda yourself.

• Due: Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 2:00 PM PT.
• Scope: Construction of the Columbia Heights substation (electrical infrastructure).
• Source: Northern Wasco County PUD RFPs/ITBs

Worth checking: On a substation build the first question is the owner/contractor split on major equipment — are the power transformer, breakers, and switchgear PUD-furnished or in your scope — and what that does to your schedule and your long-lead risk. Read for the grounding-grid spec and testing, control-building and relay/SCADA scope, and site civil (grading, containment, fencing). Confirm Oregon prevailing wage (BOLI), bond percentages, any prequalification, and the energization milestone and its liquidated damages. Get the addenda off OregonBuys before you price.

Substation Power Transformer (M2-2026) — Mason County PUD No. 3

Mason County PUD No. 3 in Shelton has its substation power transformer buy still open after two companion packages closed September 16 (M3-2026 Distribution Transformers and M4-2026 Switchgear Cabinet). It's a supply contract for a single substation-class transformer.

• Due: Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 3:00 PM PT, bid M2-2026.
• Scope: Utility material procurement — a substation power transformer per the District's specification.
• Source: Mason County PUD No. 3 RFPs & Bids

Worth checking: This is a supply contract, so the pivot is the technical spec and the delivery date, not labor. Read the ratings, taps, impedance, BIL, and cooling stages, and confirm whether the PUD scores bids with a loss-evaluation formula — capitalized no-load and load losses can move an award more than the sticker price. Nail down the delivery window and any liquidated damages, factory-test requirements, and the warranty term. Vendors bid PUD 3 work through the MRSC Rosters database, so make sure you're registered and have selected Mason County PUD No. 3 before the deadline.

Swift No. 2 13.8kV Switchgear — Equipment Procurement (SW195) — Cowlitz PUD

Cowlitz PUD is buying the equipment for the 13.8kV breaker reconfiguration at its Swift No. 2 Hydroelectric Project: 15kV switchgear, a 13.5kV–480V station-service transformer, and 480V station-service switchgear, all designed, fabricated, and delivered per spec (HDR is the engineer of record). This is an equipment-supply package aimed at switchgear manufacturers and their reps rather than field crews — the install follows separately.

• Due: Sealed bids before 2:30 PM PT, Thursday, October 29, 2026, marked "Sealed Bid – Swift No. 2 13.8kV Switchgear Upgrades – Equipment Procurement, Contract SW195."
• Intent to bid: The District asked for an intent-to-bid email to Andrew Davis (adavis@cowlitzpud.org) by October 2, 2026 — now past. Addenda go only to bidders who submitted intent, so if you missed it, contact the District before you commit time.
• Scope: Design, fabricate, and deliver 15kV switchgear, a 13.5kV–480V station-service transformer, and 480V station-service switchgear.
• Source: Cowlitz PUD Bid Documents

Worth checking: The intent-to-bid step closed October 2, so confirm you're on the addenda list before you build this — on a design-fabricate-deliver package the addenda tend to move the ratings and terminations. Bid security is 5%. Read the single-line and interface details closely: bus ratings, interrupting duty, relay/protection scheme, and where your equipment terminations pick up against the existing 13.8kV work at Swift No. 2. Confirm the delivery date and any liquidated damages, factory test and witness requirements, and how submittal review works before release to fabrication.

Eldon to Duckabush Overhead Rebuild (RFP) — Mason County PUD No. 1

New this week, and the only field job on the board. Mason County PUD No. 1 posted a Request for Proposals for an overhead line rebuild between Eldon and Duckabush on the Hood Canal side of the county. The bid package runs to seven appendices — general info, plan-profiles, staking sheets, structure drawings, a bill of materials, guidelines, and specifications — so this is line work for a qualified line contractor, not a material buy.

• Due: Friday, October 30, 2026, 10:00 AM PT, with the bid opening at 10:15 AM PT via Zoom.
• Pre-bid meeting: Mandatory, Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM PT — meet at the PUD and then drive to the site. Miss it and you can't bid.
• Scope: Overhead line rebuild/reconductor from Eldon to Duckabush, per the plan-profiles, staking sheets, and structure drawings in the bid appendices.
• Source: Mason County PUD No. 1 bids

Worth checking: The mandatory pre-bid tomorrow (October 6) is the gate — if nobody from your shop is there, you're out, so sort attendance first. Then work the bill of materials against the staking sheets to see what's owner-furnished versus contractor-supplied (poles, conductor, hardware), and read the structure drawings for anything that drives special equipment or access — use the pre-bid site visit to look at access, right-of-way, and clearing on this Hood Canal terrain. Confirm Washington prevailing wage, bond percentages, outage/energization coordination with the District, the construction window against winter weather, and who handles traffic control and any shoreline permitting near the canal.

Full AI brief → https://www.deadfront.ai/bids/mason-pud-eldon-duckabush-reconductor

Power Transformer Supply (UC1859) — Cowlitz PUD

The one with the longest runway. Cowlitz PUD is taking sealed bids on the supply of four three-phase power transformers under Contract UC1859 — a straight material-supply buy, delivery only, for transformer manufacturers and reps.

• Due: Sealed bids before 2:00 PM PT, Tuesday, December 1, 2026, marked "Sealed Bid – Power Transformer Supply, Contract UC1859," publicly opened.
• Scope: Supply and deliver four three-phase power transformers per the District's specifications.
• Source: Cowlitz PUD Bid Documents

Worth checking: Bid security is 5% (bid bond, cashier's, or certified check), and the District notes it may award to more than one vendor — so read whether you can bid a partial quantity and how a split award is scored. The delivery schedule and any price-adjustment terms carry the number; read the Payment Terms, Pricing & Price Adjustment section against your lead times, and note the package's caution that deliveries can't be accepted November through March due to weather and road conditions. Check the ratings, taps, impedance, BIL, and cooling per unit, confirm whether losses are capitalized in the evaluation, and pin down the delivery window and warranty. Addenda post to the bid-documents page, so check back late November.

Before You Chase These

Six verified lines this week — four equipment buys (Mayfield GSU, Mason No. 3 M2, Cowlitz's SW195 switchgear and UC1859 transformers), one substation build (Columbia Heights), and one overhead line rebuild (Mason No. 1 Eldon-to-Duckabush) — with nothing we could verify in Idaho or Montana. On the supply packages the loss-evaluation math and the delivery date matter more than crew rates; Columbia Heights and Eldon-to-Duckabush are where labor, coordination, and the owner-furnished-equipment split drive the number. Two gates land tomorrow, October 6: the Mayfield GSU due date and the Eldon-to-Duckabush mandatory pre-bid.

Dates and times above were verified against each owner's own solicitation page or bid documents the day we published, but addenda move targets — always confirm the current due date, submission method, and any pre-bid requirement on the source page before you build your bid.

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If you're bidding one of these, we can turn the solicitation into a full AI bid brief — bonds, prevailing wage, owner-furnished equipment, submittal windows, and the rest — at deadfront.ai; see real example briefs for how they read.