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Idaho Falls Power awards downtown alley undergrounding contract to B Jackson Construction
Summary
Idaho Falls Power presented a previously awarded $2 million OER grant project to underground overhead electrical infrastructure in three downtown alleys and the council approved a $509,754.94 not‑to‑exceed construction contract with B Jackson Construction for the general‑construction portion of phase 1.
Idaho Falls Power chief financial officer Josh Bruce told the council the downtown alley undergrounding project — funded in part by a $2 million grant from the Idaho Office of Energy and Mineral Resources (OER) — aims to remove overhead wires, poles and transformers across three downtown alleyways and relocate that infrastructure underground to improve reliability and safety.
Bruce said an initial bid for the general‑construction portion (Part A) came back substantially higher than the city’s engineering estimate because the early scope would have required trenching under a railroad and under Yellowstone Avenue. The department rebid the work with a revised alignment that avoids trenching under the railroad and Yellowstone, and it received three bids on the revised scope.
The council voted to accept a Part A low‑responsive bid from B Jackson Construction for a not‑to‑exceed amount of $509,754.94. The electrical (Part B) work had been previously approved when its bids matched engineering estimates.
Why it matters: staff said moving lines underground will improve downtown reliability and site safety and make the alleys more attractive for businesses and the public. The revised alignment retains an electrical “loop feed” design so an outage in one segment can be isolated, limiting the customer impact.
Council discussion
Councilors asked about bid differences and removed bid items. Councilor questions focused on unit pricing for excavation and contingencies for unknown conditions in old downtown alleyways; staff said the contract includes a 10% contingency to address unknown subsurface conditions and noted B Jackson’s recent work for the city’s fiber directional‑boring projects.
Vote
A motion to accept and approve the award to B Jackson Construction in a not‑to‑exceed amount of $509,754.94 passed by roll call vote; the clerk recorded the motion as carried.
Next steps
The mayor and city clerk were authorized to execute the contract documents and Idaho Falls Power will manage construction and contingency draws.
