WASHINGTON, D.C. - The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Pepco will host a forum to inform District of Columbia businesses about the District of Columbia Power Line Undergrounding (DC PLUG) initiative and contracting opportunities.

This forum, the second held by DDOT and Pepco, will be 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 18 at One Judiciary Square Building, 441 4^th St. NW, Old City Council Chambers. DDOT and Pepco will review the initiative proposal for work during the first three years. Businesses also will learn about:

• The technical approach for placing the 21 selected feeders underground
• The procurement planning process, which addresses the bid schedule
• The timeline for the solicitation announcement and award
• The contractor registration processes for DDOT and Pepco

A Q&A segment at the end of the program will give businesses the opportunity to discuss planning, engineering and construction issues with Pepco and DDOT. The first forum in March, in which Pepco and DDOT engineers presented an overview of the multi-year strategy for placing the selected feeders  underground, drew more than 90 prospective contractors and suppliers.

The DC PLUG initiative represents a public-private partnership between the DDOT and Pepco that will result in the strategic undergrounding of District of Columbia overhead feeders in Wards 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. The multi-year, $1 billion initiative was recommended through a collaborative process initiated by Mayor Vincent C. Gray to help prevent prolonged electric service outages during significant weather events.

The legislation that authorized the DC PLUG initiative became effective in May, and it mandated a triennial plan review process. DDOT and Pepco filed a joint application for approval of the Triennial Plan for the DC PLUG initiative with the Public Service Commission in June. The Triennial Plan - which covers 2015-2017 - calls for DDOT to construct the necessary underground facilities and for Pepco to install the electric distribution system improvements.

Due to space limitations, registration for the forum is limited to no more than two representatives from any company. Registration ends Sept. 8; to register, businesses should visit pepco.com/DCPLUGForum. For questions about registering for the forum, please email truffin@pepco.com or dc.plug@dc.gov.