Nexus Electrical Group provided electrical services in support of City of Portland infrastructure improvements, contributing to projects that strengthen critical public utilities and municipal operations. Through collaboration with project partners and public agencies, Nexus helped support infrastructure that serves Portland communities every day.
Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant — Electrical Construction Support, Portland, Oregon
Between 2024 and 2025, Nexus Electrical Group performed electrical construction scope at Portland’s Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant during the City of Portland’s $515 million Secondary Treatment Expansion Program (STEP) — installing conduit, raceway and feeder systems, providing temporary construction power, and installing Level 2 EV charging stations at Oregon’s largest wastewater treatment facility.
The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant treats wastewater for more than 650,000 people across the Portland metro area. It never shuts down. Every hour of electrical work performed there had to happen around a plant running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with less than eight hours of combined sewer overflow storage available as a buffer. That constraint — not the raw scale — is what defines electrical work on a live municipal treatment facility.
Project at a Glance
- Project
- Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant, Secondary Treatment Expansion Program (STEP)
- Owner
- City of Portland, Bureau of Environmental Services
- Location
- 5001 N Columbia Blvd, Portland, Oregon
- Program value
- $515 million — the largest upgrade to the plant since the 1970s
- Prime contractor
- Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. (CM/GC delivery)
- Nexus role
- Second-tier electrical subcontractor, working as part of a team under a subcontractor holding a direct contract with Kiewit
- Nexus on site
- 2024–2025
- Nexus scope
- Conduit, raceway and feeder installation; temporary construction power; Level 2 EV charging stations
- Plant capacity
- ~70 million gallons per day typical; 450 million gallons per day peak wet weather
- Program schedule
- Construction began June 2019; completion targeted for early 2027 per the City of Portland
- Certifications
- COBID DBE / MBE / ESB #12161 · Oregon CCB #226988
About the Secondary Treatment Expansion Program
The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant opened in 1952 and is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Oregon. STEP is the most significant investment in the facility in roughly 50 years, driven by three forces at once: an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality compliance deadline, population growth across the service area, and the need to make critical public infrastructure seismically resilient ahead of a Cascadia subduction zone event.
The program’s major components include two new 150-foot-diameter secondary clarifiers that came online in December 2024 to meet the DEQ deadline, a replacement biosolids processing facility superseding the original 1970s-era structure, phased concrete restoration of eight aeration basins, and a new LEED Gold multi-use building. Ground improvement work included deep soil mixing and jet grouting to bring structures up to current seismic standards.
Every one of those components needed power, controls, and distribution infrastructure routed to it — through an operating plant, across active process areas, and without interrupting treatment.
What Nexus Electrical Group Did on This Project
Nexus crews were on site between 2024 and 2025, during the period that included commissioning of the program’s two new secondary clarifiers and ongoing construction of the replacement biosolids facility.
Conduit, raceway, and feeder installation
Nexus crews installed conduit systems, raceway, and feeder runs supporting new and relocated plant infrastructure. In a wastewater environment, this is not standard commercial rough-in. Routing has to account for corrosive atmospheres, wash-down areas, classified locations around digesters and headworks, seismic bracing requirements, and coordination with process piping and structural work that is often being installed in the same congested corridor at the same time. Layout decisions made in the field had to hold up against a design that was still developing under a CM/GC delivery model.
Temporary construction power
Temporary power on a live treatment plant is a life-safety and continuity-of-operations scope, not a convenience. Nexus provided temporary power distribution supporting construction operations while the plant continued treating wastewater without interruption. That means temporary systems had to be planned so they never competed with, compromised, or created a fault path into permanent plant power feeding critical process equipment — and had to be sequenced around demolition, tie-ins, and shutdown windows measured in hours, not days.
Level 2 EV charging stations
Nexus installed multiple Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at the site serving construction personnel working the project. Multi-unit commercial EV charging is a different problem than a single home charger: several stations sharing one service require load calculations against available capacity, correctly sized feeders and overcurrent protection for simultaneous charging, appropriate branch circuit design, weather- and impact-rated mounting for an active construction environment, and siting that keeps cords and clearances out of vehicle and equipment paths.
It is also a preview of where large jobsites are heading. As construction fleets and worker vehicles electrify, charging capacity is becoming a general conditions item that GCs have to plan for rather than an amenity, and it has to be installed by someone who can size it against whatever service is actually available on site.
Why this matters to general contractors: On a CM/GC public works project with a Community Benefits Agreement, a certified DBE/MBE electrical subcontractor who can self-perform conduit, feeders, and temporary power — and hold schedule inside an operating facility — helps a prime contractor meet both production and participation goals with the same award.
What Electrical Work Does a Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Require?
A wastewater treatment plant upgrade typically requires medium- and low-voltage distribution, motor control center installation and relocation, conduit and raceway systems rated for corrosive and classified environments, feeder installation to process equipment, instrumentation and control wiring, standby and emergency power, area and task lighting, grounding and seismic bracing, and temporary construction power to maintain operations throughout the work.
The differentiator is almost never the electrical technique. It is sequencing. Treatment plants cannot be de-energized on a contractor’s schedule, so tie-ins get executed in narrow, pre-approved outage windows with rollback plans in place, and long-term reliability depends on disciplined NFPA 70B electrical maintenance once the work is energized. Contractors who have not worked inside an operating plant routinely underestimate the planning burden that comes with that.
Who Built the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion?
The Secondary Treatment Expansion Program is owned by the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, with Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. serving as prime contractor under a Construction Manager/General Contractor delivery model. The program was delivered by a large team of specialty subcontractors. Nexus Electrical Group participated as a second-tier electrical subcontractor between 2024 and 2025, working as part of an electrical team under a subcontractor holding a direct contract with Kiewit, and performing conduit, raceway, feeder, temporary power, and Level 2 EV charging scope.
Can Nexus Electrical Group Work as a DBE Subcontractor on Public Works Projects?
Yes. Nexus Electrical Group is certified through Oregon’s Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Minority Business Enterprise, and Emerging Small Business, certification #12161, and holds Oregon CCB #226988. Nexus is also a participant in the Port of Portland Mentor-Protégé Program. Work performed under Community Benefits Agreements on projects like STEP counts toward prime contractor participation goals.
- COBID DBE #12161
- COBID MBE #12161
- COBID ESB #12161
- Oregon CCB #226988
- Port of Portland Mentor-Protégé Program
- Licensed & insured
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Nexus Electrical Group’s scope at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant?
Between 2024 and 2025, Nexus installed conduit, raceway, and feeder systems, provided temporary construction power supporting work in an operating plant, and installed multiple Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at the site. Nexus performed this work as a second-tier electrical subcontractor, working as part of a team under a subcontractor contracted directly to Kiewit Infrastructure West on the City of Portland’s Secondary Treatment Expansion Program.
How large is the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant?
It is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Oregon, serving more than 650,000 people. It treats roughly 70 million gallons per day under normal conditions and can handle up to 450 million gallons per day during heavy rainfall.
Does Nexus Electrical Group take on industrial and municipal electrical work?
Yes. Alongside residential and commercial service across Beaverton and the Portland metro area, Nexus performs industrial and public-sector electrical construction, including conduit and feeder installation, temporary construction power, and commercial EV charging infrastructure.
What area does Nexus Electrical Group serve?
Nexus Electrical Group is based at 3075 SW 185th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97006 and serves Beaverton, Portland, Hillsboro, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Gresham, and the surrounding Portland metro area.
How can a general contractor request a bid from Nexus Electrical Group?
General contractors and public agencies can call (971) 410-7073 or request a quote online. Nexus can provide certification documentation, licensing, and insurance information for prequalification.
Bidding public works in the Portland metro?
Nexus Electrical Group brings COBID DBE/MBE/ESB certification and operating-facility experience to general contractors and public agencies across Oregon.