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Warm Springs and PGE present transmission upgrade aimed at regional resilience and development
Summary
Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises and Portland General Electric presented a grant‑funded plan to upgrade an existing 230 kV transmission corridor to 500 kV, adding capacity and fiber. Presenters said the upgrade would support regional grid resilience, data‑center and renewable interconnection and estimated 600–700 construction jobs; target in‑service year cited as 2032.
Representatives from Portland General Electric and Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises briefed the Board on a transmission upgrade project that would reinforce an existing 230 kV corridor (the Bethel/Round Butte line) and expand capacity by converting to 500 kV structures.
Kathy Eli (Warm Springs) and JD Podlesnick (PGE) said the project reuses an existing corridor and was the recipient of a GRIP (grid resilience innovative partnership)‑style grant. "This project looks at using that existing transmission corridor and upgrading that 230 kV to 500 kV," Podlesnick explained, saying the work would increase capacity, allow bidirectional flows and enable future interconnections from the east side.
Presenters emphasized regional benefits beyond the reservation: new fiber on the structures would complete a mid‑state loop and improve connectivity; re‑enforced transmission and substation upgrades could enable local developers and the tribe to bring generation online for broader markets; and project construction could create hundreds of short‑term jobs. The speakers also acknowledged the complexity of permitting (federal NEPA/NEPA‑like reviews, multiple landowners including national forest and tribal lands) and said permitting typically consumes most of a transmission project's schedule; they cited a target in‑service year of 2032 but noted that permitting and federal processes dominate the timeline.
Commissioners asked how Jefferson County residents and taxpayers would benefit beyond construction jobs; presenters cited downstream studies and a joint transmission planning effort with DOE national‑lab technical support that aims to identify locations and infrastructure upgrades that could enable east‑side distribution and local access to generation in the future.
Why it matters: the proposed upgrade is large in scale and would affect regional transmission capacity and economic development prospects for Central Oregon. The board was asked to consider supporting coordination and public comments during federal and state permitting steps.
