Top US Pacific Northwest utility unveils $3bn grid and power line upgrades for renewables ramp

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the largest supplier of electricity in the US Pacific Northwest, has identified 13 transmission and substation projects – a potential $3bn investment –that would accommodate significant forecast regional load growth, and wind and solar power capacity expansion.

“BPA continues to answer the call to meet the region’s transmission needs driven by electrification, clean energy goals, and growing energy demand,” said John Hairston, CEO of BPA, a federal agency that is part of the Department of Energy (DoE).

“Consistent, steady energy infrastructure investments such as these will help the region maintain reliability and a strong economy fueled by clean energy,” he added.

In May last year, Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, a non-profit association of electric utilities and other power industry partners, predicted electricity demand in the region to grow 20% over the next five years.

Load growth will surge by more than 30% by 2035, about three times what the group was forecasting in 2021. Driving load growth is growing electrification of buildings and transportation, a proliferation of data centres, and reshoring of manufacturing.

The 13 proposed “evolving grid projects” in Oregon and Washington include new 500kV transmission lines, substations, switchyards, and transformer banks, and upgrading lower voltage lines to 500kV.

BPA said the projects are in the early development stage, which requires them to pass preliminary engineering and environmental reviews before final approvals are made whether they should advance to construction.

The projects are in addition to others proposed by BPA in July 2023, bringing the number to more than 20, a potential combined $5bn investment.

Early last decade, both states were national leaders in onshore wind, but later development significantly slowed in part due to grid and interconnection limitations. On 1 January, Oregon had 3.4GW of turbines spinning and Washington 4.1GW, ranking them 13th and 11th among states, respectively.

Transmission, particularly intra-regional and inter-regional, is among the major bottlenecks preventing a significant ramp in US clean energy availability and adoption.

Created by an act of Congress in 1937, BPA sells power generated on its grid to industry, private and public utilities within its service territory. The electricity comes from 31 federal hydro dams, a nuclear plant

It owns and operates more than 15,000 circuit miles of electrical lines and 261 substations, and controls 75% of high-voltage (230kV and higher) transmission capacity in the Pacific Northwest.