The Bonneville Power Administration has announced plans to build a new Morrow Flat substation about a mile and a half east of Boardman.
According to the BPA, the project would help meet increased energy demand from existing development, food processing plants and new data centers in the Boardman area.
The 17.5-acre substation would be located in an area zoned for industry adjacent to existing BPA transmission lines. The 230/115-kilovolt (kV) substation would require reconstruction of steel structures within a mile of the substation on two transmission lines. The project also requires the BPA to make improvements along the McNary-Boardman and McNary-Jones Canyon 230-kV transmission lines for operational safety. Those improvements could include reconfiguring hardware on the existing structures, regrading the ground beneath the transmission lines or replacing steel structures.
The BPA plans to complete an environmental analysis by the summer of 2014.
A public meeting on the project has been scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the SAGE Center Auditorium, 101 Olson Road in Boardman. Project team members will be on hand to answer questions.
Comments on the proposal and its potential impacts can be submitted through Dec. 31. They may be sent to the BPA, Public Affairs – DKE-7, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, 97293-4428 or by phone at 800-622-4519, by fax at 503-230-4019 or on the BPA website. (www.bpa.gov/comment)
