Legend
PGE will hold a series of meetings to share more information about the project.
All meetings will open at 6:15 p.m. with a brief presentation at 6:30 p.m. followed by opportunities to engage with subject matter experts about the project, planning and impacts.
- Wednesday August 7 at Skyline Grange Hall, 11275 NW Skyline Blvd., Portland
- Tuesday September 24 at Linnton Community Center, 10614 NW St. Helens Rd., Portland
- Thursday October 24 at Linnton Community Center, 10614 NW St. Helens Rd., Portland
Harborton Reliability Project
Aging infrastructure is a challenge, nationwide. One of our most critical needs is a stronger, more modern power grid that can deliver reliable power, meeting our needs today and as we move to a cleaner energy future that will help address climate change.
The Harborton Reliability Project is a key, immediate part of providing reliable electricity to power our homes, economy, and lives. This portion of a multi-phase project will make needed equipment upgrades and add transmission capacity into Portland and throughout our service area. It will resolve a critical bottleneck in the grid and help meet future demand, especially as extreme weather becomes more frequent.
This phase will upgrade an existing transmission line that connects the Harborton substation to the west and will add a new quarter-mile line to increase reliability. The work will take place within an existing utility right-of-way that already contains power lines. Making these improvements will require removing approximately five acres of trees from the 5,200-acre park. Two future phases that could occur within existing utility easements are in the earliest planning stages.
Timeline
Overall Project Time
Construction Season 1 - Access Roads and Site Development
No Work: Stabilized for Winter
Construction Season 2 - Powerline Construction
Site Restoration, Mitigation Installation
Periodic Monitoring, Reporting (End Date TBD)
Need and Purpose
The Harborton Reliability Project is a critical upgrade to the electrical system that serves our community, meeting immediate and longer-term needs. The existing system is outdated and cannot transmit electricity at the levels required today and needed to meet future demand, especially in increasing extreme weather events. To meet growing and projected demand for electricity and avoid outages projected in 2028 without these improvements, it is critical PGE start construction on this phase by 2025 and complete it by the end of 2027.
Questions? Comments? Contact PGE at PGEprojects@pgn.com.
FAQ
In 2022, PGE explored an earlier iteration of this project with involved City bureaus through an early-assistance conference. We received thoughtful, frank feedback about the need to thoroughly explore all possible alternatives and environmental mitigation standards – and the rightfully high bar for projects in Forest Park.
In May 2024, PGE submitted a Type III land use application to make urgently needed upgrades to transmission lines within existing utility right-of-way on the northern edge of Forest Park. As is customary, the application was reviewed by City of Portland Bureaus and is categorized as ‘incomplete’ while PGE, as the applicant, responds to questions from City bureaus.
In the application, PGE proposed a broad range of habitat options to improve the natural environment and wildlife habitat within the project area in the North Management Unit of Forest Park, and beyond. Based on the information we received that our application was ‘incomplete,’ we are in active dialogue to determine specific mitigation needs and opportunities. These will almost certainly include enhancing conditions for Northern Red-Legged frogs, planting trees and shrub species within the affected tree removal area, creating habitat niches for wildlife from cut trees, seeding disturbed areas with native seed mix to support pollinators, removing and controlling noxious weeds, contributing to tree canopies that reduce “heat islands” and greenhouse gas emissions.
The original plan for the Harborton Reliability Project was developed in 2015. This phase is intended to increase the reliability and resilience of the power supply to Portland, as well as regional communities, by addressing existing vulnerabilities and delivering an additional power source into the Harborton Substation. This project will relieve system stress in order to continue providing safe and reliable electricity to customers in North and Northwest Portland, as well as the western Portland-Metro area.
Twenty-four alternative projects were evaluated against a common set of criteria to identify a feasible project. Options in the park, outside of the park and non-wire options were evaluated using the same criteria. The proposed project is the best solution in balance, with analyses showing that the alternatives posed one or more of the following issues:
- Would not deliver the needed second 230 kV source to Harborton, resolve transmission outage vulnerabilities or support projected energy needs.
- Would have significant impact to environmentally sensitive areas or community resources.
- Would have significant impact to private property, homes and/or businesses.
- Would not meet the federal reliability requirements that require the project be completed in three years.
- Would adversely impact customer prices.
In this location, underground options would require removing even more trees and vegetation. Trees in the corridor would be permanently removed to prevent roots from encroaching into the lines. Even after construction the area would need to remain vegetation-free. Instead of two overhead lines, as many as eight new pathways would need to be buried for an equivalent amount of power, permanently altering soil, stream and wetland resources along the entire hillside. Given the steep terrain, significant earthwork would be needed to reshape the hillside and prevent landslides. And, this type of facilities would require closing this segment of the park to the public.
Once the City determines PGE’s application is ‘complete,’ the entire document will be posted online.
Questions?
If you have any questions, contact us at:
