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 The existing system is outdated and cannot transmit electricity at the levels required today and needed to meet future demand, especially in increasing extreme weather events.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.
- Since receiving feedback on the preapplication, we have been looking at ways to update the concept and reduce impacts. We respect Forest Park as a beloved, iconic Portland treasure. A project team of transmission planners, engineers, environmental specialists, foresters, and vegetation experts have been evaluating all possible options inside and outside of Forest Park, to inform PGE’s next steps.
- Like utilities across the country, we are making upgrades to a system built for a different time, to meet the needs of the future. In doing so, we carefully plan and add the capacity needed to continue serving customers reliable power from a stronger, increasingly resilient grid.
- The land use application is a process required by the City of Portland. PGE’s application must address specific requirements, which the City will review to determine if PGE has met all requirements. PGE’s application outlines the need for this phase of the Harborton Reliability Project, including analysis of two dozen possible routes inside and outside of Forest Park. The application also describes the impact of developing the project, steps to avoid and minimize habitat impacts and ways that PGE proposes reducing and repairing impacts to the habitat. The filing aims to show how PGE is working to minimize and compensate for the impacts to Forest Park while ensuring that we can meet the urgent electrical needs of our community.
- PGE’s filing will be reviewed by involved City bureaus, including the Portland Parks & Recreation, Bureau of Environmental Services, Bureau of Development Services, Portland Bureau of Transportation, and Portland Fire & Rescue. City staff will notify PGE of any additional materials or information needed and will ultimately determine if the application is complete. The next steps include posting signage around the project site, notification to nearby property owners and organizations, and a public process that includes a land use hearing. More information about the process is available online https://www.portland.gov/bds/documents/type-iii-land-use-procedure/download.
- Yes, PGE will share information about this project on this website, and through a series of upcoming virtual meetings.
Questions?
If you have any questions, contact us at:
