Warm Springs Tribes and partners hold kick-off meeting for major transmission line upgrade project
WARM SPRINGS. Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs hosted key partners Tuesday for a kick-off that will begin shaping the planning and development of the upcoming 98-mile Bethel-Round Butte Transmission Line upgrade.
The one-day kickoff meeting, which set the stage for the next several years, included officials and program partners, including representatives from Portland General Electric and the U.S. Department of Energy. Participants learned more about the Tribes, their land, their collaborative approach to resource management and their Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprises.
The event included a helicopter tour of their Reservation and the Pelton-Round Butte hydroelectric project, which the Tribes jointly own with PGE. It will be one of the first projects of its kind between a Tribal government and an Investor-Owned Utility.
"Our survival as a people depends on protecting our right to exercise our sovereignty. This Bethel-Round Butte Transmission Line upgrade allows us to continue sustaining our land through restoration work and our people through jobs, education and generational wealth," said Tribal Council Chairman Jonathan Smith of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. "We look forward to growing the role of our Tribes in shaping Oregon's energy future."
The upgrade, which will involve a multi-year planning phase, is anticipated to take approximately eight years. The two-year planning process will enhance the current transmission line, which spans between Salem and Madras, increasing voltage from 230 kV to 500 kV, which expands its capacity. Following the upgrade’s completion, the Tribes will be able to develop, and connect, new renewable energy projects, including potential solar farms, that will unlock both revenue and job opportunities for the Tribal community.
To support these community-building opportunities, Tribal members will benefit from renewable energy curriculum at the Warm Springs K-8 Academy, a high school mentorship program with coaching from energy industry professionals, a partnership with Oregon Tradeswomen to provide pre-apprenticeship programming, and access road construction jobs throughout the Reservation performed by tribal enterprises.
Additionally, the transmission line will help meet growing demand for electricity from throughout the Willamette Valley, which includes half of Oregon’s population and two thirds of the state’s commercial and industrial activity.
The Tribes, along with PGE, will lead the upgrade efforts, which include the installation of new, high-capacity fiber optic cables that will also bring broadband access to communities and Tribal families alongside the transmission route, many of whom are rural and under-served. Additionally, the project will develop new substation facilities that will support capacity for new renewable energy facilities.
Financial negotiations with the United States were recently completed, following the award of a $250 million Grid Resilience Innovative Partnerships Program grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Additional funding will be provided, jointly, by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and PGE.
Cathy Ehli, Executive Director of the Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises, which manages the Tribes' energy assets and facilities, said: "At their core, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are energy Tribes. What this Transmission Line upgrade represents is more than just increasing capacity: it’s about unlocking opportunities for the Tribes and our enterprises in the future of energy.”
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The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon is a federally-recognized, sovereign Indian tribe occupying the Warm Springs Reservation, which was reserved for its exclusive benefit by an 1855 Treaty with the United States. The Reservation stretches from the summit of the Cascade Mountains to the cliffs of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon.
