BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION
BPA takes ownership of switchyards at the Grand Coulee Dam

On a sunny October morning, in a clearing beneath the mammoth concrete facade of the largest dam in North America, representatives from BPA and the Bureau of Reclamation celebrated the conclusion of a six-year effort to transfer ownership of critical electrical grid components.

The transfer of Grand Coulee's 115-kilovolt, 230-kV and 500-kV switchyards from Reclamation to BPA represents the largest asset transfer in BPA's history. The move will enable efforts to modernize this aging infrastructure at a lower cost than would otherwise be possible, while preserving reliability of assets that connect the power plant to the transmission grid.

"We are actively working to preserve the value of Grand Coulee and improve on the reliability of this critical piece to our federal transmission and power systems for the benefit of our ratepayers and the region. And we're doing it in a way that helps significantly minimize rate pressures related to our modernization projects at each of these switchyards," said John Hairston, BPA Administrator. "I am proud of the collaboration between Reclamation and BPA that has allowed both entities to focus on their areas of strength to the benefit of the Pacific Northwest."

The transition will occur gradually over five years to provide the greatest level of reliability and ensure continued safety in switchyard operations. After the transition is complete, BPA expects to realize overall cost savings in annual operations and maintenance expenses, along with significant reduction in overhead costs on capital modernization projects moving forward.

The transfer of the switchyard assets will further improve transmission project planning related to Grand Coulee as well as support BPA's execution of transmission asset investments consistent with the agency's criticality, health and risk framework.

For Reclamation, the transfer removes the need for costly operations, maintenance work and all requirements that come with being the assets' designated owner.

"Transferring these valuable assets allow our agencies to continue to flourish and do what we do best - Reclamation's commitment to manage, develop and protect water and related resources in the West and BPA's role in providing reliable and affordable power," said Jennifer Carrington, the Columbia-Pacific Northwest Regional Director for Reclamation.

BPA and other utilities in the West are seeing record levels of requests to integrate new renewable generation into the grid, as well as load growth across their service territories. Within BPA's balancing authority, Grand Coulee plays an outsized role in supporting both scenarios given its nameplate capacity of more than 7,000 megawatts and its ability to quickly ramp generation up and down.

Renewable energy resources like wind and solar are variable in nature and require another generation source to make up any difference between the renewable resources' expected generation and actual power output.

"It's foundational for the reliability and safety of our electrical grid that BPA have sufficient transmission infrastructure in place to leverage the value that Grand Coulee brings to our system," said Richard Shaheen, the senior vice president of Transmission Services. "With direct access and ownership of the switchyards, we can quickly and effectively address some of the aging assets within these facilities to ensure Grand Coulee continues to perform its historic role in the Northwest and bring great value to the region."