Transmission upgrades, Priest Rapids repairs on 2026 Grant County PUD project list
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 months, 1 week AGO
Upgrades at Priest Rapids Dam are among the projects scheduled for 2026 by the Grant County PUD.
COURTESY PHOTO/GRANT COUNTY PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | October 22, 2025 5:51 PM
EPHRATA — Repairs to Priest Rapids Dam and rebuilding a transmission line between Ancient Lakes and Frenchman Hills are among the Grant County PUD projects scheduled to begin in 2026. Tarrah Bicondova, the PUD’s budget and reporting manager, said the utility is projected to spend $322 million on capital projects in 2026, compared to an estimated $225.6 million in 2025.
“The increase is really driven by major infrastructure improvements,” she said.
Scheduled projects include the continuing work on upgrading electrical transmission to the Quincy area, upgrades at Priest Rapids Dam, the PUD’s new Ephrata maintenance shop, known as a service center, and a rebuilt electrical line between Royal City and Quincy. Three projects on the list eventually will be paid for by the customers, but they had to be included as expenses, Bicondova said. Christine Pratt, PUD public information officer, said most are multiyear projects, and the projected cost is for 2026 only.
The expansion of electrical lines into the Quincy area is the largest expense at a projected $97.3 million. That includes 10 different projects, not only new power lines — including a controversial line between Wanapum Dam and Quincy — but also upgraded substations.
The new service center is projected to cost about $86.9 million in 2026 and is the first phase of a three-phase project. Nick Bare, PUD facilities supervisor, said the new facility will provide more space for PUD employees.
“It’s going to have more space for our engineering department, space to accommodate our current and future lineman crews, space for (the) fleet department that maintains all of our equipment, from small vehicles or passenger vehicles, all the way up to our mobile substation,” Bare said.
The new service center is located next to the site of the new Grant County Jail and is scheduled for completion by 2027.
Two major projects are planned for Priest Rapids Dam. One is the continuation of a long-term project to refurbish the turbine-generator units, which has been ongoing for about a decade. Crews are working on the seventh unit, with three more to go once that’s done. Projected cost for 2026 is $44.5 million.
Construction crews will be working to reinforce Priest Rapids, using a method already used at Wanapum Dam. Wanapum Dam developed a crack in 2014, which required reinforcing the entire spillway; a leak discovered at Priest Rapids was traced to the same problem.
“There’s a design flaw,” said Jason Michaelbook, PUD mechanical engineering manager for power production. “That led to the crack at Wanapum, and we have the same design flaw at Priest Rapids.”
The solution involves adding steel cables to each individual section of the structure.
“Basically, we’re taking these steel cables, we’re drilling through the piers of the spillway and attaching (the cables) to bedrock, and then we fill everything we concrete,” Michaelbook said. “Then we put these anchors under tension to kind of staple the spillways to bedrock.”
That’s projected to cost $31.4 million.
The existing transmission line between the Ancient Lakes and Frenchman Hills substations is nearly at capacity, Bicondova said. Rebuilding the 24.83 miles of line is projected to cost about $17.6 million.
The PUD is also working with customers on three solar projects. The total of all three is projected to cost about $20.2 million. The customers who requested the projects pay back those costs.
Major Grant County PUD 2026 capital projects
Quincy transmission expansion $97.3 million
New Ephrata service center $86.9 million
Priest Rapids turbine-generator upgrades $44.5 million
Priest Rapids spillway reinforcement $31.4 million
Ancient Lake to Frenchman Hills transmission rebuild $17.6 million
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Othello School Board to consider capital levy request
OTHELLO — The Othello School Board will consider a recommendation at its Oct. 28 meeting about a possible capital request to be put before voters in 2027, probably in February. Othello Superintendent Pete Perez said it won't be a capital bond for construction or remodeling. "There will not be a bond in February 2027," Perez said. "There is real strong potential there will be a capital levy." The recommendation will be the first result of a months-long study by a committee looking at the district's current and future facility needs. Members of the "Future-Ready Schools" committee also have looked at the possibility of a construction bond sometime in the next few years – but not in 2027.
Baumgartner, Conroy outline their top 5th Congressional District issues
RITZVILLE — Incumbent Republican Michael Baumgartner is being challenged for his position in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Carmela Conroy. The winner will represent the Fifth District, which includes sections of Adams County. Conroy and Baumgartner also ran against each other in 2024. The Columbia Basin Herald asked both candidates the same questions about their candidacy. Their answers are below.
After some rough years, apple market may be improving in 2026
OTHELLO — It’s been a rough few years for apple and pear growers, but 2026 looks like it could bring better news. Large apple crops, big swings in the pear crop, inflation that led to dramatic increases in production costs have all affected the industry over the past three or four years. Nor were those all the challenges – snow fell while apple trees were in bloom, drought plagued the Yakima Valley and in 2026, affected all Central and Eastern Washington. However, said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington Tree Fruit Association, 2026 looks like it will be better for apples and pears.