Power lines, dam upgrades headline Grant PUD capital plans
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 minutes AGO
Turbine and generator upgrades and strengthening spillways at Priest Rapids Dam are among the capital projects proposed in the 2027 Grant County PUD budget
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. | November 6, 2026 2:00 AM
QUINCY — The Grant County Public Utility District is projected to spend about $118.6 million on a multi-year project to build additional transmission lines from Wanapum Dam to Quincy, about $103.3 million to finish a new maintenance facility in Ephrata. Those are the two largest projects outlined in the PUD's proposed 2027 budget.
Other projects include a decade-long project to upgrade turbines at the PUD's two hydroelectric projects, now nearing completion, and stabilization of the riverbank on the west side at Wanapum Dam.
The Quincy Transmission Expansion Project, or QTEP, originally was scheduled for construction in 2027, and Chuck Allen, senior manager of external affairs and communications, said parts of that project are on schedule.
"The Quincy Transmission Expansion Plan spending in the 2027 budget anticipates all of the costs that we expect to have in 2027 to build out the project, which includes work on six 230 (kilovolt) lines," Allen wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. "By the end of 2027, we expect to have five of the six lines construction and put into service."
The seventh is the subject of a lawsuit between the PUD and some property owners along the route.
"We plan to continue working on the many needed facets of that line as we move through the court process," Allen said.
That section of the line is scheduled to be energized in 2029, Allen said.
The project includes transmission lines, a new switchyard and other elements, designed to increase capacity to meet demand in the Quincy area.
The maintenance facility, known as the Ephrata Service Center, will replace the existing facility on Alder Street Southwest. Construction began earlier this year and is projected to be completed in 2028.
The projected capital budget includes $49.7 million to upgrade the turbines and generators at Priest Rapids Dam. It's the final stages of a project that began in 2016 with the first turbine-generator combination at Wanapum Dam. Crews are working on the last three units at Priest Rapids, with the project to be completed by 2029.
Priest Rapids is also the focus of a repair project to strengthen the dam's spillways. The cost for 2027 is projected to be $33.7 million.
Utility district officials found a leaking joint during an analysis of the dam structure. Ultimately PUD officials decided to strengthen the spillways using a procedure similar to that used at Wanapum Dam in 2014.
Holes are drilled through the structure into the bedrock, cables are dropped into the holes and anchored in cement or similar material, the cables are stretched and the holes filled.
Construction began in 2026 and is projected to continue through 2028.
The west embankment at Wanapum Dam will be the focus of a stabilization project, part of a project that's been underway for about half a decade. Utility district officials are improving the riverbanks around each project. The projected cost is $17.8 million.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Power lines, dam upgrades headline Grant PUD capital plans
QUINCY — The Grant County Public Utility District is projected to spend about $118.6 million on a multi-year project to build additional transmission lines from Wanapum Dam to Quincy, about $103.3 million to finish a new maintenance facility in Ephrata. Those are the two largest projects outlined in the PUD's proposed 2027 budget.
Income and priorities subject of Ephrata budget discussion
EPHRATA — Balancing requests and revenues, what can and should be done in 2027 and what can wait was the subject of a budget discussion at the Ephrata City Council meeting Wednesday.
GCFD 8 firefighter sustains minor injuries when hit by car
MATTAWA — A Grant County Fire District 8 officer sustained minor injuries Wednesday when he was hit by a driver subsequently arrested for DUI. Battalion Chief Doug Anderson and GCFD 8 crews were on the scene of a non-injury collision at about 10:30 p.m. when a car drove through the crash scene, according to a media release from the Grant County Sheriff's Office. The driver, Jorge Ramirez Suarez, 33, Mattawa, allegedly drove through the crash scene, hit Anderson in the leg, and kept going without stopping, according to the GCSO. He was subsequently booked into the Grant County Adult Correctional Facility on suspicion of DUI, vehicular assault and hit-and-run. Anderson was treated at the scene. He joined GCFD 8 in 1998 as a volunteer firefighter, said Barb Davis, the district's business manager, and is still a volunteer. He has served as a GCFD 8 captain, assistant chief and interim chief, as well as battalion chief.