Continues Partnership with Bonneville Power Administration in Providing Power to Growing Region 

THE DALLES, Oregon — Burns & McDonnell, an engineering, architecture and construction company, completed design and construction of the new Quenett Creek Substation to meet increasing power demand east of Portland, Oregon, in several areas served by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). 

The new 230kV substation, a greenfield project completed in May, is located near the Columbia River in The Dalles, Oregon. Quenett Creek increases the availability of electricity in rural and growing communities along and near the Oregon-Washington border: The Dalles, Cascade Locks, Durfur, Fossil, Hood River, Tygh Valley and others in Oregon, along with Dallesport, Goldendale, Lyle and others in southern Washington.

Breaking ground on the project in January 2018, Burns & McDonnell partnered with BPA, Henkels & McCoy, Cougar Construction and K&E Excavating to provide engineer-procure-construct (EPC) services to accommodate the growing power demand of the Northern Wasco County People’s Utility District (NWCPUD), including a new customer-owned data center. 

“We were honored to join forces with the BPA and our subcontractors to deliver a reliable energy system that will power businesses and homes within the community for years to come,” says Mark Lichtwardt, senior vice president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell in Denver, Colorado, and Portland, Oregon. “From the early design phases to the final construction stages, the team worked around the clock to deliver a successful project on time and under budget, optimizing BPA’s electrical infrastructure system.” 

In addition, upgrades to the Big Eddy substation near Columbia View Heights and the Chenoweth substation near Chenoweth Creek were completed for interconnecting the grid. With a commitment to safety, Burns & McDonnell reported zero incidents during the 70,000-hour project. 

Burns & McDonnell has successfully managed more than 500 projects in the region and is the No. 1 ranked firm in Power by Engineering News-Record.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of 7,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune’s 2019 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. 

About Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)

The Bonneville Power Administration, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a nonprofit federal power marketer that sells wholesale electricity from 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant to 142 Northwest electric utilities, serving millions of consumers and businesses in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. BPA delivers power via more than 15,000 circuit miles of lines and 261 substations to 475 transmission customers. In all, BPA markets about a third of the electricity consumed in the Northwest and operates three-quarters of the region’s high-voltage transmission grid. BPA also funds one of the largest fish and wildlife programs in the world, and, with its partners, pursues cost-effective energy savings and operational solutions that help maintain affordable, reliable and carbon-free electric power for the Northwest. For more information, visit www.bpa.gov.