Transmission Line Upgrade Adds More Community Meetings Into the Mix

In June, Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises (WSPWE) and Portland General Electric (PGE) will begin a series of meetings to start dialogue with communities across all 100 miles of the Bethel-Round Butte transmission line, including the portion located on the Reservation. This is part of how we are continuing to explore the line upgrade, which is now named the “Warm Springs Power Pathway” project. We want everyone who has an interest in the project — which also includes U.S. Forest Service and private lands — to be informed and offer feedback.

Tribal members’ input will be gathered according to the Tribes’ Integrated Resource Management Plan, which guides the stewardship of all natural resources and serves as the basis for making resource management decisions. It was adopted by Tribal Council in 1992 as Ordinance No. 74. Just as this process will inform an eventual presentation to Tribal Council for their consideration of the project, we must also follow state and federal guidelines to navigate community input and approval processes on all the lands that the line crosses.

In partnership with PGE, stakeholder meetings will begin with elected officials from tribal, national, state, and local jurisdictions. We will continue to host meetings with approximately 100 stakeholder groups associated with lands beyond the Reservation, such as workforce and agricultural groups, environmental organizations, neighborhood associations and more.

Each meeting begins by introducing the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and WSPWE. We describe how WSPWE secured the $250 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to upgrade the line, and our partnership with PGE. We explain the scope of the project; its multi-year schedule; and most importantly, how the project will meet the critical needs of the Warm Springs Tribes, while also contributing to the United States’ prosperity, technological leadership and energy security.

Participants may share comments about the project during each meeting, and they can submit comments online or via email, too. We log and respond to all feedback. The entire permitting timeline, including these community meetings, will span multiple years. As we reach the end, we will combine what we heard into a report that is prepared by the Warm Springs Branch of Natural Resources, then submitted to Tribal Council for their review, input and consideration. This will happen as State and Federal agencies conduct their own similar reviews and approval processes of impacts to land off the Reservation.

Permitting processes normally take multiple years. We need plenty of time to establish adequate, thoughtful communication about the proposal to upgrade the Bethel-Round Butte transmission line, and gather enough information that will inform Tribal Council’s decision on whether to move the project forward considering all the potential benefits and impacts.

The schedule for meetings is still coming together, and it will evolve during this multi-year process. With any questions, please contact us at wspwe.net/contact-new.