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Growing to meet the needs of our community

As our community grows, investment in our electric infrastructure is a must.  Benton PUD's Five Year Plan of Service supports our mission to provide a reliable and efficient electrical system.  The plan identifies and prioritizes several capital projects required during the upcoming five-year period to improve the overall reliability of our electric distribution system and help reduce the risk of prolonged outages.  The 2020 Five Year Plan of Service is scheduled to be updated in 2022.

2022 Five Year Plan of Service 

Southridge Substation Project

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Southridge Substation was originally envisioned in Benton PUD’s 2014 Five Year Plan of Service to support growth in the Southridge Area and provide additional load transfer capability to the Highlands and Ely substations. The capacity requirements in the Southridge Area continue to grow due to ongoing commercial and residential development. The completion of Bob Olsen Parkway has also further increased requests for additional capacity in the area.

The new Southridge Substation will include microprocessor based protective relays paired with a 115 kilovolt circuit switcher, vacuum type distribution circuit breakers, and new SCADA technology to improve operational reliability and visibility. 

The SCADA installation will include fiber-optic communications through a line extension from Benton PUD’s broadband network in the Southridge area.

The following is the work that's been completed through November:

Southridge Feeder Projects

In support of the Southridge Substation, Benton PUD is also working on line construction to bring a power transformer on-line at Southridge Substation. This project will install a vault and conduit system to facilitate the distribution of additional substation capacity into the Southridge Development area including the west end of Bob Olsen Parkway as well as around the future Ridgeline interchange.

Portions of the necessary conduit system have been installed over time as development occurred in the area. These portions had been previously identified by staff as the preferred route for feeders from Southridge Substation. Coordinating this work with requested line extension projects or City of Kennewick road improvement project saves on both trenching and restoration costs.

Construction is anticipated to be completed in 2021.

New Spaw Substation to Phillips Substation Transmission Line

In the fall of 2020, Benton PUD began engineering efforts to design and install a new transmission line between the East Kennewick (Finley) Area near Game Farm Rd and SR-397 and Benton PUD’s Transmission system operated in the South Benton County. Design is currently at the 30% review stage with geotechnical studies completed, and Route Surveying under way. The proposed route is mainly along the alignment of South Finley Rd South of SR-397. This new 115kV transmission line will provide the operational flexibility to tie two existing portions of Benton PUD’s Transmission system together. The net result is increased reliability and reduced outage restoration times for both existing lines.

Sunset Road-to-Reata Road Transmission Project

Benton PUD and the Richland Energy Services (RES) are working on a 115kV transmission line project in the south Badger Mountain and Badger Canyon areas to provide needed capacity and reliability for new and existing customers.  The transmission line will run along portions of Jacobs Road, Dallas Road and I-82.  RES completed construction of the line between Reata Road Substation and the Dallas Road Substation site in 2017.  Benton PUD expects to perform engineering efforts in 2022 and complete construction in 2023 for the portion of the line between Sunset Road Substation to the Dallas Road Substation.

Sunset Road-to-Reata Road Transmission Project Customer Letter
Sunset Road-to-Reata Road Transmission Project Fact Sheet
Sunset Road-to-Reata Road Transmission Project Map


Benton City Substation Project

Benton City Substation is home to the District’s oldest power transformer (69 years) which is at the end of its serviceable life. As with other substations acquired by the District from BPA, short-circuit protection systems consist of outdated fuses and electromechanical relays.

The rebuilt Benton City Substation will include microprocessor based protective relays paired with a 115 kilovolt circuit switcher, vacuum type distribution circuit breakers, and new SCADA technology to improve operational reliability and visibility.  SCADA upgrades will include fiber-optic communications through a line extension from the District’s broadband network in Benton City.

Capacity requirements have also grown in the Benton City and south Red Mountain area due to the expansion of irrigation loads and associated growth in agriculture. District planning studies have revealed growing capacity constraints that limit load transfer capability between Sunset Road and Benton City substations during outage conditions. This means that in the event of a 115-kV transmission or substation outage it may not be possible to pick up all customers during high summer-loading periods. The solution to this constraint is to increase the capacity of Benton City Substation by replacing the existing power transformers.
 

Orchard View Project


Orchard View Bay project

This Orchard View project was initially considered as an alternative to Leslie Road Substation in order to provide transfer capability to Reata Substation and was included in engineering’s draft of the 2018 budget. However, when it became clear that Leslie Road Substation would be completed before the end of 2018 and given the uncertainty of whether a final plan would be approved by the Port of Kennewick for Vista Field, the project was deferred. Following completion of the District’s 2018 budget process, the Port of Kennewick approved the long-awaited master plan for the redevelopment of the Vista Field area which set the course for planned development and load growth beginning in 2018.

Following the Port of Kennewick’s finalization of the Vista Field Master Plan, the District received a number of requests for additional capacity in the south Vista Field area. The bay addition and subsequent feeder additions will also bridge the gap in time that is typically required for the BPA interconnection request for the Edison Street Substation, located near Edison and Canal Drive, which will meet the long term capacity requirements for the Vista Field area and surrounding development.
 

Orchard View Feeder project

The District is currently under construction to bring a second power transformer on-line at Orchard View Substation, known as Orchard View Bay 2. These projects will install a vault and conduit system to facilitate the distribution of additional substation capacity from Orchard View Bay 2 to the Southridge Development area including Bob Olsen Parkway as well as continued development along 10th Ave.

At the time the District was developing the 2019 budget it was unknown that the City of Kennewick would secure funding for the widening of 10th Ave from Columbia Center Boulevard to Lois Lane. This section of 10th Ave had previously been identified by District Staff as the route for feeders from Orchard View Substation to tie into the Southridge area. With the City receiving funding for their project it became beneficial to install the Conduit and Vault system for the Orchard View feeders while the City’s contractor has the area under construction. Coordinating the District’s construction with the City’s construction schedule saves on both trenching and restoration costs, but requires additional work to be added to the scope of Project #505932 and for Project #560140 to be created.

These projects also increase distribution feeder capacity to accommodate the Port of Kennewick’s Vista Field re-development plans and to increase capacity for the existing South Vista Field area which is experiencing further development and load growth.

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Benton PUD Substation Electricians added a second transformer bay to Orchard View
substation located on Columbia Center Boulevard. The second bay will serve new
customers in both the Vista Field and Southridge areas. Pictured left to right: Robert
Davis, Brandon Billingsley, Duane Szendre, Todd Gaston, Jim Tietsort and Brent Wurz.