State of Oregon: Facilities - Cascade Renewable Transmission System

Applicant/Certificate holder:

Site Description:

The Cascade Renewable Transmission System is a proposed 320-kilovolt high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line that would span approximately 100 miles between The Dalles and Portland. The majority of the HVDC line would be installed in the bed of the Columbia River using a Hydro Jet Cable Burial Machine, or “jet plow”. The jet plow temporarily fluidizes sediment in an approximately 18-inch wide trench, places the cable in the trench, and allows the sediment to settle back over the cable, burying it at the prescribed depth in the riverbed. Where the cable cannot be buried, a concrete mattress or a rock berm would be used to keep the cable weighted down and protected from damage. An approximately 7.5-mile segment of the HDVC line would be buried in lands adjacent to the river near Stevenson, Washington to avoid the Bonneville Lock and Dam.

Additional underground segments would connect in-river transmission lines to two converter stations constructed near points of interconnection at both ends of the line. The Eastern Converter Station would be located near The Dalles and would connect to the Bonneville Power Administration’s Big Eddy Substation with approximately 500 feet of overhead 500-kV AC transmission line. The Western Converter Station would be located in the Rivergate Industrial District in North Portland and would be connected to Portland General Electric’s Harborton Substation with 230-kV AC cables installed under the Willamette River using horizontal-directional drilling.

Status:

Under Review. The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE or Department) received a Notice of Intent to File an Application for a Site Certificate for the Cascade Renewable Transmission System (facility) on March 7, 2023. Public Notice of the Notice of Intent was published on April 4, 2023.

Public informational meetings on the Notice of Intent were held in The Dalles on May 2 and in Portland on May 3. Slides presented at the meetings as well as full recordings are provided below.

On July 25, 2023, the Department issued a Project Order establishing the statutes, administrative rules, council standards, local ordinances, and other requirements for the site certificate application. The applicant has indicated that it intends to submit the application in the spring of 2024.

Copies of the Notice of Intent, Public Notice, and Project Order can be found below.

Location:

The proposed Site Boundary would include lands and waters in and adjacent to Wasco County, the City of the Dalles, the City of Mosier, Hood River County, the City of Hood River, the City of Cascade Locks, Multnomah County, the City of Fairview, the City of Gresham, and the City of Portland in Oregon and Klickitat County, the City of Bingen, the City of White Salmon, Skamania County, the City of Stevenson, the City of North Bonneville, Clark County, the City of Washougal, the City of Camas, and the City of Vancouver in Washington. PDF Map | Online Map

Cascade Renewable Transmission, LLC (CRT). CRT is a joint enterprise of PB CRTS, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PowerBridge, LLC, and Sun2o Partners, LLC.

ODOE contact: Christopher Clark

Applicant/Certificate holder contact: Christopher Hocker, Vice President, Cascade Renewable Transmission, LLC.