Corridors of Power Historic Context Statement

CORRIDORS OF POWER THE BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION TRANSMISSION NETWORK HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT BPA Transmission Lines Near Bakeoven Converter Station, Wasco County, OR, June 2009 for the Bonneville Power Administration Portland, Oregon under Master Agreement #38010 Prepared by George Kramer, M.S., HP Kramer & Company, Ashland, OR April 2010 CORRIDORS OF POWER THE BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION TRANSMISSION NETWORK HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT FINAL VERSION Prepared by George Kramer, M.S.HP Kramer & Company Ashland, Oregon 97520 BPA Master Agreement #38010 APRIL 2010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CORRIDORS OF POWER The Bonneville Power Administration Transmission Network Historic Context Statement April 2010 PURPOSE: The following historic context statement documents the history and significance of the Bonneville Power Administration [BPA] Transmission Network in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and portions of Montana, Wyoming, Utah and California. This document was commissioned by BPA as the first phase of a planned analysis of its built resources intended to help streamline BPA’s review process under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (36 CFR 800 et. Seq.). At present some portion of the BPA system related to the “Master Grid,” documented by Holstine and Lenz (1987), is considered eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. That document, temporally limited to resources built prior to 1945, creates considerable management burden for both BPA and the State Historic Preservation Offices [SHPOs] by failing to address the vast majority of the Administration’s extensive transmission network, all of which is, by law, subject to the Section 106 process. Corridors of Power is the first phase of a planned multi-phase project that intends to establish a more comprehensive review of the BPA network and culminate in a Programmatic Agreement that will considerably reduce review time and costs at both the Administration and the multiple jurisdictions in which it operates. Ultimately BPA’s goal, in cooperation with the various SHPOs, is to develop a comprehensive strategy for the management of historically significant resources within the BPA system and thereby avoid the present costly and time-consuming case-by-case evaluation of effect for any project modification. This document is subject to review and approval by the various State Historic Preservation offices, who will additionally participate in all subsequent management and review documents to assure acceptable standards of compliance. CONTEXT: BPA was created in 1937, during the Great Depression as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal.” The Administration was originally intended as a temporary entity that would market the huge electric output of the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams on the Columbia River, pending the expected creation of a Columbia Valley Authority, comparable to the New Deal program in the Tennessee Valley. BPA, and the Columbia River dams, owned and operated by the US Army Corp of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, were all developed in response to an extended political debate sometimes called the “Power War.” During the early 20th century, who would control America’s power network, whether public power providers or for- profit, investor-owned utilities, was an issue of considerable national interest, resulting in contentious legislative battles, advertising campaigns and, in the Northwest, successful efforts to form public utility districts and press for massive Federal investment on the Columbia River. - i - During its initial development, under its first Administrator, J.D. Ross, and then after Ross’s sudden death, under Paul Raver, BPA played a significant role in the promotion of public power in the Pacific Northwest, leading to the formation of public utility districts and, in conjunction with the Rural Electrification Administration, many rural electric cooperatives. These public providers, assured of a stable, low-cost power at BPA’s “postage stamp” rate expanded electric service statewide and helped temper costs for other residents though competition. To deliver power from the federal dams on the Columbia, Chief Engineer Charles Carey devised a complex transmission system known as the “Master Grid” to efficiently transmit power throughout the region. During World War II, BPA’s power grid allowed the development of significant wartime industry, including major shipyards, airplane plants and most importantly the development of the aluminum industry that would continue as an important sector of the regional economy for years. In part the availability of BPA power led to the development of the Hanford Nuclear Works, in southeastern Washington, a facility that helped develop and build the world’s first atomic bomb. In the decade following WWII the Bonneville Power Administration continued to expand its transmission network but was increasingly constrained by limited power supplies. New programs over the next decade, including the approval of wheeling, the development of the Northwest Power Pool, construction of additional dams on the Columbia and Snake, and extension into Idaho, , culminated with the ratification of the Columbia River Treaty, an international agreement with Canada that significantly increased BPA’s available firm power. Technological advancements soon led to the construction of the High Voltage Direct Current intertie between the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Southwest, along with construction of the fully computerized Dittmer Control Center in 1974, that allowed centralized management and operation of the entire BPA/Federal Columbia River Power System. Today, BPA operates more that 15,000 circuit miles of transmission line extending into seven states and provides over fifty percent of the electrical energy consumed within its service region. The original BPA concept of a publicly-owned transmission network working in partnership with other public and investor- owned utilities has been replicated for other Federal transmission systems throughout the nation, transcending its “temporary” creation to become the defacto model for long-distance energy transmission in the United States. FINDINGS: As documented in the following narrative, the Bonneville Power Administration Transmission Network is associated with significant themes in American history relating the rise of public power and the development of PUDs and rural electric cooperatives, the industrial development of the Pacific Northwest in response to World War II and, after the war the continued expansion and development of a model transmission network that included technological development of international import. In accordance with the findings and recommendations of this statement, the Bonneville Power Administration Transmission Network should be considered eligible for the National Register under Criterion “A” and “C” and should be treated and managed accordingly, under the requirements of 36 CFR 61 et seq. - ii - - iii - Contents 1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................. 2 2.0 Geographic Scope:.................................................................................................. 9 3.0 Historic Overview................................................................................................. 11 3.1 Early Development of the Columbia River Basin ............................................ 11 3.2 Farms without Power: Rural Electrification ..................................................... 17 3.3 Investor Owned Utilities and “Giant Power” ................................................... 23 3.4 FDR, Bonneville, and Grand Coulee ................................................................ 31 3.5 Dam of Doubt ................................................................................................... 35 3.6 The Bonneville Project Act............................................................................... 40 3.7 John Delmage Ross........................................................................................... 43 3.8 Bonneville Power Administration, The First Year ........................................... 46 3.8.1 Supporting the PUD Movement.................................................................... 49 3.8.2 Industrial Users............................................................................................. 52 3.8.3 The Main Grid: ............................................................................................. 53 3.9 BPA, World War II and Defense Industries ......................................................... 57 3.10 Post WWII- Changes and Challenges................................................................... 67 3.11 The 1950s: Public Power under Eisenhower ........................................................ 74 3.11.1 Partnership Policy......................................................................................... 74 3.11.2 Wheeling....................................................................................................... 77 3.11.3 Canadian Treaty............................................................................................ 78 3.12 The 1960s: New Directions and Connections....................................................... 81 3.12.1 The Pacific Northwest-Pacific Southwest Intertie........................................ 84 3.12.2 Southern Idaho Expansion ...........................................................................

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