BPA proposes to replace aging equipment at its Celilo converter station and to upgrade equipment on the Celilo-Sylmar 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Celilo converter station in The Dalles, Oregon to the Nevada-Oregon border (265 miles) where BPA's ownership of the 846-mile line terminates.

The project would modernize and simplify the equipment at Celilo, install four reinforced towers and upgraded hardware at selected locations on the northern part of the DC line. 

Contingent on completing appropriate environmental review, construction would start in fall 2013.

You may submit comments to BPA online at: www.bpa.gov/comment, or fax your comments to (503) 230-4019. You also may call us with your comments toll free at (800) 622-4519. Please submit comments to us by October 29, 2012 referencing "PDCI Upgrade Project". We will post all comments we receive on our website at www.bpa.gov/comment.

Public Meetings: 
 October  9, 2012 in Lakeview, OR  5:00 to 7:30 pm
 October 10, 2012 in Prineville, OR 5:00 to 7:30 pm
 October 11, 2012 in The Dalles, OR  4:30 to 7:00 pm

BPA has developed a draft Access to Capital Strategy with the goal of achieving sufficient assurance of appropriate capital investment and adequate funding over a rolling 10-year period.  Some of the financing opportunities we will likely rely on to meet the 10-year target are Transmission lease financing, a Power prepayment program, conservation third-party financing, and reserve financing.  Your comments have encouraged us also to develop and implement a more robust capital prioritization process.

A copy of the draft strategy is posted at the website listed below. Comments submitted on the draft strategy will help BPA refine and solidify it; this will be the final comment period before the strategy is implemented.  All comments will be considered before the strategic plan is finalized.

Background:  In fall 2011, BPA conducted the Strategic Capital Discussions to share concerns about capital access stemming from the large increase in expected spending levels. BPA initially identified alternative solutions and indicated that it would pursue some of those initiatives.  In the spring of 2012, we conducted the Capital Investment Review, which, for the first time, presented a comprehensive, long-term view of the complete suite of draft asset strategies for BPA’s asset categories. We rolled the near-term capital spending levels, with minor adjustments, from those draft asset strategies into the summer 2012 Integrated Program Review. 

Now, the Draft Access to Capital strategy addresses public comments related to capital access received through the Strategic Capital Discussion, Capital Investment Review and Integrated Program Review, and summarizes the strategy going forward based on discussions over the past 12 months.

If you have a comment you would like to submit that doesn't fit into one of the formal comment periods that are open, you can submit it here.

Please include the subject of the comment in the first sentence.