PUD 1 applies for grants for 2 projects on Hood Canal

PUD 1 hopes to partially fund a new substation at Lilliwaup and bury overhead lines at Seal Rock in Brinnon using grants from the state Department of Commerce.

Both projects are eligible for up to

$3 million each under the Grid Resilience Program. Awards are given to “efforts that generate the greatest community benefit by providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy, and reducing the frequency and duration of power outages,” according to the DOC.

The Jorstad substation, planned for Lilliwaup, will let PUD switch power feeds between Hoodsport and Duckabush so customers can get back online faster after an outage.

The midway substation would also allow maintenance at Hoodsport and Duckabush without taking an outage, according to PUD.

PUD 1 General Manager Kristin Masteller told the Journal DOC officials toured the proposed Jorstad location two years ago.

“In 2022, PUD 1 hosted the Department of Commerce on a site visit to Jorstad when Commerce was scoping their grant program so we could advocate for a small utility carveout and illustrate that these projects are complex and expensive, and they require a substantial investment to move them forward,” Masteller said in an email.

The Jorstad Substation project will cost around $7.5 million to complete, according to Masteller.

Grants are capped at $3 million maximum funding and have a one third match requirement, along with a 36-month timeline to finish the work.

“For Jorstad Substation, we would phase the deliverables so that they would fall inside the $3 million — and 36-month parameters. It would not fund that project to completion,” Masteller said.

The substation site has already been procured and cleared, according to Masteller, and now PUD needs to start the engineering process and construction.

“The PUD is also applying to other grant programs to help expedite the construction of the middle-mile substation to avoid having to fund it out of rates or debt service,” she said.

The overhead line to underground conversion will happen where the lines follow the old U.S. Highway 101 path along Seal Rock Road, according to PUD.

“We plan to move those 3-Phase lines underground up to the current highway and then underground a single-phase line on Seal Rock Road to serve those homes. This will get the lines out of the cross-country treed sections that get hit by trees and limbs,” PUD said in a news release.

That project will cost about $2.9 million, Masteller said.

A small section of the line conversion started this year, and the utility has broken it up into several smaller phases.

“This funding would allow us to complete the project in its entirety. In the absence of funding, we would have to do phased construction over the next 5-7 years. The PUD also has other grant applications submitted for this project,” according to Masteller.

She said PUD has applied for multiple funding sources “hoping that one or more of them come through to complete them without impacting our customer power rates.”

PUD is encouraging customers and businesses to write to the DOC in support of the projects before Oct. 10.

“We have received an overwhelming response from our customers and community partners so far on submitting letters of support. We have been communicating with our customers for the last few years about the Jorstad Substation and they are very excited about it moving forward,” Masteller said.