Summer maintenance work underway to improve service reliability for PUD customers

Preventative maintenance and electric system improvements will keep Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) crews busy this summer as they work to maintain strong, year-round reliability for customers, especially during storm season, according to PUD’s press release. The utility added that this work will meet the growing demand driven by electrification of transportation, increased use of electric heat in new homes and continued population growth.

Projects include:

• Brier substation: The PUD will be upgrading the Brier Substation this year to better serve the southern portion of its service area.

• Stimson-to-Stanwood 115-kV line: The PUD is rebuilding the Stimson-to-Stanwood 115-kV line to create additional redundancy and better serve the growing power demands in the northern portion of its service area.

• Perrinville to Maplewood 115-kV Line: To improve reliability, the PUD will rebuild the 115-kV line connecting its Perrinville and Maplewood substations.

• Jackson powerhouse needle valve rebuild: This summer, PUD staff is performing maintenance at the Jackson Hydroelectric Project to help ensure it continues producing energy for decades to come. After 40 years of continuous service, the facility’s needle valves are being rebuilt. These components play a key role in regulating water flow that spins the turbine and ultimately generates electricity, according to PUD’s press release.
• Tree maintenance: The PUD’s Vegetation Management team is performing wildfire mitigation tree work in Darrington, Gold Bar and Granite Falls. This work will help reduce wildfire risk and improve reliability. Maintenance tree work is also happening in the Clearview and Maltby areas, while Oso and Camano Island are scheduled for later this year.

To further strengthen reliability, the utility said it will replace hundreds of aging poles, upgrade dozens of miles of underground cable and trim trees along more than 450 circuit miles this year.