Portland greenlights powerline through large city park
Lily Roby
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Portland city officials on Friday approved the development of nearly five acres of the continental United States’ largest city park to make way for transmission lines to power Portland and the surrounding area.
Utility improvements within Forest Park, a 5,200 acre wooded area which features over 80 trails and hundreds of native wildlife and plant species, were first proposed by Portland General Electric in 2022 as Phase 3 of a nearly decade-old growth project.
Now, the state’s largest utility provider may break ground as early as summer 2025, with plans to shift the location of one power pole, rewire a line and install two poles to support a new 1,400-foot-long segment of transmission lines.
Portland City Auditor Hearings Officer Marisha Childs, an unbiased third party hired to issue the decision on behalf of Portland’s Land Use Hearing Board, said in her Friday decision that — despite opposition from conservationists and neighbors of the large urban park — the utility's proposal meets environmental and zoning criteria for the project, dubbed the Harborton Reliability Project.
The utility's "Habitat Mitigation Plan" — involving the planting of an oak woodland habitat and even claims to improve migration corridor conditions for northern red-legged frogs — is credible, Childs said. The organization must monitor its restoration zones for two years and closely follow tree protection codes.
"The Hearings Officer finds that over time and with the proposed mitigation, the directly affected areas are anticipated to meet this goal by developing into a biodiverse and resilient ancient forest with woodland and shrubland components that, as they presently do, result in a variety of habitat niches that support a diverse assemblage of birds and terrestrial wildlife species. Even if aspirational, the mitigation plan is consistent with this goal," Childs wrote.
The proposal doesn’t violate Forest Park’s Natural Resources Management Plan, either, Childs found.
Although the plan — designed to further conservation and biodiversity and provide guidance on development in the park — does not specifically address the installation of new or upgraded transmission lines or corridors, it does not prohibit their presence and allows exceptions to be made through the approval of Type III Environmental Reviews.
Organizations like the Sierra Club, Bird Alliance of Oregon and Forest Park Conservancy have opposed the project for its environmental impacts on the area — which include the permanent filling of two wetlands, the removal of 376 living trees and 21 dead trees and the disturbance of natural areas that sensitive species like the Roosevelt elk, white-footed vole and northern red-legged frog call home.
Childs rebuts a report published Jan. 17, Portland Permitting & Development recommended the denial of the proposal for its environmental impacts and apparent violations of Forest Park’s Natural Resources Management Plan.
"The hearings officer finds the applicant has provided thorough analysis of the alternatives and of those alternatives, routing through Forest Park is the least environmentally detrimental option," Childs wrote in her decision. "The analysis really focuses on the best of several bad options and when considering all the options, it becomes clear that siting through Forest Park is that best option."
Critics of the project frequently cite the Toth Report, a 2022 review of alternative locations for possible transmission expansion, that critics say seems to offer numerous alternatives, yet insists the project still be performed in one of Portland’s most beloved parks.
Other locations and alternative projects such as underground transmission lines would require longer construction times, heavier machinery and cost five to ten times the cost of building in Forest Park, the utility argued. If pursued, those costs would be reflected in Portlanders’ pockets.
“If ratepayers are displeased with increasing energy costs as the system currently exists, imagine those energy costs if the applicant moved forward with a $424 million dollar project,” Childs wrote.
Childs also said the utility also showed that an increase in energy demand is projected to exceed the current system capacity. The permitting and development report simply recommended the denial of this portion as questions remained about the project’s future phases.
The project would connect lines through an existing utility easement and supply much-needed electricity to the growing city and rapidly expanding suburbs like Beaverton and Hillsboro.
In the face of a final decision, hundreds of Portlanders, neighborhood associations and environmental protection groups rallied together prior to a Jan. 29 hearing, holding informational sessions and submitting over 800 comments both in support of and against the project.
“The submissions offered personal narratives of how beloved and personal Forest Park is to the community as well as how as a society our needs for energy have increased over time and will continue to do so,” Childs said. “In reviewing the myriad submissions what is evident is that both those in support of and those in opposition to the proposal provide equally valid points for consideration, providing a particularly complex legal quagmire.”
Those opposed to the project have until 4:30 p.m. on March 21 to appeal. If no appeal is made, the decision will take effect March 24 and the utility will likely begin construction this summer.
“It is both true that as a society our energy needs have increased and it is also true that Forest Park is a highly valued environmental resource,” Childs said. “This land use case however, is about facts, not feelings.”
PGE and the Sierra Club's Oregon Chapter could not immediately be reached for comment.