PGE Wind Farm to Begin Construction

DAYTON - Portland General Electric Company announced it completed purchase of the development rights for a portion of the Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project from Puget Sound Energy on August 2. The purchase includes 116 wind turbine sites in north­ern Columbia County, east of Highway 12.

PGE spokesperson Brianne Hyder said that con­struction at the site is expected to begin within a month, with completion in early 2015.

The new project will be called the Tucannon River Wind Farm. Hyder said the projects name is being changed to avoid confusion with PSE's projects.

Hyder also told The Times that PGE will open a new office in Downtown Dayton. It will be located in the former Azure Eye Care office at 215 E. Clay St. Hyder said that the office will be staffed two days a week by Jill Dornfeld, a PGE employee in Portland.

PGE has also hired Dayton resident Jay Take­mura as a part-time consultant to work in the office. Takemura, a longtime Columbia County farmer, was formerly employed by PSE in Dayton and Garfield County.

The project will be built by RES Americas, who also constructed the Hopkins Ridge and Marengo proj­ects in Columbia County and the Lower Snake River Phase I project in Garfield County. Hyder said that, during construction, up to 300 workers are expected to be working on the project. After the wind farm is up and running, PGE expects 18 long-term jobs to be cre- ated.

The Tucannon River Wind Farm will use turbines manufactured by Siemens Technologies, and have a maximum generating capacity of 276 Megawatts. PGE expects the cost of the project to be approximately $500 million.