This simulation shows the before and after appearance of the power poles at Southwest Ridder Road and Southwest Boones Ferry Road. (Submitted by Portland General Electric)

Portland General Electric is starting work to upgrade some power poles in Wilsonville as part of a project to improve the power grid.

Coming upgrades will involve replacing some power poles in northern Wilsonville as the electric company adds a new transmission line between a substation on Southwest Day Road and an existing transmission corridor between the Wilsonville and Sherwood substations. It will also include upgrades to the existing transmission line.

The work makes up the Sherwood-Wilsonville leg of PGE’s Tonquin Project, which includes building a new substation in the southern portion of the utility company’s service area. The project also involves upgrading 11 total miles of transmission lines across Wilsonville, Tualatin, Sherwood, the Stafford area and unincorporated Clackamas County.

Background
Wilsonville is included in two portions of the Tonquin Project. Another portion of the project would upgrade transmission lines and power poles between the Wilsonville substation — at the intersection of Boeckman Road and Southwest Parkway Avenue — and a substation near Lake Oswego. This part of the project includes upgrades to power poles along Southwest Stafford Road — something Stafford residents have long opposed.

In previous interviews, PGE spokesperson Andrea Platt said the Tonquin Project will modernize the power grid and allow for redundancy to accommodate future growth and reduce power outages. Redundancy allows for power to travel along alternative routes, which Platt previously compared to vehicles being able to travel different roads if one is blocked.

Platt echoed her earlier comments on the Tonquin Project in an email on the Sherwood-Wilsonville portion, writing that this portion “will make the power grid stronger and more flexible, to help reduce the frequency and duration of power outages in the area and the region, and will deliver more electricity to meet current and future demands.”

The Sherwood-Wilsonville Leg
For this part of the project Platt said in the email that power poles will be replaced along Southwest Grahams Ferry Road to accommodate the new transmission line, which will span between Southwest Clutter Road and Southwest Day Road. Power poles will also be replaced along Southwest Boones Ferry Road to allow for upgrades to an existing transmission line between Southwest Ridder Road and Southwest Boones Ferry Road.

Platt added that the line along Southwest Boones Ferry Road will be split in two for a new crossing over I-5 to a newly built Memorial Substation along Southwest Parkway Avenue. She said the majority of “heavy construction” for the substation, which is up the road from an existing Wilsonville substation, is complete but “activity onsite will continue for a few more months.”

The Memorial substation will connect to existing underground distribution infrastructure, and Platt said it will “support growing electrical demand in Wilsonville.”

Construction for the Sherwood-Wilsonville portion of the project is just beginning and expected to last through June 2026. Platt said in the email that construction may impact traffic in Wilsonville, including lane closures, flaggers, traffic cones and signage.

More information on the Tonquin Project, including an interactive map detailing where upgrades will take place, can be found on the project’s website.