Port of Moses Lake to build electrical generation, transmission lines

“We’re looking to hit the time frame of 2029 
to 2030 to provide power.”
— Port of Moses Lake Director of Business Development 
Richard Hanover

MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake will start construction of electrical transmission lines between port property and Rocky Ford to the north and the port and Connell to the south. Port officials are also working to build electrical generation facilities on port property.  

“We’re looking to hit the time frame of 2029 to 2030 to provide power,” said Richard Hanover, the port’s director of business development. “We’re going to be able to get that done in the pretty significantly short term.” 

Port Executive Director Dan Roach said electrical generation is only one-half of the equation for promoting economic development at the port. The other half is water availability, and port officials are working on that too, Roach said. For the power piece, port officials will be working with a group of partners to build the transmission line and the electrical generation facilities. There’s also a group working on water availability, but a lot of that is still in the discussion stage, Roach said. 

The transmission lines will be built along the right-of-way of the Columbia Basin Railroad, Hanover said. Crews will build about 70 miles of new transmission lines. The port’s transmission line will connect with Bonneville Power Administration lines.  

Hanover said plans for electrical generation include natural gas and geothermal options as well as wind and solar projects. The natural gas project will require building a new pipeline. Natural gas generation facilities will use a system called “carbon capture,” which will allow the project to meet state emission requirements. 

Grant County Public Utility District officials have been predicting for about five years that the PUD would be using all of its share of the power from Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams by about 2026. Knowing that, port officials have been looking for alternative sources. 

“As you know, we’ve been working on this for quite some time,” Hanover told port commissioners Monday.  

Adding electrical sources of generation is designed to attract new businesses that will mean jobs, and Victor Lombardi, who’s on the Moses Lake City Council, asked if there was an estimate of how many jobs. The city is facing its own challenges, he said; city officials are looking for new sources of drinkable water, among other things. Lombardi said the city also faces challenges with adequate housing. 

Hanover said predicting how many jobs will be generated by new business is very difficult, and that a lot of initial estimates that come from companies are too high. Companies that are already planning to establish businesses at the port estimated they will bring in about 1,000 direct jobs, Hanover said. Each job is projected to generate additional indirect jobs, and Hanover said the estimate is about 3.5 indirect jobs for every direct job.  

“It’s going to be a significant number of jobs,” Hanover said. 

Port Commissioner Kent Jones said port officials know, and have always known, that there was a limit to the number of jobs that could be created before the growth would be too much for the city to handle. Port officials are taking that into account, Jones said.  

“We know we can’t keep going after large companies,” Hanover said. 

As a result, port officials are also considering a business incubator program, Hanover said, and want to attract a range of smaller businesses, including startups.  

Roach said getting new water supplies to serve the new businesses will require working with local and state governments. Port officials have already reached an agreement with the Moses Lake Irrigation and Reclamation District, and will be talking with others, including the Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District and the Columbia Basin Irrigation District.  

State Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, is working to establish a legislative water caucus that would be open to legislators statewide who are facing water issues. That too will be an avenue for the port to explore, Roach said.