Water & Light substation improvement projects

At the October 16 meeting, the Columbia City Council authorized Water & Light to proceed with improvement projects at the Bolstad and Perche Creek substations.

The Bolstad Substation provides electric power to northeast Columbia. Water & Light will add two new 161/13.8kV transformer and switchgear lineups. The Utility will use the transformers and switchgear purchased with 2016 electric revenue bond funds for the proposed Mill Creek Substation.

The new setups will allow for two electric distribution feeders to accommodate growing load in the area of northeast Columbia as well as improving redundancy and reliability for the substation.

The Perche Creek Substation provides electric power to west Columbia, including the Water Treatment Plant and the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The electrical load at Perche Creek is nearing the substation’s available capacity. Water & Light will install an additional transformer to serve the existing load and ensure a reliable system. The Utility also will reconfigure the electrical junction and install new breakers to replace broken circuit switches.

No customer service interruptions are anticipated during the work.

This page will be updated over the life of the project.