Investing Today for a Resilient Tomorrow: Your Rates at Work
The rebuild of the Eugene Water & Electric Board’s (EWEB’s) Currin Substation is almost complete, marking a significant milestone in EWEB’s investment in major infrastructure modernizations.
EWEB engineers and contractors started demolishing the 60-year-old station in the spring of 2023 and has been working on it ever since. Over the next few months, the team will make final connections and adjustments and test the station equipment and control system to prepare for re-energization. The completion of this $16.1 million project is projected for October of this year.
The Currin Substation near Garden Way and Interstate 105 was constructed in 1962 and is considered the “Grand Central Station” of EWEB’s electrical grid and is a key hub connecting various parts of EWEB’s system.
The substation interconnects transmission lines to large electrical sources owned by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and PacifiCorp to EWEB’s grid, and also connects transmission lines to critical sources including EWEB’s Hayden Bridge filtration plant and to Eugene’s downtown electrical network.
To accommodate all this transmission infrastructure, Currin is just over two acres as where the typical EWEB electric substation is closer to 0.6 acres.
The new design of the Currin Substation includes:
- Earthquake resilient foundation
- Increased energy capacity to meet future demand
- Equipment modernization for operational reliability
- Security enhancements
Project Updates
Currin Substation - the origin of the name
Hugh Currin was hired as an engineer at EWEB in 1923. Later, he became the chief engineer for the utility.
Hugh was an engineer for EWEB at a time when the city of Eugene was rapidly expanding, and demand for electric reliability and system redundancy was growing. Hugh helped EWEB prepare for the Walterville Plant enlargement by designing substation equipment to handle the increased generation capacity. He was also influential in the design of the Leaburg dam's gate controls and Eugene's electric distribution system.
After Hugh's three-decade career with EWEB, he retired in 1952, and in the years following, the utility named a new substation for the veteran engineer – the Currin Substation.
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EWEB commissioners
City of Eugene residents elect five commissioners to four-year terms to form the EWEB Board of Commissioners. The elected Board is responsible for overall governance of the utility.
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The board holds its regular meetings on the first Tuesday of each month. Commissioners welcome and encourage customers to come to meetings and share feedback.
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