Substation sees spring growth

Jul 02, 2023

Crews work on electric transmission towers along the Kim Williams Trail in Missoula on Monday. New transmission towers are being installed as part of a rebuild of the downtown Missoula City substation near Caras Park.

The rites of spring don’t typically affect electrical power structures, but the NorthWestern Energy substation next to Caras Park appears on a growth spurt.

New metal transmission towers have sprouted on both sides of the Clark Fork River around Bear Tracks Bridge, dwarfing the wooden poles that used to support high-voltage cables. The substation itself has grown a new concrete security hedge, mostly blocking view of the transformers and other equipment formerly ringed by a chain-link fence.

“The electric transmission work is part of a large project to rebuild our Missoula City substation,” NWE spokeswoman JoDee Black said in an email on Monday. “When complete, the new substation will provide better reliability and flexible to serve our customers, primarily in the down town area.”

A portable substation will get set up on the site to handle business and residential power needs while the new equipment is installed. Substation No. 1 serves both the downtown commercial district and the university neighborhoods across the river. The site has had an electrical power station since the 1920s.

Construction should be finished, the new station will be energized and the work site cleaned up later this spring.

Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.

Pictures of the incident show Nathan McLeod straddling a mangled chair, desperately trying to see if his 4-year-old son was hurt or worse afte…

Environmental groups are threatening to sue the U.S. Forest Service after Utah ski resort corporation POWDR applied for a new permit to take o…