Throughout the past two months, Poudre Valley REA completed the underground phase of work that brings power from County Road 18E to the on-site valve house. In mid-November, crews began placing an underground power line that runs approximately 3,300 feet from the construction trailers along the service road toward the valve house. Once the line reaches the spillway, the power line will be above ground. The above-ground portion of the work, which includes five new power poles, will begin in mid-January and is expected to take two weeks to complete.  

“Getting power to the valve house is an exciting scope of work on this project. It means that we’re nearing the end of construction and starting to work on getting this reservoir ready for operation,” said Northern Water Project Engineer Becky Brush. 

Once the power line is established to the valve house, crews can place the final two valves in the valve house using the permanently installed overhead crane and can begin testing all the electrical equipment.