Oak Grove Hydroelectric Project

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The Oak Grove Hydroelectric Project is a 44 megawatt hydroelectric plant operated by Portland General Electric (PGE) on the Oak Grove Fork Clackamas River. Water for this project is held by three lakes, built between 1923 and 1956. [1] The dam creates the impoundment Lake Harriet.

Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric (PGE) is a Fortune 1000 public utility based in Portland, Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - 44% of the inhabitants of Oregon. Founded in 1888 as the Willamette Falls Electric Company, the company has been an independent company for most of its existence, though was briefly owned by the Houston-based Enron Corporation from 1997 until 2006 when Enron divested itself of PGE during its bankruptcy.

Oak Grove Fork Clackamas River river in the United States of America

Oak Grove Fork Clackamas River is a 21-mile (34 km) tributary of the Clackamas River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its headwaters in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near Abbot Pass in the Cascade Range, the river flows generally west through Mount Hood National Forest in Clackamas County to the unincorporated community of Ripplebrook. Here it enters the main stem of the Clackamas River. Oak Grove Fork feeds Timothy Lake and Lake Harriet, two artificial impoundments built along its course to control water flows to hydroelectric plants.

Contents

History

In 1907, the Southern Pacific Company began to acquire water rights for the Oak Grove fork. [2] These rights were transferred in 1911 to the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company, [2] which later became PGE.

Portland Railway, Light and Power Company

The Portland Railway, Light and Power Company was a railway company and electric power utility in Portland, Oregon, United States, from 1906 until 1924.

In 1923, the concrete diversion dam at Lake Harriet was completed. [2] This lake holds 300 acre feet (370,000 m3) [3] with a surface area of 150 acres (0.61 km2). [4] A 9-foot (2.7 m) pipeline goes downstream from Lake Harriet to the powerhouse. [3] Power generation from the Oak Grove fork began in August 1924. [5]

In 1953, Frog Lake was completed, adding 430 acre feet (530,000 m3) of storage with 13 acres (53,000 m2) of surface, which was later reduced to 266 acre feet (328,000 m3) on 6 acres (24,000 m2) in 1997. [2] [3] Finally, in 1956, [2] the compacted-earth dam for Timothy Lake was completed, creating the largest lake in the system at 1,430 acres (5.8 km2) and 69,000 acre feet (85,000,000 m3). [3] The Oak Grove Powerhouse contains two Francis turbines. [3]

Timothy Lake

Timothy Lake is a lake about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is in proximity to Clear Lake and an impoundment of the Oak Grove Fork Clackamas River.

Francis turbine type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts

The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts.

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References

Coordinates: 45°07′21″N122°04′12″W / 45.1226°N 122.0699°W / 45.1226; -122.0699

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