That Amazing, Electrifying Converter Station

Another highly charged thought from the team at http://www.travelthegorge.com/

On an otherwise barren hill southeast of The Dalles, overlooking the Columbia River and Mt. Hood, sits a complex worthy of Star Wars.  One of the least known "attractions" in The Gorge, the Celilo Converter Station positively hums with power, the power that lights the stars in Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Celilo is the northern end of the nation's longest and biggest direct-current power line, known as the DC intertie.  In the spring and summer, it converts excess alternating current generated by the Bonneville Power Administration grid - such as The Dalles Dam, The Bonneville Dam and the Columbia Gorge wind turbines - into direct current and sells it to the Sylmar Converter Station in California.  This reduces California's dependence on fossil fuels and helps pay for the Northwest's federal dams and transmission system. In the winter and at night when California plants generate more electricity than the Golden State needs, they return the favor.

Most of the Eugene Starr Complex, of which the converter station is only a part, is conductor cables, control grids, arc valves and surge arresters, but there is also a very modern meeting center with soaring ceilings, sweeping stairways and a glass wall overlooking the world.  Extremely effective security staff  make sure the building and its vital purpose are respected around the clock.

Since "911" tours of the facility are no longer conducted, but look up to the east from highway 197 south of the Dalles to get a glimpse of this unsung modern marvel.  For more information call 541-296-3615.
(Information taken from Bonneville Power Administration publications.)