Preservation Group Reaches Agreement with PGE to Acquire Bull Run Powerhouse

Powerhouse Re Gen LLC and Portland General Electric announced an agreement for Re Gen to acquire the Bull Run Powerhouse, pending necessary federal, local and regulatory approvals. The agreement ensures the Bull Run Powerhouse, eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, will be preserved for future generations.

“There’s no more fitting place, locally or nationally, for the preservation and re-use of a historic structure to support the restoration of the river,” said Rick Michaelson, historic re-developer and former National Trust for Historic Places advisor. “We’re grateful for PGE’s collaboration and support towards that goal.”

PGE’s director of hydro licensing agreed: “Saving the Powerhouse will preserve an important part of Oregon’s history, and provide an opportunity to educate the public about one of the most successful and largest dam removals in the nation,” said Julie Keil. “The decommissioning of the Bull Run project has helped to restore a breathtaking river for fish, wildlife and Oregonians.”

Located on the Bull Run River, the Bull Run hydroelectric powerhouse began serving customers’ electricity needs in Portland in 1913. PGE announced it would remove the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project in 1999 after the company determined that demolition would be more economical for its customers than maintaining the facility and upgrading it to modern fish protection standards.

"The Bull Run Powerhouse is a perfect depiction of the early industrialization of our waterways, and modern efforts to remediate environmental impacts of the past and replace them with more sustainable approaches.  The preservation of this historic site will memorialize this story for generations to come,” said Jeff Joslin, a planning and architectural consultant, and former Land Use Manager for the City of Portland.

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