John W Keys III Pump-Generating Plant - Grand Coulee, WA - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

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John W Keys III Pump-Generating Plant - Grand Coulee, WA

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Posted by:  T0SHEA

11T E 351458 N 5313195

The largest producer of hydroelectric power in the country, Grand Coulee Dam was the largest concrete structure in the world when built, containing 11,975,521 cubic yards of concrete. It remains the largest concrete structure in the country.

The Place:
Undoubtedly the largest single project of the Public Works Administration, construction of the Grand Coulee Dam began in 1933, not being completed until 1941, just in time to provide power for wartime industry of the Pacific Northwest.

At the far western end of the dam is the John W Keys III Pump-Generating Plant, construction of which was begun in 1948. Designed to pump irrigation water uphill from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake to Banks Lake, it was later realized that the pumping station could also be used as a generating station by allowing water to flow in reverse, driving generators. Put into operation in 1951, the plant was renamed in honor of John W. Keys III after he was killed in a plane crash on May 30, 2008.

A native of Sheffield, Alabama, Keys (1941–2008) was Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, operator of the dam, from 2001 to 2006. A short biography can be read further below.

The John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant pumps water uphill 280 feet from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake to Banks Lake. This water is used to irrigate approximately 670,000 acres of farmland in the Columbia Basin Project. More than 60 crops are grown in the basin and distributed across the nation.

Construction of the irrigation facilities began in 1948. Components of the project include the pump-generating plant, feeder canal, and equalizing reservoir, which was later named Banks Lake.

The pump-generating plant began operation in 1951. From 1951 to 1953, six pumping units, each rated at 65,000 horsepower and with a capacity to pump 1,600 cubic feet per second, were installed in the plant.

In the early 1960s, investigations revealed the potential for power generation. Reversible pumps were installed to allow water from Banks Lake to flow back through the units to generate power during periods of peak demand. The first three generating pumps came online in 1973. Two more generating pumps were installed in 1983; the final generating pump was installed in January 1984. The total generating capacity of the plant is now 314,000 kilowatts.

In 2008, the pump-generating plant was renamed in honor of John W. Keys III. Keys was Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation from 2001 to 2006 and Pacific Northwest Regional Director from 1986 to 1998. He was killed in a plane crash in 2008.
From the Bureau of Reclamation

Grand Coulee Dam remains the largest dam in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Initially conceived to provide irrigation, the dam quickly came to be seen as a three fold resource, providing not only water to irrigate more than 671,000 acres, but also providing flood control of the Columbia River and producing 21 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. With a generating capacity of 6,809 megawatts, far and away the most of any hydro facility in the country, the dam produces electricity for all or parts of eleven states. This mammoth structure stands 550 feet high and is 1.2 miles wide. Within the dam's three powerhouses are no less than 33 turbines and generators, the main generators varying in size from 150,000 horsepower to 1,053,900 horsepower.

John W. Keys III

The Person:
John W. Keys III, 66, a former commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation, died May 30 in a plane crash over Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The pilot also died in the crash. Mr. Keys was a resident of Moab, Utah.

President Bush appointed Mr. Keys as the bureau's 16th commissioner in 2001. Earlier, he had served more than three decades with the agency, which manages dams, power plants, canals and other water projects in 17 western states.

Mr. Keys was born in Sheffield, Ala., and received a bachelor's degree in 1964 from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's degree in 1971 from Brigham Young University, both in civil engineering.

From 1964 to 1979, he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation as a hydraulic engineer throughout the western United States on issues involving the Great Basin, the Missouri River basin, the Colorado River basin and the Columbia River basin. He retired from federal service in 1998, after serving for 12 years as the bureau's Pacific Northwest regional director.

He was an Arlington resident during his tenure as commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, and he retired in 2006.

A commercial pilot, Mr. Keys flew his Cessna 182 for Angel Flight, Air LifeLine and County Search and Rescue, based in Moab. He also was a college and high school football referee.
From the Washington Post