Thursday, September 17, 2026 / Vida / McKenzie Valley
Lane Electric ties McKenzie systems together with covered conductor
Crews east of Vida are linking the cooperative's upriver grid to former EWEB lines while adding equipment meant to reduce wildfire and outage risk.
Bright orange covers on power lines and poles east of Vida mark work on a more connected McKenzie Valley electric system. Lane Electric is installing covered conductor, often called tree wire, and new equipment to match the electrical phases used by its existing upriver network and the downriver lines it acquired from EWEB.
The physical connection is meant to create more ways to move power through the valley if a tree or another failure interrupts one route. It also increases how much electricity the system can carry and adds a layer of wildfire mitigation around energized lines.
Lane Electric took over service for about 2,500 former EWEB customers from Thurston Road to Vida on May 1. The current work is one visible piece of the longer integration promised during that transfer.
Field notes
What changed: Lane Electric crews are installing covered conductor and phase-matching equipment to connect upriver and former EWEB distribution systems.
Why it matters: A connected system can improve redundancy and reliability while covered conductor can lower the chance that vegetation contact sparks a fire.
Who may be affected: Lane Electric members in the McKenzie Valley, especially the roughly 2,500 customers transferred from EWEB in May.