Columbia Basin Project, Grand Coulee Pump-Generating Plant, Grand Coulee, Grant County, WA

Significance: This facility was first known as the Pumping Plant. It was an essential component of the irrigation system of the Grand Coulee Project, and irrigation was a primary justification for the project's inception. Hydroelectricity, however, became a driving force by the time that construction began, and progress on the Pumping Plant was slow after the foundation was completed as part of the dam's creation. Six pumping units were initially installed, going into service between 1951 and 1953. By the early 1970s, the Bureau of Reclamation began making plans to add more pumping units. Because the demand for electricity was also rising, Reclamation installed pump-generating units that generated power as well as pumping, serving as an important source of electricity during peak periods. The plant was renamed in 2008 in honor of John W. Keys III, who headed Reclamation from 2001 until he died in a plane crash in 2006.
Survey number: HAER WA-139-C
Building/structure dates: 1938-1979 Initial Construction