The community-owned electric utility, Central Lincoln PUD, is ready to break ground on a new headquarters in Newport. The facility will be designed to withstand a major earthquake.
The current headquarters is nearly 45 years old. During the 2024 winter ice storm, the backup systems failed, and the building wasn’t usable during recovery efforts. Seismic evaluations indicate it would likely collapse if the “big one” hit.
So, last spring, Central Lincoln’s Board of Directors voted to invest in a new facility.
Eric Chambers is Director of Employee, Customer and Community Services with PUD. He said as an electric utility that has over 40,000 metered customers relying on them, their goal, after a major Cascadia earthquake, is to keep the lights on.
"We know we need to be there for them should we ever face that type of event," he said. "Our headquarters house some critical functions like engineering and IT and so we need to have it available when we’re needed the most.”
Chambers said the new HQ project is budgeted at $26.5 million and will be funded through the sale of bonds.
This spreads out the cost over time, according to the utility, and reduces the rate impact for customers. Bond payments will be included in Central Lincoln’s regular capital budget—not through a separate rate increase.
To save money, Chambers said the new two-story, 27,500-square-foot facility will be built on the same Newport campus as the current headquarters. It will meet the highest seismic safety standards, sit well outside the tsunami zone, and be located on stable ground 145 feet above sea level.
Central Lincoln PUD isn’t alone in making this type of investment in disaster preparedness. Many central coast institutions are also taking steps to remain resilient in the event of a major Cascadia earthquake:
- Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport upgraded its buildings to meet magnitude 9.0 standards and is adding a 373,000-gallon water tank that can keep things running after a quake.
- Oregon State University’s Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building in Newport was built to survive both a major earthquake and tsunami. It also has a rooftop evacuation area.
- In Lincoln County, Newport schools, like Yaquina View Elementary and Newport High, have been upgraded to improve structural integrity, and Waldport’s new high school was built outside the tsunami zone.
- The City of Newport continues planning improvements to Big Creek Reservoir—Newport’s source of fresh drinking water—to meet modern seismic standards.
- Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence received a $2.5 million upgrade in 2019 to strengthen walls and critical systems.
- Mapleton Elementary and High School received $2.9 million in state grant funds in 2017 to retrofit buildings and reduce the risk of collapse.
Chambers said these types of efforts show that coastal communities don’t want to be caught off guard. He said, “we’re preparing now to keep people safe and services running.”
According to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, Oregon has the potential for a 9.0+ magnitude earthquake caused by the Cascadia Subduction Zone and a resulting tsunami of up to 100 feet in height that will impact the coastal area. There is an estimated five to seven minutes of shaking or rolling that will be felt along the coastline with the strength and intensity decreasing the further inland you are.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone has not produced an earthquake since 1700 and is building up pressure where the Juan de Fuca Plate is subsiding underneath the North American plate. Currently, scientists are predicting that there is about a 37% chance that a megathrust earthquake of 7.1+ magnitude in this fault zone will occur in the next 50 years. This event will be felt throughout the Pacific Northwest.
With the current preparedness levels of Oregon, communities can anticipate being without services and assistance for at least two weeks, if not longer, when the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake occurs. While this will be difficult to overcome, officials say individuals, businesses, schools, government and communities can take steps to prepare.
Chambers said these types of efforts show that coastal communities don’t want to be caught off guard. He said, “we’re preparing now to keep people safe and services running.”
