Ponderay City Council hears application for Avista public utility complex
May 15, 2026
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Ponderay City Council will hold a public hearing on Monday, May 18 to discuss Avista Utilities’ application for a special use permit to build a public utility complex near the intersection of East Bronx Road and U.S. Highway 95.
Interested parties can attend in person at 5:30 p.m. at Ponderay City Hall (288 Fourth St.) or remotely by visiting cityofponderay.org/pz-agendas.
The Ponderay Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the application in April, sending it to the City Council for final approval. Planning Director KayLeigh Miller will accept written public comment at [email protected] at any time prior to the start of the meeting.
Conceptual aerial view of the proposed public utility complex in 10 years. Image courtesy of Avista.
Avista bought the 22-acre residential city lot in 2018, which is adjacent to an existing substation owned by Northern Lights, Inc. and surrounded by a mix of commercial, residential and agricultural land uses. If approved, Avista will develop the facility over the next decade, beginning with construction of a six-acre substation that will convert high-voltage electricity to lower voltage for area distribution, direct power around the grid and localize power, making it easier to restore after outages.
In its application, Avista representative Karen Kendall cited Ponderay’s population boom as one of the factors necessitating the additional facility.
“Between 2020 and 2023 alone, the area’s population increased by 15.8%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This rapid growth has significantly reduced Avista’s operational flexibility, posing challenges to maintaining reliable and efficient electrical service,” representatives stated in the application.
Later, developers will build a large service center on the site housing customer support, billing services, account management and office staff. The property’s undeveloped land will be maintained as pasture for nearby cattle grazing.
According to the application, developers plan to blend the facility into the existing landscape by planting a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, adding decorative boulders and digging a detention pond, which will catch and drain stormwater runoff. A nine-foot, noise-absorptive wall will obscure the facility’s infrastructure, except for openings at the entrance gates.
As part of the area’s improvements, Avista also plans to lay asphalt along East Bronx Road from the highway to the intersection with Craig Court.
For more information, or to read the complete application, visit bit.ly/BronxAvista.
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