Electric Service

Service Area

Canby Utility serves approximately 7,700 residential, commercial, and industrial customers within the incorporated and annexed areas of the City of Canby.

System Capacity

Canby Utility sources its electrical distribution system from eight feeders at two locations: Six distribution feeders from Canby Utility’s Westcott Substation located near OR-99E and S. Redwood; and two distribution feeders from Portland General Electric’s (PGE’s) Canby Substation located on Knights Bridge Road at Barlow Road.

Power Source

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides Canby Utility at-cost wholesale power. Energy is delivered to the substations by PGE’s 57kV looped transmission system. Canby Utility is a municipally-owned, public power entity that operates independent of, and in collaboration with, the City of Canby.

Electrical System Capacity

Canby Utility’s Westcott Substation features two 20/26.7/33.3 MVA rated transformers. These transformers serve separate distribution busses that can be tied together through a buss tie breaker. As such, each transformer acts as a back-up to the other with capacity to carry all six feeders. Canby Utility’s two feeders served from Canby Utility’s Knights Bridge Substation are sourced from a 25 MVA rated transformer.

Electrical System Reliability

Canby Utility’s distribution system is approximately 70% underground and Canby Utility has an aggressive tree trimming program for its overhead system. These factors, combined with ongoing system maintenance and upgrades, contribute to our very impressive service reliability.

Plan for Addressing Growth

  • Canby Utility and the BPA currently project approximately 1% per year load growth.
  • Canby Utility continues installing a system of smart switches designed to quickly isolate troubled portions of the distribution system and automatically restore power to the unaffected portions.
  • In 2010 Canby Utility completed the 2nd phase of Westcott Substation which was originally built in 2001 to add system capacity, control, and reliability by moving load off of the adjacent PGE Twilight Substation.
  • Canby Utility completed Knights Bridge Substation in 2013 located adjacent to the existing PGE Canby Substation. This allows increased functionality of our smart switches and provides additional capacity for load transfers from Canby Utility’s Westcott Substation.
  • Current system capacity is projected to meet system demands through at least 2032.