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-Editorial
The Imperial Irrigation District hosted a ribbon-cutting cutting celebrating the completion of major upgrades to its Westmorland electrical substation, aimed at improving power service reliability and strengthening the regional grid.
The project is part of IID’s Powering Our Community Together initiative, which plans more than 270 improvements across the district’s service area over the next 15 years. The program focuses on modernizing, refurbishing, and replacing aging facilities and equipment to maintain critical infrastructure and improve operational efficiency. This project commenced in May and was completed within four months.
“This is a proud moment for our board. We have 270 infrastructure projects that we are working on to help improve the safety and reliability of our system,” IID Board Chairperson Gina Dockstarter said. “And I’m just so thankful — I’m grateful that it’s happening here in Westmorland. This substation really needed these upgrades.”
IID is investing more than $3.34 billion over the next 15 years in over 270 projects to strengthen reliability, enhance operations, and meet the growing power demands of the region. These projects are designed to maintain critical infrastructure, improve efficiency, and safeguard the natural resources that support Imperial and Coachella Valley communities.
“This is a great day for Westmorland. Before this substation was upgraded, even a little rain, storm, or wind would leave us without power for hours,” Westmorland Mayor Judith Rivera said. “That was a big problem, especially for our elderly residents who depend on oxygen or need air conditioning when temperatures reach 115 degrees. We worked closely with Gina Dockstader and Alex Cárdenas for about a year to address this issue, and we’re just so excited—this upgrade is an amazing step forward for our community.”
Alex Cardenas, IID Director, participated in all project meetings and worked closely with city officials throughout the process. Cardenas said the collaboration helped streamline planning and ensure the project’s timely completion.
“Being able to work with the staff here in the City of Westmorland — they had told us, “Hey, we’ve got some reliability issues out here in Westmorland.” So, we worked with their staff, their public works department, and we identified what the issue was. The next step was to chase the money,” Cardenas said. “And so, we invested in the City of Westmorland. This is part of our pledge to reinvest back into the infrastructure here in Imperial County, and Westmorland is the very first recipient of that.”
Other major upgrades include refurbishing hydro turbines at Drop 2, Drop 3, and Pilot Knob; modernizing the 58-year-old El Centro Generating Station; and constructing a new 92kV Grapefruit Switching Station. IID is also replacing 15,000 poles, upgrading 12,000 transformers, and installing 700 new breakers to improve safety and reliability. Additional projects include battery energy storage, the Niland Peaker Plant upgrade, and joining the Energy Imbalance Market in 2026 to lower costs and improve grid efficiency.
For more news and information about the Powering Our Community Together initiative, please visit https://www.iid.com/about-iid/together
