Bonneville Power Administration
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85 years ago in 1941, folksinger Woody Guthrie started work at BPA. He was hired for 30 days to write music about the Columbia River and the benefits of hydropower in the Northwest. In that time, he wrote 26 ballads which later were collected into the “Columbia River Songbook.” He even recorded 11 of them in BPA’s basement. Three of those songs, “Roll On, Columbia,” “Pastures of Plenty” and “The Biggest Thing that Man has Ever Done,” appear in the BPA-produced film, “The Columbia” which was abandoned due to the start of World War II and went unfinished until 1949. Guthrie once said, “The Pacific Northwest is one of my favorite spots in the world” and we couldn’t agree more. ⛰️🎵
05/18/2026
On this day in 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted🌋, covering parts of the Pacific Northwest in volcanic ash.
For weeks afterwards, BPA and utility maintenance crews across the region worked around the clock, clearing ash from substation and transmission equipment to keep the lights on.
Despite the historic eruption, BPA’s high voltage system suffered no outages.
Were you or your family here during the eruption?
Tell us what you remember ⬇️ Bonus points if you have photos.
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