Clark County history: Bonneville Power Administration’s Ross Complex

On Highway 99 between Interstate 5 access ramps and 63rd Street is a turn-off rising up a grassy hill to the Bonneville Power Administration’s Ross Complex.

That complex is named after J.D. Ross. Ever heard of him? He never lived in the area, but he visited Vancouver often between 1937 and 1939.

Appointed to the Security Exchange Commission in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ross worked under Joseph Kennedy. He supervised Seattle City Light for 28 years before FDR tagged him temporarily, then permanently, to lead BPA in 1937. While continuing to work with Seattle Light, he assumed leadership of BPA. His experience showed him how public electricity helped people, and eventually, Ross involved people across Washington, Oregon and Idaho in discussions about Bonneville Dam.

President Roosevelt envisioned extending electric power to farmers. In part, World War II interrupted that effort. Ross wisely sought other customers for the dam’s electricity, including industry. During his tenure, his efforts brought electricity to rural and urban residents of the Pacific Northwest, and he strongly supported public utilities, saying they could offer cheaper electricity. Ross spoke in Vancouver numerous times promoting Bonneville Dam’s master plan and construction while he preached about the low electric rates the dam could deliver.

He was born in Chatham, Ontario (the end of the Underground Railroad). Orphaned when he was 16, Ross taught school after graduation from Chatham Collegiate Institute. Ross followed his doctor’s instructions to improve his lungs by exercising more. As a youth he left Edmonton, Alberta, for the Klondike gold fields, where he mined gold for 18 months. In Anacortes, he worked as a steam engineer before heading to Seattle. The city hired him as an electrical engineer for a public electric plant in 1903.

During World War I, although bonds were approved, Puget Sound Power & Light failed to build two dams on the Skagit River. They called on Ross to construct them, giving him the experience he’d find useful as head of the BPA. (A dam, a lake and a recreational area near the river were named after him.)

Ross brought the same resolve to his BPA leadership. A self-taught engineer, the charismatic Ross faced opposition from private electricity firms, politicians in three states and others in the nation’s capital. His role was also controversial among Native Americans (Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez Perce) who lost fishing spots, while conservationists worried about Gorge scenery. Add to those challenges, he had to build a dam and keep the Columbia River navigable and was attacked because much of the BPA budget was spent on navigation.

Although he ran the BPA for roughly 17 months, Ross died before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly after his death, President Roosevelt called him “one of the greatest Americans of our generation.” The 1940s wartime needs shifted the BPA’s plans from residential delivery to industrial, assuring the development of urbanization during the war and after. Without Ross’ energies, Vancouver and Portland would have had no Kaiser Shipyards, no Alcoa Aluminum plants and few other industries contributing to winning World War II.

Martin Middlewood is editor of the Clark County Historical Society Annual. Reach him at ClarkCoHist@gmail.com.