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- The Columbia River Project was initiated for national defense, irrigation, and economic development, with the Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers playing key roles.
- The Bonneville Dam and Grand Coulee Dam were built to generate massive hydroelectric power, with Bonneville producing up to 1.2 GW and Grand Coulee eventually reaching nearly 7 GW.
- The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) was established in 1938 to market and distribute electricity from Columbia River dams, pioneering equitable 'postage stamp rate' pricing.
- BPA created the Master Grid, a ring-shaped 230 kV transmission network, which became the first integrated regional power grid in the U.S., facilitating industrial growth in the Pacific Northwest.
- Carrier current telephone systems were initially used for communications and protective relaying but became overstressed and unreliable, leading to adoption of microwave technology.
- In 1950, BPA launched a microwave network with Philco, featuring long-distance links and passive repeaters, enhancing reliability and enabling advanced fault locating and supervisory control.
- The microwave network expanded to cover remote areas, supporting over 1,300 miles of route by 1957 and integrating with computer systems like the PDP-10-based RODS for real-time grid management.
- BPA's infrastructure, including historic microwave stations, remains documented under federal preservation laws, symbolizing a major American public works achievement.