Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority seeks contractor for Malaga, Microsoft water main buildout

Commissioners authorized the solicitation of bids at Tuesday’s board meeting.

The pipe installation is one of a number of things included in Phase 1 of the to-be-reimbursed buildout for the data center. According to port documents, construction for the water main is projected at $2.3 million. The line and other improvements will also benefit the Malaga Water District.

The water main installation is one of a series of upgrades to supply water to a possible six cloud storage buildings, according to this Wenatchee World article, bit.ly/3kbtfCV.

“Ultimately, there will be some $40-50 million water improvements being made to support their data center for Microsoft. This project is really off to a really smooth start,” said Jim Kuntz, port CEO. “When it’s all said and done in three to four years, this is a $40 million buildout. This is just Phase 1 one of that.”

Kuntz added the funding is backed by Microsoft from within the reimbursement agreement between the port and the tech giant. Materials for the mainline are expected to arrive by mid-April. The port selected a vendor, Consolidated Supply Co., for the $700,000 materials in November 2022, according to Erik Howe with RH2 Engineering. RH2 Engineering is tasked with the design of the project.

“Everything should be in the ground in October and ready to go,” Howe said. “We’re trying to keep everyone on the same page (Microsoft and the port) at the same time. It’s been a great team.”

The buildout is being conducted in multiple phases. Phase 1 of the project includes drilling a test well, acquiring land for a reservoir site and obtaining a permit for cooling water discharge.