Infrastructure projects signal long-term development plans near Acrisure Arena
Gavin Nguyen
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Infrastructure improvements are coming near Acrisure Arena, with officials hoping to strengthen utilities for further development in the area.
Imperial Irrigation District (IID) announced a new substation north of I-10 and west of Cook Street, within Thousand Palms, is moving forward. Most recently, the City of Palm Desert signed a cost-sharing agreement with IID to bring the substation online. With Palm Desert joining the agreement, IID officials said all government entities involved were signed on, further advancing the project.
According to the utility company, the estimated $39.6 million substation is expected to strengthen the local electric system, serving approximately 8,000 residential and commercial customers.
Areas serviced by Imperial Irrigation District, highlighted in yellow, near the Cook St. Substation
They also said it’s a needed upgrade in an area bottlenecked by power constraints.
Construction for the substation is projected for 2027 with a projected completion date of 2028.
News Channel 3 spoke with Mayor Evan Trubee of Palm Desert about the substation project. We asked, “When you talk about power in specific, is that sort of a bottleneck right now in that area that’s limiting that growth?”
The mayor said, “It was, but the Palm Desert way is we solve problems. And so I tip my hat to staff,the city manager, for coming up with a really creative agreement that gets this substation built without any undue burden on the Palm Desert residents.”
The cost-share agreement that the city signed, along with six other partners, places the burden of the nearly $40 million substation on those government entities. According to Trubee, no added tax or fee will be placed on residents. In the years to come, though, land owners and developers using that power will pay the money back to the government entities as a part of that agreement.
Power problems in the area have stopped some development and caused power outages at Acrisure Arena. We asked officials with the utility company if these upgrades will satisfy the needs of the area.
“If you’re talking about specific to that area, I would I would say yes,” answered Robert Schettler, Strategic Communications Specialist with Imperial Irrigation District. “If you’re talking about the whole entire Coachella Valley, which is what we’re looking at, our service area, yeah, we’re planning for the future.”
Mayor Trubee agreed with that forward-looking mindset when it comes to development in the area.
“Several thousand homes [are] being built there, those residents are going to need to be served both by electricity, of course, as well as future commercial development. We want those residents to have the same services and opportunities that the rest of the city has,” he said.
The mayor pointed to several infrastructure projects aimed at paving the way for thousands of new homes and residents in the area, too. That includes Fire Station 102, located near Gerald Ford Drive and Cook Street. It will alleviate some of the burden from other fire stations in the area – which city officials say see high call volumes – and provide public safety for the new developments.
He said there’s a lot of interest in the area to developers: “That’s one of the few sort of last remaining pieces of Palm Desert that is open and available to to develop and grow.”
Supervisor Manuel Perez also wrote in a statement:
The Cook Street Substation would generate development opportunities for economic development, affordable housing and workforce housing. It would not only support the county and community of Thousand Palms, but the cities of Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage with projects in the pipeline. It will help everyone and open the door to more economic development opportunities.
Supervisor Perez is very proud of all the partners: Riverside County, the City of Palm Desert, the City of Rancho Mirage, the Berger Foundation and IID, for advancing this agreement for the benefit of our Coachella Valley communities.
Stay with us for the latest as the substation project moves forward, along with other housing and commercial developments in the Thousand Palms/north Palm Desert areas continue.