Wind, solar projects gain traction in Garfield County as moratorium expires

Several renewable energy projects are on the horizon after Garfield County’s moratorium on wind farms lifted last month, while neighboring Whitman County continues to hold off on such projects as it drafts new rules for them following local opposition.

The Garfield County Commission allowed its six-month moratorium on new wind energy projects to expire before the county planning commission was able to finish updating its ordinance regulating such projects.

The planning commission is still working on the ordinance, but projects that apply in the meantime will be subject to the county’s old ordinance, said Justin Dixon, chairman of the county commission.

Enel North America submitted a conditional use permit application to the county for its Cloudwalker Wind Project on Feb. 6, the day the moratorium expired, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email.

The project has leased wind rights on 30,000 acres in northeast Garfield County, according to previous reporting by the East Washingtonian newspaper and a presentation the company gave to the county in 2023. The facility would have up to 375-megawatt capacity with 185 megawatts of battery storage and would involve new transmission lines built in Asotin County.

“We look forward to working collaboratively with the County through the permitting process, environmental review, and continuing to seek input from the community,” Virginia Wiseman, director of regional development for Enel, said in statement to The Spokesman-Review.

“Beyond simply confronting the growing demand for energy in eastern Washington, we are excited to bring forth significant economic benefits to this area of the state that are only possible by developing domestic energy, made here in America. This includes creating new jobs, providing land lease payments to local farmers that have generational impacts, and producing millions in tax revenues for improvements in our schools and other public services.”

After a brief discussion last month, none of the county commissioners moved to renew the moratorium it had put in place to buy time for the planning commission, so it lapsed.

The commissioners expressed impatience with the planning commission’s progress. The moratorium was intended as a way to block development. While many residents made comments against wind projects, other constituents wanted them to proceed.

“If we don’t move forward, we stand to lose tax revenue, and residents stand to lose potential income,” Dixon said.

The old ordinance is functional, Dixon said, but some of the language needs cleaning up. The new ordinance aims to update setbacks regulating how far wind turbines must be from property lines and buildings, and it will add provisions regulating solar projects. The commissioners will continue working with the planning commission, Dixon said, and he hopes to have a new ordinance adopted in the next few months.

A similar process is playing out in Whitman County, where that county’s planning commission is updating its own wind ordinance while the 200-megawatt Harvest Hills Wind Project planned near Kamiak Butte waits to apply. A moratorium is in effect in the meantime. Harvest Hills, owned by Steelhead Americas, is planning 45 turbines in the area between Colfax and Palouse.

A vocal group called Save the Palouse opposes the project, saying it will ruin the landscape.

Cloudwalker and Harvest Hills are just a couple out of more than a dozen wind projects buying up lease agreements with private landowners across central and eastern Washington.

The Spokane County Commission last August directed staff to begin drafting a wind and solar ordinance initially based on Whitman County’s ordinance but with stricter requirements.

Garfield County is already home to the Lower Snake River Wind Facility spanning 21,000 acres west of Pomeroy. Completed in 2012, the project owned by Puget Sound Energy has 149 wind turbines that produce up to 342 megawatts for the Puget Sound area.

The county permitted a solar project last summer that will be built within the Lower Snake River Wind Facility footprint.

Qcells USA will develop and construct the project that will be owned and operated by Puget Sound Energy.

The Appaloosa Solar Project will be capable of generating another 142 megawatts and storing up to 150 megawatts. The actual project area including fenced solar arrays, substations and battery storage will cover approximately 913 acres, according to the conditional use permit.

Puget Sound Energy said in a news release the project will help it reach its clean energy commitments and help meet peak demand during the summer. The project is designed to leverage existing transmission rights and infrastructure from the Lower Snake River facility.

The arrays are to be installed later this year, with commercial operation expected by December 2026.

The Lower Snake River Wind Facility’s original permits allow it to build up to 795 turbines in Garfield and Columbia counties. Puget Sound Energy spokesman Andrew Padula said the expansion project is still in the planning phase.

Puget Sound Energy pays nearly half of Garfield County’s property taxes every year, according to a report on clean energy property taxes by the Washington State Association of Counties.

Washington state’s permitting process for energy projects has caused frustration among critics. Developers can choose to apply through counties or apply through the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.

County commissioners writing ordinances are cautious not to be too restrictive, or else the developer can always go to the state and bypass local regulations.

Garfield County’s state Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, introduced a bill in January that would give counties and tribes final say over wind and solar projects.

“This bill would make sure the voices of the impacted population are respected,” Dye, the ranking Republican on the House Environment and Energy Committee, said in a statement. “It would also give local governments needed leverage to negotiate with sophisticated, billion-dollar asset management firms that are behind the solar and wind developments.”

The bill remains in committee.

James Hanlon’s reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community.