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Wind farm decision set for March 27
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The state agency that decides on large, energy-producing projects statewide will come to Ellensburg on March 27 take a vote on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, and then send this in the form of a recommended order to Gov. Chris Gregoire who must make the final decision within 60 days.
The seven-member state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, met Tuesday in Olympia and set the evening of March 27 at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds as the date it will vote on adopting the order, according to Allen Fiksdal, EFSEC manager.
He said EFSEC’s administrative law judge, attorney Adam Torem, is in the process of finalizing the order upon which EFSEC members will vote.
“Right now the council is set on the date – March 27 – we now have to confirm the time and the location,” Fiksdal said.
He said the time will likely be 6:30 or 7 p.m.
Hearings before EFSEC on the Kittitas Valley wind farm ended Sept. 21 in Ellensburg. Horizon Wind Energy, a Houston-based wind power development company, proposes to construct a 65-turbine wind farm on about 6,000 acres 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg on ridges on both sides of U.S. Highway 97.
Kittitas County earlier last year voted to reject the project that was scaled down from 121 turbines in an earlier version of the project.
Horizon is asking EFSEC to lay aside the county’s decision to reject the smaller project and make its own decision whether the new proposal is compatible with county land-use rules.
Fiksdal said the March 27 EFSEC session will be a formal public meeting during which the council will vote on whether to adopt the order. It is expected that EFSEC members will explain their positions on the order at that time.
There are EFSEC provisions that also allow a minority statement from EFSEC members on the order, though Fiksdal declined to say if such a minority report may be issued.
In another county wind farm project before EFSEC, officials of French-owned EnXco USA Inc. are asking the council to agree to a declaration that the wind farm development company has done all it can to make its proposed wind farm consistent with county land-use rules and zoning.
EnXco then wants EFSEC to consider laying the county decision aside and decide on its own.
The state agency that decides on large, energy-producing projects statewide will come to Ellensburg on March 27 take a vote on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, and then send this in the form of a recommended order to Gov. Chris Gregoire who must make the final decision within 60 days.
The seven-member state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, met Tuesday in Olympia and set the evening of March 27 at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds as the date it will vote on adopting the order, according to Allen Fiksdal, EFSEC manager.
He said EFSEC’s administrative law judge, attorney Adam Torem, is in the process of finalizing the order upon which EFSEC members will vote.
“Right now the council is set on the date – March 27 – we now have to confirm the time and the location,” Fiksdal said.
He said the time will likely be 6:30 or 7 p.m.
Hearings before EFSEC on the Kittitas Valley wind farm ended Sept. 21 in Ellensburg. Horizon Wind Energy, a Houston-based wind power development company, proposes to construct a 65-turbine wind farm on about 6,000 acres 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg on ridges on both sides of U.S. Highway 97.
Kittitas County earlier last year voted to reject the project that was scaled down from 121 turbines in an earlier version of the project.
Horizon is asking EFSEC to lay aside the county’s decision to reject the smaller project and make its own decision whether the new proposal is compatible with county land-use rules.
Fiksdal said the March 27 EFSEC session will be a formal public meeting during which the council will vote on whether to adopt the order. It is expected that EFSEC members will explain their positions on the order at that time.
There are EFSEC provisions that also allow a minority statement from EFSEC members on the order, though Fiksdal declined to say if such a minority report may be issued.
In another county wind farm project before EFSEC, officials of French-owned EnXco USA Inc. are asking the council to agree to a declaration that the wind farm development company has done all it can to make its proposed wind farm consistent with county land-use rules and zoning.
EnXco then wants EFSEC to consider laying the county decision aside and decide on its own.
By Mike Johnston
Senior Writer
14 March 2007
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