OLYMPIA, Wash. — The House voted 94-1 Monday to require wind turbine lights be turned off at night when not triggered by airplanes.

House Bill 1173, introduced by Rep. April Connors (R) now goes to the Senate. Connors represents the Kennewick area, where a 224-turbine wind farm proposed in the Horse Heaven Hills just south of the city has prompted pushback from residents upset that the project would clutter their views of a pristine-looking ridge line.

If enacted, the bill would require existing and future turbines to be fitted with an aircraft detection lighting system that would turn on the lights only when airplanes were in the vicinity. The proposed law would go into effect for existing turbines on Jan. 1, 2026.

Scout Clean Energy of Boulder, Colorado, has proposed building up to 224 wind turbines, each about 500 feet tall, on 112 square miles of mostly private land in the Horse Heaven Hills. About 294 acres of the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center would also hold solar panels. The wind turbines and solar panels are projected to produce 1,150 MW. 

The Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center will generate up to 1,150 MW from solar panels and 224 wind turbines. | Scout Clean Energy

 

At a Jan. 16 hearing before the House Energy & Environment committee, Connors said the blinking lights on top of the 500-foot towers could be seen across an area with roughly 200,000 residents. “Those blinking lights at night, you can see them from hundreds and hundreds of miles away,” she said.

Germany has a similar law in effect, she said. Connors estimated that Washington already has 2,000 wind turbines.

While wind turbines provide needed electricity, “for many others, they are a disturbing eyesore,” said Kennewick resident Paul Krupin at the hearing. 

Peter Godlewski of the Association of Washington Business was concerned that the cost of adding an aircraft detection lighting system to each turbine would increase the cost of producing electricity, which would add to consumers’ bills.

Scout says it is developing visual simulations for numerous viewpoints in the surrounding area as required by the State Environmental Policy Act. “These simulations will provide a good representation of how the project will look once constructed and will be posted to the project website once completed,” the company said.