Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) on April 17 recommended approval for a slimmed-down version of a controversial wind project proposed for a site just south of the Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington.  

The EFSEC, a committee of representatives from several Washington state agencies, voted 5-2 to recommend that Gov. Jay Inslee approve the Horse Heaven Hills project. The governor now has 60 days to issue a final decision.  

Scout Clean Energy of Boulder, Colo., originally wanted to install up to 222 wind turbines that would be 500 feet tall, or up to 141 turbines that would go up to 657 feet along a 24-mile east-west stretch of the Horse Heaven Hills just south of Kennewick, Wash.  

However, EFSEC decided in February that two-mile buffer zones need to be implemented around 60 to 70 ferruginous hawk nests in that area. In 2021, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission downgraded ferruginous hawks’ status from threatened to endangered. 

The buffer zone roughly halves the number of turbines in the project. A precise new number won’t be available until Scout maps out a revised siting plan for the turbines. The company said the changes trim nameplate capacity of the project from 1,150 MW to 236 MW. 

Scout’s original proposal also included two 500-MW solar farms on the east and west sides of the 24-mile stretch. EFSEC ordered that the eastern solar farm be removed because it is near sensitive Tribal cultural sites. 

The wind farm has drawn strong opposition from numerous Tri-Cities residents because the turbines would show up in a currently pristine view of the hills from the urban area and because they’re near the ferruginous hawk nests. A February decision by EFSEC removed turbines along the north slopes of the hills, which would also eliminate much of the Tri-Citians’ concern about their view. (See Washington Renewable Developer Rankled by Siting Board Alterations.) 

“By partially approving the Horse Heaven wind and solar project, EFSEC is balancing the need for renewable, clean energy with potential impacts on tribal cultural resources, wildlife and surrounding communities,” EFSEC Chair Kathleen Drew said at the group’s April 17 meeting.