Whitman County imposes wind energy moratorium as developer plans a 45-turbine project near Kamiak Butte

PULLMAN – The developer behind a wind farm project near Colfax says it has enough leases from landowners to move forward with 45 turbines, but plans to work with Whitman County as it writes new wind energy rules at the urging of upset neighbors.

Harvest Hills Wind project has faced significant outcry for its proximity to Kamiak Butte, a county park and National Natural Landmark. Opponents say it will ruin the landscape.

The county commission was about to vote on a cost reimbursement agreement with Harvest Hills early last month when instead, amid public pushback, the commission implemented a six-month moratorium to update the county ordinance.

Harvest Hills’ 45 turbines would each be approximately 600 to 650 feet tall, lead developer Shane Roche said.

The configuration of each turbine has not been determined, but the project covers an area of private Palouse farmland between the towns of Colfax and Palouse, south of Palouse River and north and west of Kamiak Butte. While the project has enough leases to put up the turbines, it is not too late for interested landowners to join, Roche said.

Steelhead Americas, the North American development arm of Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, is developing the project. The turbine components are manufactured at Steelhead’s plant in Denver. Steelhead plans to sell the project but will continue to service it.

Because the project is on private land and developed by private investors, it is not affected by President Donald Trump’s executive order halting offshore wind and projects on federal land. That order stopped the Lava Ridge Wind Project near Twin Falls, Idaho, which some groups opposed for being near a historic site where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II.

Roche noted that Trump also declared a national energy emergency in another order on his first day in office.

“We believe we are part of that solution,” Roche said.

Wind is a quick and affordable way to meet growing demand, he said.

Harvest Hills is farther along than other projects in Eastern Washington and will be able to plug into the grid sooner, Roche said. Once construction begins, it is expected to finish in about a year.

Other companies are exploring wind projects in southern Spokane County, Lincoln County and Garfield County.

For comparison, Palouse Wind is an existing 105-megawatt facility that opened in 2012 in northern Whitman County with 58 turbines that are 426 feet tall. Vestas did not develop this project, but it used Vestas turbines. Palouse Wind sells its power to Avista Utilities.

Roche said Harvest Hills’ turbines would be about 30% larger and require three times more spacing. The larger, more powerful turbines would generate 200 megawatts.

Roche said the moratorium gives Steelhead more time to work on the design phase. The company is focused on working with the county to develop the project while respecting property rights and benefiting the entire community, he said.

Despite pressure from residents to stop the project entirely, the county has to walk a fine line while writing a stricter ordinance.

Wind companies can choose to forgo the county permitting process and obtain a permit through the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council or the Department of Ecology.

“I think it is better to have a county code and run under it rather than the state,” County Commissioner Art Swannack said at a public hearing Monday in Colfax. “I still think the state will run over the top of us if the code does not follow what the courts say.”

About three dozen people spoke at the hearing meant for the county to gather input on the ordinance.

Most opposed the development, and many asked for greater setback requirements not only from residences, but also from property lines.

Several homeowners complained that the county’s zoning rules for building homes are extremely strict, yet the same rules would not apply to wind turbines, which are visually more intrusive.

Others asked the county to make a special industrial zone for wind projects, rather than allow them under general agricultural zoning.

The commissioners said they want to focus on updating decommissioning provisions.

“The planning commission is going to have to work on this, and I expect it won’t be quick,” Swannack said.

Harvest Hills hosted a moderated information session at Washington State University in Pullman on Tuesday where a panel of consultants discussed the project’s economic, environmental and visual impacts.

Terry Wirkkala, senior project manager at ECOnorthwest, who studied the expected economic impacts of the project, said that it was expected to spend $158 million locally. The construction phase would involve 150 jobs, while the operational phase would employ five workers.

The project would generate an estimated $1.3 million a year in property tax for the county, Wirkkala said.