IN LANDMARK DECISION, WASH STATE SUPREME COURT APPROVES WIND

There are some very good reasons not to build a wind installation. Endangered species, threatened habitat, compromised ecosystems and dwindling wilderness are among them.

Spoiling somebody’s view doesn’t qualify.

There are those who are convinced the only solution to modern society’s need for energy is a return to a simpler way of life. Nobody longs for a simpler way of life more than NewEnergyNews. Here’s the problem: It ain’t gonna happen.

Society wants energy. A lot of energy. There are better ways to get it and there are terrible ways to get it. Wind power is one of the better ways.

When an installation is a threat to species, habitat, ecosystems or wilderness, the wind industry will invariably find a way to put the installation someplace better.

The Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project (KVWPP) in Washington’s Cascade Mountains did not need to be moved. The Washington Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) said so and the Governor agreed. The only thing KVWPP threatened was the sensibilities of electricity users in Kittitas County.

After a 6-year legal battle, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that where an installation has met rigid environmental impact standards, state authority to allow vital New Energy development trumps local aesthetic objections.

Arlo Corwin, Development Director for the Northwest Region, Horizon Wind Energy: “This Project is the most thoroughly studied wind farm project in the Northwest, and EFSEC’s coordination with local, state and federal agencies has produced a renewable energy resource that Northwest consumers can be confident in. All of us who have worked on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project are grateful to the hundreds of Kittitas County citizens who supported it over the years…”

The length of the fight was due to continuing appeals from representatives of the County. The state and the developers would not back down.

This is something of a landmark decision. It is one of the first times, if not THE first time, a decision on an installation has gone to the highest court in a state. The decision could contribute toward establishing the precedent that the generation of New Energy for large numbers of people has a higher priority than individual aesthetic concerns.

It is not that aesthetic concerns are irrelevant. It is that aesthetics are difficult to contextualize and address.

Suzanne Leta Liou, Senior Policy Analyst, Renewable Northwest Project: “…When we see biological impacts, or if there are noise impacts, we want to make sure those impacts, that are based on science, are addressed…With the Kittitas Valley project and with projects throughout the region, the industry is very good about mitigating impacts that do exist and more importantly siting projects in a way that avoids potential impacts…”

In the end – and NewEnergyNews draws this conclusion as a resident of the mountains and a hiker of the mountains and the deserts for decades – there is a judgment that has to be made about the value to the many and the value to the few.

Leta Liou was especially approving of the “pre-work” done by the Kittitas Valley project developers and the preparations they have made to care for the environment in which they intend to co-exist.

Leta Liou, Renewable Northwest: “The Kittitas Valley project…[has] a mitigation plan, a conservation easement, that goes far beyond what the Washington guidelines recommend…”

Here’s the thing about aesthetic complaints: If the folks in Kittitas County think a wind installation compromises the aesthetics of their mountains, wait ‘til they see what global climate change does to the Cascades.

About the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project approved by the Washington state Supreme Court. From fancylogo via YouTube.

Washington State Court Gives Go-Ahead For Major Wind Energy Project
David Goodhue, November 21, 2008 (AHN)
and
Washington State Supreme Court Upholds EFSEC Permit for Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project
November 20, 2008 (Horizon Wind Energy)

WHO
The Supreme Court of the state of Washington; Horizon Wind Energy (Gabriel Alonso, COO); EDP Renovaveis; Suzanne Leta Liou, Senior Policy Analyst, Renewable Northwest Project

WHAT
The court upheld Horizon’s right to go forward with the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project (KVWPP).

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WHEN
The court's decision ends the 6-year legal battle over the project.

WHERE
The KVWPP will be in the Cascade Mountains on the east and west sides of Highway 97, 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg in Kittitas County of Washington state.
The location was chosen because it has good wind and available high-voltage transmission.

WHY
- Cost: $200-million (65 wind turbines)
- Developer: Horizon Wind Energy.
- Owner: EDP Renovaveis (4th biggest wind-energy producer in the world)
- Economic benefits: Property taxes, payments to landowners, jobs, local spending, community investments.
- After being recommended by the state Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council, then-Gov. Chris Gregoire approved

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QUOTES
- Suzanne Leta Liou, Senior Policy Analyst, Renewable Northwest Project: “Aesthetics was a primary point of opposition…but in the end the benefits are that we’ll see more renewable energy in Washington and that’s what Washingtonians have stated that they want…”
- Gabriel Alonso, COO, Horizon: "Today’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling is significant for Horizon Wind Energy and for Washington citizens. The Court, in upholding the authority of the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC), affirms that much-needed power projects that pass the State’s rigorous review will be built and that Washington State ’s goal of developing new renewable energy can truly be achieved…”