‘A great injustice.’ Demand rational decision-making in the Horse Heaven Hills Wind Project | Opinion

Governor Inslee and the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) are on the verge of approving the 100-square-mile Horse Heaven Hills Wind Farm, with 221 499-foot-high turbines along the prominent ridgeline four miles south of Richland and Kennewick.

This project stands to industrialize the landscape and change the character of the Tri-Cities for decades to come.

The mandated reconsideration decision by Inslee is a great injustice that causes notable economic harm and significant impacts to the residents of Benton County, the Tri-Cities and the Yakama Nation.

After conducting three years of technical review and analysis, EFSEC voted unanimously to cut the project by about 50% recognizing the significant negative impacts to the endangered ferruginous hawk, wildlife habitat and migration corridors.

The project will cause serious and irreparable damage to traditional cultural properties vitally important to the Yakama Nation.

The prominent wind turbines, highly visible from thousands of homes in several residential communities, will cause significant reductions in property values that will cascade through the economy of the Tri-Cities.

The 221 499-foot-high wind turbines located along the ridgeline south of Tri-Cities are hazardous obstructions that result in the creation of a huge 25-mile-wide regional no-fly zone.

This prevents employing critically important large aerial firefighting tanker aircraft that have been used year after year to protect the adjacent neighborhoods from repeat wildfires.

On April 29, 2024, the EFSEC Council mitigated the impacts and made a unanimous recommendation that balanced the impacts against the benefits.

However, on May 23, 2024 Inslee overruled the changes the EFSEC Council recommended and directed them to restore the project to near the original size, citing an undefined need for renewable energy.

Never in the 54-year history of EFSEC has a governor taken such action.

Adopting arguments presented by the developer, Inslee dismisses and ignores the impacts along with the economics and directs EFSEC to maximize the project.

His directive sweeps away the government’s responsibility to protect our communities from industrial extremists without explaining how much renewable energy will be produced or where it will go.

He does not recognize that the likely benefactors are big tech data centers out-of-state, rather the citizens of Washington.

Inslee fails to recognize that this project will not generate reliable power when it is needed most — in the dead of winter and the peak of summer. In the Pacific Northwest, particularly in southeast Washington, the wind does not blow for days or weeks at a time.

For example, during the cold snap in January 2024, the Nine Canyon Wind Project south of consumed more energy than it generated. Performance at energy facilities in the Northwest was similar. Utilities had to import up to 5,000 megawatts just to keep the lights on.

Northwest utilities are building wind projects in Montana and Wyoming with more reliable wind. The HHH project will not produce reliable wind energy that benefits and satisfies Washington’s needs, which are far better addressed by nuclear and hydro power.

Even with EFSEC’s recommended reduction in the number of turbines, the Horse Heaven Project would still be the largest renewable project in Washington.

Overriding EFSEC and mandating the construction of hundreds of low performing, poorly located and highly impactful wind turbines near the Tri-Cities is not the right answer.

It is unreasonable to ignore the scientific and economic conclusions and the mitigations developed during the review and analysis process.

EFSEC should reject the governor’s remand and stick to their original unanimous decision.

It is unacceptable and irrational for the Governor to reject the recommendation made by EFSEC.

The injustice is beyond reason.