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Stateline Wind Wins Permit, Local Audubon Support
Following successful negotiations last month between FPL Energy and Blue Mountain Audubon Society , the Walla Walla County (WA) Planning Commission issued a conditional use permit for approximately half of the planned 300 megawatt (MW) Stateline Wind Project destined to be the Northwest's largest wind facility and one of the largest in the world.
In Washington, a state with a history of wind facility siting challenges, FPL gained support from local environmentalists by agreeing to withdraw a few turbines (about 50 MW) from the permit application and to continue monitoring for avian activity before proposing additional turbines. Oregon's Energy Facility Siting Council is currently reviewing the 100 MW proposal for neighboring Umatilla County , which hosts the 25 MW Vansycle Ridge project installed in 1998.
The entire project represents about a $300 million investment with approximately 10 percent to be spent locally. Walla Walla County will receive an average of $1.2 million per year in additional property taxes, paid by FPL, for 300 turbines on four private ranches stretching over 11,000 acres. The project is expected to yield some $500,000 in direct payments to local landowners and will employ about 150 construction workers and 13-25 permanent staff.
The project also will provide infrastructure for future wind generation in smaller-scale installations throughout the region locally-owned clusters or single turbines providing clean energy for irrigation, ranches and rural utilities. By generating enough electricity to power more than 67,000 homes, the Stateline Wind Project will increase electric system reliability, and may well become the hub for operations and maintenance of satellite turbines in the Northwest. Construction will begin in January; the full project is expected to be online by the end of 2001.
Heather Rhoads-Weaver