Wind energy advocates won a big victory Thursday in Washington when the state’s Supreme Court ruled that local county commissioners can’t block wind farms.
The case, Residents Opposed to Kittitas Turbines v. State of Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, represents a big win for renewable energy advocates in the ongoing struggle to site wind energy installations; a struggle that has become a pervasive part of local renewable energy politics.
Six years ago, Horizon Wind Energy, wanted to build 121 wind turbines on the site in Kittitas County but scaled back plans to 64 turbines after hearing objections. In the ensuing redesign, Horizon also included a 1,000-foot setback from the project to neighboring property owners. But Kittitas County commissioners wanted more setback distance and based their requests on their own personal observations at the site. Horizon said that any setback greater than 2,500 feet would make the project economically unfeasible, and its plans were denied by the commission.
Horizon then appealed the commission’s decision with the state’s regulatory agency which administers wind-power site certification. The EFSEC forwarded its recommendation to the governor who approved the appeal.
Anti-wind turbine activists sued, saying that the state couldn’t preempt county laws, but as was evidenced in today’s unanimous decision, the Supreme Court justices disagreed.
“We hold that substantial evidence supports EFSEC’s decision to preempt the county’s land-use and zoning laws … We affirm the governor’s final decision to approve the … site certification application,” justices wrote in the decision.
“This decision is a strong, pivotal signal in the development of a clean energy future for Washington, and demonstrates that project developers who meet the rigorous habitat and wildlife criteria for new renewable projects, and engage the community in their effort, can be successful,” said Rachel Shimshak, director of the Renewable Northwest Project, a Portland, Ore., regional group advocating renewable energy, in a statement.
Project officials have said they expect to spend at least $150 million on the wind farm, and supporters say it could provide enough electricity to supply about 30,000 homes.
Image: NREL
About Timothy B. Hurst
This battle will be fought many times over in the coming years, as those who oppose alternative energy generation seek to stop such projects on a variety of factors.
While it is important that such projects work in harmony with the community, it is imperative that states have the ability to design and implement alternative energy projects.