The proposed Saddleback Mountain wind project lies outside the boundary of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area - barely. That's a sensitive point for SDS Lumber Co. President Jason Spadaro, because another proposed gorge wind project, which would skirt the scenic area boundary across the Columbia River between Mosier and The Dalles, Ore., has provoked strong opposition in gorge communities. The turbines of the Cascade Wind Project, just south of the scenic area boundary, would be visible from several viewpoints within the scenic area, including Interstate 84, Washington state Highway 14 and Oregon's Rowena Plateau and McCall Point Trail. Proposed by Massachusetts-based UPC Wind Partners, that project is on hold pending the company's response to numerous questions posed by the Oregon Department of Energy. ..."Most of the Underwood community is completely against the project," said Ronda Crumpacker, who owns property about a mile away. "It's not that any of us are against the power. We're all for renewable energy. But to site a power plant where you are going to see it from Underwood, Hood River and White Salmon. ..."

Kittitas County on Wednesday charged a state council that makes decisions on county wind farms with being biased against the county's position and against public testimony from those in opposition to a local project and also alleged the council's chairman violated appearance of fairness rules. Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) and governor-appointee, Jim Luce, prejudged the 65-turbine Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project before final decisions were made, was biased against the county's stance against the project and expressed disdain for public comment on the project. "Those disclosures ... are startling and undermine basic tenants of how we all believe government should operate," Zempel said in the release.

Port of Longview commissioners Friday unanimously agreed to buy a $4.6 million mobile harbor crane to unload large wind-energy parts. ...It will be used to unload the towers, blades and hubs of giant wind turbines for Northwest wind energy farms. The port currently rents a crane to unload wind-energy equipment, O'Hollaren said.

Purchasing a pair of new wind turbines east of the Cascades might let the county generate energy equivalent to all its ­gasoline, electricity and natural gas consumption as soon as 2009. After the windmills sell their power on the open market, they'd pay for themselves and might leave some cash to spare, county General Services ­Director Mark McCauley said Wednesday. The windmills would cost about $18 million, McCauley said. At current electric rates, they'd earn about $1.2 million in cash annually and pay for themselves after 18 years.

A state council halted Energy Northwest's application to build a $1.5 billion petcoke/ coal gasification plant at the Port Kalama Tuesday, saying the public power giant's plan failed to meet new state requirements for sequestering greenhouse gases. ...The proposed plant would use a new, cleaner technology called Integrated Gasfication Combined Cycle to produce power. Energy Northwest's plans call for gasifying petcoke, a waste product from manufacturing gasoline, though coal could also be gasified. Company officials have argued that state environmental rules prevent them from injecting carbon gases into the ground, and they've made a "good faith" to develop a sequestration plan.

Looking east into Gilliam County and north into Washington, turbines are strung over ridgelines as far as the eye can see. And there are nowhere near enough of them. ...West Coast utilities and independent power producers are locked in a land rush to secure the best wind sites and the power they produce. Coupled with a worldwide shortage of turbines and a falling dollar, the resulting scarcity is driving up the cost of wind power, a burden electricity ratepayers will shoulder.

A judge on Friday dismissed a petition to recall all three Kittitas County commissioners. ...Knudson filed the recall petition saying he believes most Kittitas County residents disagree with the commissioners on the wind farm issue. The commissioners declined to permit the 65-turbine Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, proposed for a site 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg.

Talks of a wind farm on top of Rattlesnake Mountain in Benton County is no rumor. ...So far we know the Department of Natural Resources has signed a contract to lease 640 acres to Northwest Wind Partners. The assistant region manager for the Department of Natural Resources could not tell us how many windmills we're talking on top of Rattlesnake Mountain. He says the decision was made to lease the land because they support renewable energy.

Kittitas County Prosecutor Greg Zempel says a recall election petition leveled by Desmond Knudson against county commissioners should be dismissed because the allegations ... “... fail to state any real substantial facts showing misconduct.” He said the charges “do not present with legal and factual sufficiency a specific and substantial action of misconduct” by commissioners that demonstrate they acted outside his scope of authority.

The wide open spaces and natural terrain and wildlife of Southeastern Washington are fading, and some residents would like the encroaching effects of urbanization toned down, such as a proposed project that would place 35 to 50 turbines on Rattlesnake Mountain. More than 30 people showed up Saturday at the Richland Community Center for a meeting to oppose a proposed windmill farm at the base of the mountain. ...Rick Leaumont, chairman of the Audubon Society's conservation committee, agreed that urgency in protesting the project is necessary because about 238 bird species have been documented in the area, and would be effected by the windmills. "Wildlife needs some kind of solitude, a place that is theirs," Leaumont said. "Any location on the mountain would be a problem."

A Kittitas County Superior Court judge will decide next week whether an effort to recall the three county commissioners should proceed to signature-gathering and an election.

Debate over putting wind turbines on Rattlesnake Mountain appears to be maturing faster than plans for the project itself. ...Guettner said Rattlesnake Mountain may be an ideal spot for wind turbines, but not one the public is likely to accept. "I feel like there's a supermajority of people who feel the way I do," he said. "I think it's time we marshal these people." ...Rick Leaumont, Audubon's conservation committee chairman, said about 238 bird species have been documented in the area. He said they are regularly coming and going to and from the monument, often crossing the mountain. "Any location on the mountain would be a problem," he said. "It's like an airport."

By December 2007, more than 1,500 turbines will be churning out electricity in the Columbia River Gorge. Scientists are also concerned that since the turbines are nearing along the ridge of the gorge, canyons and shrub-covered rangeland, the natural habitats of the birds could be at risk. ...Wildlife biologists in Oregon and Washington state say the turbines are taking toll on raptors and other birds and it may limit expansion of clean wind energy.

Chicago-based Invenergy Wind North America applied on Wednesday with Kittitas County to construct a $250 million, 69-turbine wind farm sandwiched between Vantage Highway and Interstate 90 southeast of the existing Wild Horse Wind Power Project on the east end of the county. ...By utilizing the county's pre-identified wind farm zone, the company will likely expedite the approval process. "I'm estimating that public hearings before the county commissioners on the project could come as early as December," Piercy said.

... depending on an array of factors, including the size of turbines that would be used, it appears the project could consist of about 150 turbines standing as tall as 500 feet from ground level to blade tip, well more than a football field high. "Any place you could see the ridge you could see the turbines," said Toby McKay, the Tri-Cities Unit land manager for the Department of Natural Resources, which manages a sliver of the land the project could be built on. "My guess is Prosser, Mabton, Sunnyside, that whole area, I'm sure there would be some view of those."

Puget Sound Energy says its estimate of the cost to find additional sources of electricity to meet customer demand over the next 20 years has more than tripled since it prepared a similar plan in 2003. The Bellevue-based electric and natural gas utility says it now believes that coming up with an additional 2,759 average megawatts of power by 2027 will cost $14.4 billion, up from the $4.4 billion estimate in 2003 and $8.1 billion in a report prepared in 2005.

Ellensburg area businessman Desmond Knudson late Wednesday filed with Kittitas County a petition calling for an election to recall all three county commissioners: Alan Crankovich, David Bowen and Mark McClain. Knudson, who said he was the sole person behind the petition, alleges that the commissioners knowingly broke state law when they approved on July 19 an update of the county development regulations that contained a new county wind farm zone that takes in part of the U.S. Army's Yakima Training Center lands on the east end of the county. ... Word about the recall petition spread Wednesday afternoon. Kittitas County Republican Party Chairman Matt Manweller said the public shouldn't take Knudson seriously, and that his action was "a PR stunt, not a serious attempt to engage in a legitimate political process."

The reaction to the Monday announcement that Kittitas County commissioners will mount a legal appeal against Gov. Chris Gregoire's approval of the 65-turbine Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project was not surprising: project supporters are disappointed, but those against the location of the 6,000-acre wind farm like the challenge. Others indicated the legal action is welcome in that the state Supreme Court may answer, once and for all, whether land-use decisions made by local governments and their elected officials have a stronger legal standing than state actions to overrule those decisions.

Kittitas County commissioners on Monday agreed to take Gov. Chris Gregoire to the state's highest court to challenge her Sept. 18 decision approving the controversial 65-turbine, $150 million Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. Commissioners, after a closed executive session, instructed the county Prosecutor's Office to file the appeal in Thurston County Superior Court, the first step before going to the state Supreme Court. ...the commissioners rejected the wind farm because environmental impacts were not adequately mitigated or lessened.

The Kittitas County Board of Commissioners will challenge Governor Christine Gregoire's decision to approve the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project.