Then came onto the Whisky Dick came the 9,100-acre Wild Horse facility, owned by Puget Sound Energy, 127 wind turbines ...Some feared they might end the area's sage grouse future. And now that a grouse and a nest have been found there? "I think it's still too early to know," said Mike Schroeder, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife upland bird research biologist considered the state's foremost expert on sage grouse. "One, it's just one nest. I've had sage grouse nest in wheat fields where there was absolutely zero chance of success. You have birds that do strange things. ..."There are issues -- the blades killing birds, the blades killing bats," said Andy Stepniewski, author of "The Birds of Yakima County" and program chair of the Yakima Valley Audubon. "The bigger issue is the footprint, the habitat fragmentation. The footprint of each one is a lot bigger than one can imagine, because of the size of the machine, the size of the road; these are enormous trucks that bring these huge turbines in there. "The habitat is significantly impacted.

Puget Sound Energy will seek approval to add about 25 turbines to its Wild Horse Wind Power Project, constructing the new towers both inside and outside the existing 127-turbine project. The Bellevue-based private utility announced the planned expansion will include turbine sites on a newly purchased 1,400-acre tract immediately north of the existing wind farm that now takes in 9,150 acres, according to a news release. ...“It’s planned to locate added turbines inside the project as in-fill, and on the new property,” Lenz said Wednesday. “The 25 we’re looking at now is an estimate. It could be more or less.”

Kittitas County commissioners have affirmed that planned turbine locations in a proposed wind farm should be moved to comply with the required setback distance from two residences that exist near the project east of Ellensburg. ...The company is proposing to construct and operate the 69-turbine Vantage Wind Power Project 15 miles east of Ellensburg between Vantage Highway and Interstate 90. After reviewing the proposed agreement page by page and suggesting changes, commissioners agreed to meet again at 2 p.m. May 6 to examine a final, updated copy of the document. Commissioners may take final action at that time to approve the estimated $300 million project located about seven miles west of Vantage. The project is within the county's wind energy overlay zone, an about 500-square-mile area on the east end of the county that has been pre-identified as generally compatible with wind farm developments.

A controversy that has been brewing in Columbia County for months draws closer to resolution tonight. The Columbia County Planning Commission will discuss options for amending the zoning ordinance regarding development requirements or processing for wind tower-related energy production. ...Of the five options under consideration, two are proposed by citizen's groups. Friends of Scenic Columbia County is a group representing residents with more restrictive ideas for development standards, according to county documents.

"This is the only town I know where you can fly a kite year round." But taking advantage of this natural resource can be a lot harder than it seems. The Kittitas Valley Wind Farm off Highway 97 has been in the works for three years now. It was denied by County Commissioners, ok'd by Governor Gregoire, now it's at the State Supreme Court. ...

The Kittitas County Planning Commission on Tuesday voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the proposed 69-turbine Vantage Wind Power Project, a $300 million wind farm proposed for 15 miles east of Ellensburg between Vantage Highway and Interstate 90. In making the motion for recommendation of approval, Planning Commission member Kimberli Green said she had no problems with the project as long as Chicago-based Invenergy Wind North America LLC follows through with all environmental safeguards and mitigations it has committed to. ...Invenergy is proposing the project which is about seven miles west of the Columbia River and Vantage and approximately three miles southeast of Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind Power Project.

But the biggest reason for the growth of wind lies just out of sight from Wild Horse: the Columbia River with its huge hydroelectric generating capacity and the transmission lines that crisscross the state and region. Because of its intermittent nature, wind energy needs a solid base of other sources to sustain delivery of power to homes and businesses. Hydro dams are that base. Other states, principally Montana and North Dakota, have better wind than Washington. But the lack of transmission is stunting development.

Before an audience of about 60 people, the company presented details of the firm's plans for the 69-turbine, $250 million to $300 million Vantage Wind Power Project located seven miles west of Vantage and 15 miles east of Ellensburg, sandwiched between Vantage Highway and Interstate 90. Dave Iadarola, Invenergy's project developer, said the two, closest residents to the project are about three-forths of a mile from proposed turbine sites, and others are a mile or more away. He said the closest neighbors are supportive of the project. A minimum setback of a half mile will be maintained between turbines and any structures, he said.

The joint public hearing on a wind farm proposal set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds will be the first time county government utilizes its new wind farm overlay zone ordinance to deal with a wind-power project. The new ordinance, approved in July 2007, designates an approximate 500-square-mile area on the east end of the county as a zone pre-identified for general locations for wind farms. A streamlined process required by the ordinance applies to companies seeking projects within the new zone that runs along the edge of the Columbia River. ...There are two pathways for wind-power generation companies to gain wind farm approvals in the county: file solely with the county utilizing local land-use ordinances or file with the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.

Four proposed towers in Yakima County may soon reveal whether the Rattlesnake Hills near Sunnyside are suitable for wind turbines. Goldendale-based Northwest Wind Partners LLC has received tentative approval from a Yakima County hearing examiner to install four anemometers, or instruments that measure wind speed. Hearing Examiner Gary Cuillier will issue a written ruling sometime next week, after giving a verbal go-ahead in a hearing last week. ...Information gained from the towers will determine the possibility of putting turbines on the hillside, he said. Windmills on Rattlesnake Mountain in Benton County have drawn some controversy in recent months, but Cuillier wasn't worried about that yet.

A newly formed citizens ­organization has filed a ­lawsuit to block a wind farm from ­rising within sight of the Columbia River Gorge. Save Our Scenic Area, a nonprofit organization based in Underwood, filed the lawsuit against Skamania County in Clark County Superior Court earlier this week. The group contends ­Skamania County is violating the state Growth Management Act by failing to adequately protect commercial ­timberland and failing to ­properly zone the area where 44 giant wind turbines would rise. The group's Seattle-based attorney said residents are concerned about a proposal by SDS Lumber Co. to locate a wind farm just outside the boundary of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

A 30-page list of requirements for the construction and operation of the proposed Vantage Wind Power Project was issued Monday by Kittitas County Development Services officials. The list is part of the county's determination that an environmental impact statement is not necessary for the 69-turbine wind farm planned for a 4,750-acre site seven miles west of Vantage between Vantage Highway and Interstate 90. What is required of the company proposing the $250 million, electricity-generating facility - Chicago-based Invenergy Wind North America LLC - is meeting the standards outlined by the county in its 30-page mitigated determination of non-significance, or MDNS.

A Thurston County judge closed Kittitas County's investigations into alleged misbehavior by state officials Friday, sending the county's wind farm appeal to the state Supreme Court for a ruling. Judge Richard Hicks certified case records from the county's challenge of Gov. Christine Gregoire's Sept. 18 decision to approve the Kittitas Valley wind farm, a 65-turbine project 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. His decision, finalized with a signature expected next week, sends the case as is to the Supreme Court. ...The court is under no deadline in this case and a decision could take months. In the meantime, development at the wind farm site is on hold.

Burton Hamner came into town to find out which way the wind is blowing. ...Hamner - who was hired in early 2007 by Tacoma Power to direct a team of leading Northwest marine engineering and environmental experts studying tidal power generation in the Tacoma Narrows - has formed a new company to propose a wind and wave energy project just off the coast. ..."If you all say ‘no, we don't like it,' we'll forget it," Hamner said. He said he hopes he can at least convince people the idea is worthy of study so the potential and risk can be assessed.

A joint public hearing before Kittitas County commissioners and the county Planning Commission examining the 69-turbine Invenergy wind farm west of Vantage is set for March 12, according to county planning staff. ...Planner Joanna Valencia, with county Community Development Services, said the hearing before the two decision-making bodies will take testimony on the impacts of the proposed, $250 million wind farm and the adequacy of the applicant to mitigate or lessen those impacts. The company, Chicago-based Invenergy Wind North America LLC, filed for the wind farm under provisions of a new ordinance for wind-power projects within a 500-square-mile east-county area designated as a pre-identified zone for wind farms.

Kittitas County legal officials say they're concerned that an official of the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council had improper contact with the governor's office and with others related to wind farm issues as the council prepared to make a decision on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project. County Deputy Prosecutor Neil Caulkins recently released the information in connection with the county's court appeal of Gov. Chris Gregoire's decision last year to approve the Kittitas Valley wind farm, a 65-turbine project planned for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg and sought by Portugese-owned Horizon Wind Energy. The county is challenging the wind farm's approval by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, and by Gregoire in the state Supreme Court. Kittitas County, in a case joined with Residents Opposed to Kittitas Turbines and Steve Lathrop, want the governor's decision overturned.

Puget Sound Energy has blanketed a rock quarry atop central Washington's Whisky Dick Mountain with solar modules in an unprecedented effort to test the compatibility of sun and wind energy. More than 2,000 panels stretch squat and angular alongside the tall, sweeping turbine blades of the utility's Wild Horse wind farm near Ellensburg. ...Wind power has become the country's fastest-growing source of renewable energy, pushed by fossil-fuel concerns and government subsidies. But its up-and-down nature is a significant drawback. To ensure that customers get uninterrupted power, wind power must be blended with electricity from more reliable energy producers, such as hydroelectric dams and coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. The integration can get complicated, and it can increase costs. Puget Sound Energy's decision to commingle solar and wind represents a groundbreaking effort to blend two clean but unpredictable sources of energy into a renewable hybrid with more reliable generating credentials.

Kittitas County, where strong winds whip across the landscape, is an ideal location for wind turbines. For some in the county, that's been a decidedly mixed blessing. While wind-farm applications bring in permitting fees, and the existing Wild Horse wind project will generate about $1 million a year in property taxes, the County Commission is fighting two other wind-farm proposals in legal battles that may continue for months, if not years, to come. Such battles may become more widespread as the state faces a steep and rising demand for renewable electricity. With the passage of Initiative 937 in 2006, the state's large utilities must get 15 percent of their electricity from non-hydroelectric renewable sources by 2020, spurring a hunt for suitable wind sites from wind-power developers. That may well mean clashes with landowners who want to protect rural views and property values, and in some cases with environmentalists concerned about impacts on birds and wildlife.

In what could be characterized as a startling new development, on Friday, Dec. 7 the Kittitas County prosecutor's office filed a petition with Thurston County Superior Court bringing to light evidence some countians agree challenges the integrity of the Governor's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC), the nine-member appointed board that recommended the Governor override Kittitas County Commissioners and allow a controversial 65-turbine wind farm to be built 12-miles northwest of Ellensburg. ..."We are finding other governing boards throughout the United States to be less than patient with the public's participation on wind farm projects and have long suspected undue influence coming from legislators and/or the governor's office, i.e., politicians anxious to demonstrate their state's green credentials and a general unwillingness to recognize the harmful impacts of wind energy on abutting properties and the natural environment."

Judge Richard Hicks ruled from the bench to deny a request from the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council and Gov. Chris Gregoire to close the official record on how EFSEC decided to recommend to Gregoire that she approve the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, which she did Sept. 18. In so doing she overruled an earlier rejection of the project by county commissioners. ...e-mail records previously obtained that the appellants say allegedly show that EFSEC Chairman Jim Luce was biased against the county's position on the wind farm, prejudged the project before the county made its final case and violated appearance of fairness rules, in part, by communicating disdain for public input in the case.