The permit process for the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project has taken 4 1/2 years already, so what's another couple of weeks? The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council recommended the project's approval in May, not expecting to revisit it. But after a request from Gov. Chris Gregoire, the agency reopened talks on the matter at a pair of hearings Tuesday in Ellensburg. Per Gregoire's request, the discussion was limited to whether the project's wind turbines could be placed farther from nearby landowners "while allowing the project to remain economically viable." "She made it clear that she thought the council did a good job of everything else," said Adam Torem, the administrative law judge overseeing the process.

ELLENSBURG - A wind-power company on Tuesday warned that any further reduction in the number of turbines for the proposed Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project will increase the price of its power output and hurt its ability to compete economically in the power-sales market. Cutting more turbines from the project will be required, according to Horizon Wind Energy officials, if the state orders a lengthening of the distance between turbine towers and existing homes of people not participating in the project through leasing their land to the wind farm.

A state siting board will hear comments today to consider whether new setbacks should be required for the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project. The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council will hold two sessions today, from 3-5 p.m. and 6:30-9:30 p.m., at the Teanaway Hall, Kittitas County Event Center, in Ellensburg. In May, EFSEC recommended Gov. Chris Gregoire to approve the project, allowing up to 65 wind turbines to be built by Horizon Wind Energy of Houston along ridges on either side of Highway 97 outside of Ellensburg. The turbines would be the size of old-growth firs and have propeller blades up to 145 feet long. However, the governor asked for the setbacks to be reconsidered by EFSEC, which had required setbacks of four times the height of the turbines for non-participating residences.

ELLENSBURG - A 500-square-mile zone on Kittitas County's east end was approved by county commissioners on Wednesday as an area pre-identified as compatible for wind farm development. The zone stretches along the Columbia River and the county's southeast border. Final approval of the new zone is expected to come 3 p.m. July 19 when final documents are signed. Commissioner Chairman Alan Crankovich on Thursday said commissioners approved the addition of wording to the zone that would indicate that wind farm developers also must gain approval for their projects from private, state and federal landowners in the area. This includes the U.S. Defense Department that owns Yakima Training Center lands administered by the U.S. Army and Fort Lewis. "I'm not as optimistic as my fellow commissioners are on the availability of state, federal and military lands for wind farms," Crankovich said. He said he doesn't want creation of the zone to give wind farm companies "false hope" that they can easily site a project in the zone.

ELLENSBURG - A public meeting has been set for July 17 in Ellensburg in an effort to answer Gov. Christine Gregoire's question about the proposed Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a wind farm planned for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. In order for the governor to make a final decision on the 65-turbine project, she wants to know if the setback or buffer distances can be lengthened between turbine towers and residences of people not participating in the project and still allow the wind farm to be economically viable.

Increasing commodity costs, the weakening U.S. dollar and government mandates spurring demand all have driven up construction costs of wind farms, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council was told Tuesday. Costs for other kinds of power plants also increased, said Jeff King, a senior resource analyst for the council. In addition, representatives from two Northwest utilities and the Bonneville Power Administration reported that Northwest dams don't have enough flexibility remaining to supplement and smooth the intermittent power supplies generated by new wind farms.

Desert Claim Wind Power wants the state to lay aside Kittitas County's past rejection of its wind farm project, conduct its own hearings on the wind farm's compatibility with county land-use rules and, ultimately, approve its 82-turbine proposal.

Kittitas County Commission Chairman Alan Crankovich said the county's legal staff will examine a citizen complaint that commissioners allowed new information on proposed changes to the county development code to surface during a Wednesday hearing that was closed to public questions, testimony and comments. Crankovich said those expressing the complaint claim the information was not brought forth during a series of public hearings that ended June 14 during which citizens could have questioned, commented or rebutted them.

The developer of a wind power project in central Washington, having hit an impasse, is going "over the heads" of local planning officials. Desert Claim Wind Power, owned by wind developer enXco, today asked Washington State officials to recommend approval of its wind farm in Kittitas County that could power nearly 55,000 homes, the company announced. Desert Claim Wind Power made a motion asking the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to pre-empt local Kittitas County, and recommend approval of the wind farm.

ELLENSBURG -- The wind blows so hard over these desert ridges that it topples outhouses. It whistles through the high steel towers strung with cables that carry electricity west to light the cities of Puget Sound. The hills west of Ellensburg, then, would seem an ideal spot for giant wind turbines to help quench the Northwest's thirst for clean, home-grown energy. Instead, they have become a battleground as some locals and Kittitas County officials square off against environmentalists and wind-power companies over putting towering generators near rural homes that dot these hills and valleys. Now the fivc-year-old debate has reached all the way to the governor's office, elevating this beyond a classic not-in-my-backyard tale in a sparsely populated county. The outcome of this fight could set a precedent for future fights over wind power in the state as demand continues to mount.

Gov. Chris Gregoire wants one piece of information in order to make a final decision on the controversial Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a 65-turbine wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. The governor late Friday morning called on the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to reconsider its March 27 decision that recommended she approve the estimated $150 million project proposed by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy. Her decision calling for reconsideration is limited to having EFSEC re-examine the buffer between wind-power turbines and homes of people who are not leasing their land to the wind farm. In a letter to EFSEC issued Friday, Gregoire said she wants to know if the setback distance can be lengthened between turbines and homes not involved in the Kittitas Valley wind farm - going beyond the maximum 1,640 feet as recommended by EFSEC - and still allow Horizon's wind farm to remain economically viable.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) peddled a Democratic energy bill in her party's radio address Saturday despite the bill stalling over a dispute on renewable energy this week.

People who want a 360-square-mile expansion of a proposed east-county wind farm zone made their point Monday that the zone will only be effective if it is expanded along the east-west high-voltage power-line corridor across the county. Their comments came during a hearing examining recommended changes in the county's development code, which includes zoning designations and related rules. Some are opposed to expanding the county-proposed wind farm zone saying it takes in rural residential homes and future home sites. County commissioners earlier proposed establishing a 500-square-mile zone on the county's east end, along the Columbia River, that would be pre-identified as an area compatible for wind farm development.

A tax break that has helped spur the development of windmill farms in Washington state could be extended for five years as part of the new Senate energy bill, Sen. Maria Cantwell said Wednesday. But the ability to carry that power from turbines in some of the wind-swept regions of the Northwest to the customers who need it isn't part of the proposal at this time.

Officials of an international wind-energy company won't share details just yet of their proposed wind farm east of Ellensburg, but said they are "very interested" in a Kittitas County plan to create a zone on the county's east end designated as compatible for wind farm development. Michael Logsdon, director of business development for Invenergy Wind LLC in the Pacific Northwest, earlier this week said he may be able to announce more about the project once the county approves the new zone. Chicago-based Invenergy has been studying the site more than 20 miles east of Ellensburg since fall 2004. Logsdon acknowledged the site is within the proposed zone. "The county is considering to rezone the area to allow wind farms through a more streamlined process," said Logsdon. "We're very interested in the zone and are waiting for the outcome." County planning officials, who met with Invenergy representatives May 21, said the company is looking at a wind farm with about 55 turbines.

As the Oregon Renewable Energy Act made its way through the Legislature last month, lawmakers emphasized its potential to create homegrown, clean sources of electricity. Yet, even as Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed the bill into law Wednesday, the emerging reality defied the vision of a lone state moving toward energy self-sufficiency. Oregon wind farms, expected to dominate the state's renewable power expansion, are in the sights of utilities throughout the West. Electricity buyers in California are showing interest in power generated by a wind farm under construction in Sherman County, and already California utilities have snagged power from a Washington project. And the electricity from a project under development in Oregon's Union County is headed for Idaho.

Kittitas County may be on a collision course with a state council order regarding the county's process that reviews and permits wind farms. County officials continue to require the Desert Claim Wind Power Project to file a complete application with the county for a 90-turbine wind farm despite a May 8 order by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council that ruled that filing an application with the county is not necessary. "The county maintains that EFSEC does not have the legal authority to rule that the county's rules and regulations can be ignored," said Darryl Piercy, director of the county Community Development Services Department.

The proposed Desert Claim Wind Power Project does not have to seek approval from the Kittitas County government, a state council decided Tuesday. By a vote of 5-1, the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council decided the project does not have to file an application with the county because of the precedent set by an earlier EFSEC decision regarding the separate Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, according to council chairman Jim Luce.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, starting Wednesday, has 60 days to make a final decision on whether to approve the 65-turbine Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. The governor's office at 3 p.m. Wednesday received formal documents from the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council that recommended approval of the $150 million project planned by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy for ridge tops on both sides of state Highway 97.

UPC Wind filed a site certification application with the Oregon Energy and Facility Siting Council (EFSC) Wednesday to build a 60- megawatt wind farm on Sevenmile Hill west of The Dalles.