Construction is proceeding on the 205 megawatt (MW) White Creek Wind Project in Klickitat County, Washington, due to the successful completion of financing. All local and state permits have been issued for the windfarm, which is located on 9,500 acres of ranchland, 21 miles east of Goldendale. Operation is expected in late 2007 or early 2008.

Cowlitz PUD commissioners Wednesday OK’d a multiparty deal ensuring that a $361 million central Washington wind farm, large enough to supply 38,000 homes with electricity, will be financed with private money. Three years in the making and involving lawyers from coast-to-coast, the groundbreaking transaction will mean an investment group formed by Prudential Insurance and Lehman Brothers will own a wind farm conceived by the PUD and three other utilities. The investors aren’t interested in wind turbines, but they are interested in federal tax deductions available to private investors in environmentally friendly wind farms, said Alan Dashen, a financial consultant hired by the PUD to arrange the deal.

A state agency begins today in Olympia to come up with a decision on the controversial Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, is set to meet today and Wednesday in efforts to form a recommendation to Gov. Chris Gregoire on the 65-turbine project, according to Irina Makarow, EFSEC’s siting manager. The governor, after receiving the recommendation, has 60 days to make a final decision: approve the recommendation, deny it or send the issue back to EFSEC for reconsideration.

Kittitas County commissioners may change the county’s wind farm ordinance next year after county staff examines standards that have been common to wind farm projects proposed so far in the county. Commissioners last week, during their update of the county comprehensive plan, agreed to have the county Community Development Services Department do the review and bring recommendations to the county commissioners.

Desert Claim Wind Power LLC, which wants to build a wind farm in Eastern Washington, is applying to a state panel after losing an appeal in a county superior court, the company said Thursday. Kittitas County Superior Court upheld Kittitas County's decision to deny a permit for Desert Claim to build a 180-megawatt wind farm north of Ellensburg. Desert Claim is a wholly owned subsidiary of enXco Inc., a wind developer based in North Palm Springs, Calif.

What EnXco Inc. in 2005 said it would do after Kittitas County rejected its wind farm north of Ellensburg it did Monday: the wind power development company filed a downsized wind farm proposal with the state in hopes to get better treatment and possible approval.

“Your plan is not based on fees,” said Tom Bangasser to Rita Schenck as the two debated the merits of a Public Utility District. They were formally con and pro speakers invited to the Sept. 21 meeting of the League of Women Voters. Schenck replied, “It is based only on fees. If we can conserve appropriately, we won’t need renewable energy.”

KENNEWICK, Wash. - Energy Northwest plans to add 14 wind turbines to their wind farm south of Kennewick.

After sitting through more than 27 hours of hearings this week, listening to or reading testimony from 35 witnesses and cross examining some of those labeled as expert witnesses, the jury is finally out on the controversial Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project. The “jury” - the 7-member state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council - may decide by late December what to recommend to Gov. Chris Gregoire on the 65-turbine wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg.

The site in Kittitas County has all the attributes the Whisky Dick Mountain site has – a steady supply of wind and nearby high power transmission lines. But it also has something the Whiskey Dick site doesn’t have – a loud group of opponents. “It’s location. Wild Horse Project was never affected because there wasn’t many people around,” said Sandy Sandall, a neighbor who opposed the project. Sandy Sandall and his neighbors worry the project would block their panoramic valley views and lower property values. But the owners of the land where the farm would be built are all for it.

Energy Northwest this week submitted an application to build a $1 billion coal gasification power plant at the Port of Kalama, kicking off a review by state regulators that could take more than a year. "This is a new technology," Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council manager Allen Fiksdal said Wednesday. "It's a big project, and it's complex." The 600-megawatt Pacific Mountain Energy Center would be the first power plant of its kind in Washington and the first required to comply with a state law that calls on new power plants that use fossil fuels to curb greenhouse gases.

SEATTLE — Voices from both sides of the Cascade mountains were heard Tuesday night at South Seattle Community College on a controversial wind farm proposal to the east in Kittitas County — the 65-turbine Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project. The hearing was the first in a series of sessions by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, that will continue next week, beginning Monday in Ellensburg.

The major sticking point surrounding Horizon Wind Energy’s planned wind farm northwest of Ellensburg comes to this: should state government override Kittitas County’s rejection of the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project and consider approving it? The wind farm developer and project supporters say yes; Kittitas County officials and opponents of the site 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg say no.

Denver-based Invenergy Wind LLC has options to lease or buy land 20 to 25 miles east of Ellensburg for a wind farm project, located between Vantage Highway and Interstate 90. The company, part of the larger Chicago-based power-generation company Invenergy, has environmental, wind, habitat and wildlife studies under way at this time at the site, according to Doug Carter, vice president of development for the company's western region. “We have, so far, viewed the location as a good site for wind-power generation,” Carter said. “We intend to keep developing the site.”

Vashon Island isn't the best place to harness wind energy. The wind just doesn't blow as hard in Puget Sound as it does in parts of the state where wind farms have been built. Even so, there's enough breeze to make wind turbines a good investment, says a group of islanders who want to make Vashon "energy independent."

Horizon Wind Energy is hoping for more talks with Kittitas County government officials despite county commissioners Tuesday signing documents rejecting the company's wind farm planned for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg.

County wants a longer setback, company says it will kill project's viability

He said there was data and criteria in the record to support the commissioners' request for a lengthened setback ­ 2,000 to 3,300 feet ­ that would buffer surrounding home-owners and property owners from the effects of shadow flicker and noise from the turbines.

Kittitas County commissioners on Wednesday didn't give a thumbs up or down on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, but said they want to see greater distances between the wind farm's towers and nearby homes along with other changes to lessen impacts.

Kittitas County commissioners on Tuesday set March 29 as the date to conduct their own public hearings on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg.