Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge Donald W. Schacht denied a petition Friday for review of a Columbia County conditional use permit for construction and operation of a 90 megawatt wind farm project. Petitioners Eric and Elizabeth Thorn, Gary and Joann Grendahl and James Peterson filed the petition in the Walla Walla court May 23.

Congressman Doc Hastings told Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday he's concerned that a final approval by her of a controversial wind farm in Kittitas County will set a negative precedent that says county government's wind power project review process is of no value. Hastings, a Republican from Pasco who represents Kittitas County as part of the 4th Congressional District, sent a letter Friday to Gregoire addressing his concerns centered on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a 65-turbine wind farm planned for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg and sought by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy. Hastings urged Gregoire, a Democrat, to consider "the potential implications of setting aside the lawful policies of locally elected officials - not only for future wind farm development, but also for power project siting in Washington generally," according to a news release and a statement from Hastings.

Technical glitches remain a major hurdle to the spread of wind power. The turbines need to be connected to electrical companies and people and businesses through power lines -- like the ones that link your house to the pole on the street, but bigger. The trouble is, these transmission lines often don't extend into the isolated places where the wind blows most strongly. Or if they do, there's not enough room in them to carry all the juice. And while technology has made wind turbines more efficient at squeezing power out of gentler breezes, it can't make the wind blow all the time. So energy from wind turbines must be paired with energy from more reliable sources such as dams, coal or gas plants.

There's a big obstacle to creating a shiny techno-green future by adding wind, sun and wave energy to our power system: the grid. The nation's electric power transmission system, aka the grid, could be imagined as an overworked tangle of fraying household wires repeatedly spliced together by your grandfather, who refuses to call the electrician. It is based on century-old technology and, from a modern management perspective, is dumb. Often, it's likened to the nation's highway system. But one local utilities executive said that is wishful thinking. "More like a collection of New England country lanes," said Roger Garratt, resource acquisition manager for Puget Sound Energy.

For a second time, a Washington state agency has recommended that the governor approve a proposed central Washington wind farm over the objections of Kittitas County citizens and officials. The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council had recommended that Gov. Chris Gregoire approve the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project in March, but Gregoire asked the council to reconsider whether the turbines should be set farther away from land owned by others. Neighboring landowners and local officials have argued against the project for five years, saying it will have negative environmental and visual impacts.

A state energy council on Wednesday agreed to tell Gov. Chris Gregoire that a wind farm planned northwest of Ellensburg must make as its "highest priority" efforts to lengthen the distance between turbines and homes of people not leasing their land to the wind power company. The effort would come when the company decides on the exact location of each tower in a process called micro-siting, which occurs prior to construction. The governor, when she receives the council reply early next week, will have 60 days to make a final decision on the controversial 65-turbine, $150 million Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project planned by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg.

A controversial wind farm in Kittitas County is one step closer to generating energy. Today the State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) recommended the Horizon Wind Project go to the governor. But construction can't begin just yet, Governor Christine Gregoire still has to sign off on the project, which is strongly opposed by several local groups and the Kittitas County Commissioners, who have voted in the past to deny Horizon's building permit.

ELLENSBURG - Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday will get the answer to her question on the controversial Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, a wind farm planned for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. The governor wants to know if the setback distances between turbine towers and landowners not leasing land for the project can be lengthened without harming the economic viability of the 65-turbine wind farm planned by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy. At this time, the distances range from a minimum of 1,320 feet to a maximum 1,640 feet.

You already drink shade-grown coffee, drive a Prius, and shop strictly organic at PCC. So naturally you're the best kind of customer-indeed a captive customer-for the ad blitz Seattle City Light has recently devised for its two-year-old "Green Up" program. Your latest billing envelopes have encouraged you to Green Up by adding a voluntary premium of as much as $12 to your monthly bill. For what purpose? To buy an amount of wind power equal to a percentage of your household's usage of cheap hydropower. "Participating in the Green Up program demonstrates your preference and support for clean energy and a healthy environment in the Northwest," says the city's Web site. "It helps promote economic development in rural parts of the region, improves our energy security, and reduces pollution." Really?

Puget Sound Energy officials earlier this week unveiled a proposed, public access plan for Beacon Ridge Road that runs through the company's Wild Horse Wind Power Project 17 miles east of Ellensburg. The plan, which requires state approval, offers the general public controlled access to the 9,000 acres encompassing the wind farm, according to Brian Lenz, manager of community and local government relations for PSE in Central Washington. Beacon Ridge Road is currently closed to the public due to construction of a demonstration solar project and final work on the wind farm that began full operation in December 2006.

The United States is expected to be home to an anticipated 49,000 MW of installed wind-power capacity by 2015, making it the world's largest wind-power producer, according to a recent report. Developers are expected to invest more than $65 billion between 2007 and 2015 in wind-power facilities, researchers say.

Some people feel they just want to get the process over with, while others see no need for the project at all. "I really think the majority of the approximate 38,000 residence of Kittitas County care little about who decides this issue. As long as we use a little objectivity and common sense," an audience member said at the forum. "All I can find is that there is no benefit to our community, other than specific people that will be payed to put windmills on their property," explained Bill Fitzgerald, who owns property near where the proposed wind farm would go.

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.