Wind energy will play a growing role in meeting the rising power needs of the Northwest, but it isn't controllable and it needs total backup by traditional sources such as hydroelectric dams, according to a report released Wednesday by energy specialists. The six-month study looked at how to integrate wind power into the region's power system. While wind energy sounds attractive, it can be fickle, the specialists said. Sometimes it blows, sometimes it doesn't. And while wind is free, they said getting its energy from a rural wind farm to an urban wall socket isn't.

The state agency that decides on large, energy-producing projects statewide will come to Ellensburg on March 27 take a vote on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project, and then send this in the form of a recommended order to Gov. Chris Gregoire who must make the final decision within 60 days. The seven-member state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, met Tuesday in Olympia and set the evening of March 27 at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds as the date it will vote on adopting the order, according to Allen Fiksdal, EFSEC manager. He said EFSEC's administrative law judge, attorney Adam Torem, is in the process of finalizing the order upon which EFSEC members will vote. "Right now the council is set on the date - March 27 - we now have to confirm the time and the location," Fiksdal said.

A state agency on Tuesday agreed it needed more time to work on a document that outlines a proposed decision on the controversial Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project and declared it would likely meet in Ellensburg in the first two weeks of March to take a vote on the document. The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, meeting in Olympia, agreed more time was needed to complete a draft of a proposed order, according to EFSEC Manager Allen Fiksdal. That order, voted upon at the Ellensburg meeting, will be its recommendation to Gov. Chris Gregoire on the 65-turbine wind farm proposed for 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg on both sides of U.S. Highway 97. The state council earlier met in closed-door sessions in Olympia on Jan. 25, Dec. 5, 6 and 12 in attempts to form a recommendation on the wind farm proposed by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy. Kittitas County officials last year agreed to reject the project. Horizon, the county and others presented their case before EFSEC in several hearings in September. Horizon is not only asking EFSEC to approve the project, but to pre-empt or lay aside the county’s decision to reject it. The company wants EFSEC to make its own decision on whether the project is compatible with county land-use policies, rules and zoning. Once the governor receives the recommendation, Gregoire has 60 days to make the final decision.

A wind farm developer wants to explore the potential for power generation in the hills north of Zillah. Columbia Energy Partners of Vancouver, Wash., wants to build two meteorological towers in the Rattlesnake Hills area to determine if there’s enough wind to generate electricity. While large-scale wind farms are already established in Klickitat and Kittitas counties, Yakima County has yet to see a turbine.

The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC), an Olympia, Wash.-based licensing agency for nonhydro energy projects, has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) for the proposed Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project. All wind farm requests in Washington state must be approved by the EFSEC before construction can begin. Sagebrush Power Partners LLC, a subsidiary of Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy, is proposing the Kittitas Wind Power Project. According to the EFSEC, Sagebrush is requesting to build a 195 MW wind farm comprising of 65 turbines. The project would be located on approximately 108 acres of land on either side of Highway 97 - halfway between Ellensburg and Cle Elum, Wash.

Underwater currents could be harnessed to help light our homes, under a dream the Snohomish County PUD hopes will become reality. DECEPTION PASS - The unbridled might of the Pacific Ocean flows unchecked for 100 miles through the Strait of Juan de Fuca before it slams into the west side of Whidbey Island. Much of that power funnels into Deception Pass, a narrow gap between Whidbey and Fidalgo islands. Four times each day white-tipped swells rush in and out of this canyon's sheer rock walls, each time roaring like the river early explorers thought this pass was. For eons tidal currents have ripped through passages such as this all over Puget Sound. Now Deception Pass and a handful of other passes are the focus in a race to develop a new kind of renewable energy: tidal power. As long as there are oceans, a moon and gravity, there will be tidal energy there for the taking.

A state agency told developers of the Desert Claim wind farm proposal on Tuesday they have 90 days to work with Kittitas County officials to bring their project into compliance with county land-use rules. Members of the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, voted unanimously Tuesday to declare the 90-turbine project as inconsistent with the county’s comprehensive land-use plan and zoning code. Adam Torem, EFSEC’s administrative law judge, at the conclusion of a public hearing in Ellensburg, said the company seeking the project, French-owned EnXco Inc., acknowledged the proposal for north of Ellensburg has not been approved by the county.

The state energy council will conduct a public hearing Jan. 30 on the 90-turbine Desert Claim Wind Power Project proposed north of Ellensburg and likely will face much more controversy on the decision it faces after the hearing. The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council has set a public hearing for 7 p.m. in the Home Arts Building at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds. The hearing is limited to determining if the project is consistent with county land-use rules. After the hearing, the wind power company, French-owned EnXco Inc., wants the EFSEC to agree to not require it to go through the county’s wind farm review process, an EFSEC requirement to make the project consistent with county land-use rules. David Steeb, Desert Claim project director, said EnXco wants the state council to pre-empt the county’s involvement in the EFSEC process and make its own decision on whether the project is consistent with county land-use rules. Steeb said the company doesn’t want to go through another round of public hearings before the county Planning Commission and county commissioners as part of the EFSEC process. “We don’t see the project going through the county process again,” said Steeb. “We went through that process, and they turned us down. We don’t see repeating it.”

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.

The company said the increase was needed for a new wind-farm project in Central Washington (Wild Horse Wind), a long-term contract to buy power supplies from Chelan County PUD, the installation of new generators for the Baker River Hydroelectric project and more capacity in several natural gas transmission pipes.

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.

On Aug. 21, when afternoon temperatures in Washington state soared, Avista Corp.’s (AVA) utility division asked customers to cut their electricity use while it scoured the region for power supplies. Utility operators were frustrated, in part, because the company’s supply of wind power was producing nothing, thanks to a lack of wind. Avista wasn’t alone. Throughout the West during that August heat wave, a growing fleet of windmills met triple-digit temperatures with impotence. California’s grid operator was serving up a record amount of power that afternoon, too, while its 2,850 MW of wind turbines were churning out just 112 MW.......What can all these windmills do to help prevent a blackout in a heat wave? Utilities’ estimates of that range widely. When figuring out how to keep the lights on during the coming summer’s hottest day, PJM pencils in 20% of wind capacity for serving peak load. The California Independent System Operator figures 5% will be there. For Texas, which has more windmills than any other state, Ercot counts on just 2.6% of capacity. Avista, like many utilities operating their own grid, doesn’t count on any wind power during the summer peak. As more windmills come on line, overestimating could mean a blackout, while underestimating could mean paying a lot of money for unneeded standby generators.

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.

Large utility companies will have to increase their renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020 under an initiative approved by Washington voters. Under Initiative 937, utilities with more than 25,000 customers would have to meet 15 percent of their annual load with resources such as wind power, solar energy or sewage gas by 2020. With about 65 percent of the expected vote counted Thursday, I-937 passed with about 52 percent of the vote, or 697,133 votes. About 48 percent, or 647,572, voted against the measure.

Voters picked their way through four statewide ballot measures with an independence that defied easy assumptions about political geography...... Washington voters were all over the map in supporting the renewable-energy proposal, Initiative 937. If the measure, passing with 52 percent, becomes law, utilities will have to derive 15 percent of their energy portfolio from renewables by 2020 or face fines.

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.

The slogans are simple: Clean wind energy or coal-powered plants polluting the planet. Higher electrical bills or utilities free to save ratepayers money. In the muddle of initiatives and measures that clutter the Nov. 7 ballots, those for and against Initiative 937 are hoping to persuade voters with these basic concepts. But that’s only the tip of the wind turbine.

Supporters of Initiative 937, the renewable energy measure on the Nov. 7 ballot, have out-raised their opponents by a 4-to-1 margin heading into the final two weeks of the campaign, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Washingtonians for Cleaner Cheaper Energy had collected $1.52 million and spent $1.46 million as of Oct. 10, while No on I 937 had raised $372,615 and spent $67,785. Leading the pro-initiative campaign funding is the Sierra Club and its political action committee with combined in-kind contributions of more than $132,000. The initiative addresses two of the Sierra Club’s top priorities, which are air quality and public health, said Sierra Club associate regional representative Shannon Harps.