After long fight, Whistling Ridge Wind Energy Project permit expires

Since the creation of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in 1986, few projects have threatened Gorge resources like the controversial Whistling Ridge Energy Project.

The state-issued permit for the Whistling Ridge Wind Energy Project expired on March 5, 2022. In 2024, the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) reviewed two separate requests, one that would have revived and extended the expired permit and another that would have transferred the permit and the project to a new parent company, Twin Creeks Timber (aka Green Diamond Resource Company). On July 17, 2024, EFSEC issued a written order denying both requests and declaring the permit "expired."

In 2012, state officials reduced the proposed Whistling Ridge Energy Project to no more than 35 wind turbines (down from the original proposal of 85 turbines). At that point, the original project applicant, Whistling Ridge Energy, LLC (WRE), announced that the project was on hold and "unlikely to move forward." WRE never took any steps to move forward with the project. A permit issued for the project by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire expired ten years later, on March 5, 2022.

On September 13, 2023, more than a year and a half after the permit expired, requests were filed with EFSEC to resurrect the expired permit, create a new expiration date of November 1, 2026, and transfer the permit to a new owner. Ultimately, both requests were denied by the Council, and the permit was "declared expired" in a written order. 

For more information, please visit EFSEC's webpage for the Whistling Ridge Energy Project: https://www.efsec.wa.gov/energy-facilities/whistling-ridge-energy-project.

Background

Over the years, the proposed project went through several name changes and project reconfigurations. In 2002, PPM Energy. Inc. requested from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) a 70-MW generation interconnection to BPA's energy grid for a new wind energy project, then called the "SDS Underwood Wind Generation Project." In 2007, S.D.S. Co., LLC and Broughton Lumber Company proposed to build the renamed "Saddleback Wind Farm," which would have consisted of up to 85 wind turbines, each up to 426 feet tall, on prominent ridgelines on both private and public land near the town of White Salmon. In 2009, Whistling Ridge Energy, LLC (WRE) submitted an application to EFSEC for 50 turbines on private land under yet another new name, the "Whistling Ridge Energy Project."  Also in 2009, the Washington Department of Natural Resources rejected the request to build wind turbines on public land. In 2012, a scaled-down version of the project (up to 35 turbines, each up to 430 feet tall) was approved by  Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.

Proposed along the boundary of the National Scenic Area and within an area designated for the protection of the endangered northern spotted owl, the Whistling Ridge Project would have marred world-class scenery and harmed endangered species habitat, with little to no benefit to the state of Washington’s citizens.

Icons of the Pacific Northwest, like the Columbia River Gorge, Mount Rainier, and the Olympic Mountains, should be off-limits to large-scale energy development. We can combat climate change without having to sacrifice our most special places and our core values.