Decision to install 1.3 million solar panels on Benton County farm now in Inslee’s hands

Nov. 26—Gov. Jay Inslee has received a recommendation for him to approve a Benton County solar project — the first of three recommendations on solar projects in the county that will be headed to his desk.

The Washington Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) voted unanimously last week to recommend approving the Wautoma Solar Project in a remote corner of Benton County.

Benton County commissioners had a seat on the council for the project and voted in favor of recommending approval, even though the county restricts solar projects on agricultural land.

The project is proposed at a 9-square-mile site in the northwest part of the county, about 12 miles northeast of Sunnyside. The developed portion of the land would be about 4.6 square miles and include 1.3 million solar panels.

It would be about 1 mile south of the intersection of highways 24 and 241 and stretch west to east from the Benton County line with Yakima to the edge of the Hanford Reach National Monument.

Innergex Renewable Development, based in Canada, is proposing a 470-megawatt solar generation project coupled with a four-hour battery energy storage. It would connect with the Bonneville Power Administration Wautoma Substation.

It would be large enough to power about 70,000 households, depending on the weather.

Innergex Renewable Development has leased 35 privately owned parcels of land known as Roberts Ranch. The project would include a land now with irrigated agriculture, rangeland, undeveloped land and electrical utility infrastructure.

Farmers want solar project

Farming in the area has historically been risky financially and provided uncertain revenue for owners, said Overall Management Co., representing landowners working with Innergex, in a public comment to EFSEC.

Lease payments farmers receive for the solar development would provide a more reliable source of income and help subsidized farming on adjacent vineyards, said the owners.

“Currently it is very difficult to keep the ranch afloat with less water to irrigate and higher prices for fuel, fertilizer and equipment costs,” said Robin Robert of Robert Ranch, in a comment on the project. “This project will enable the family ranch to stay in the hands of our future generations.”

The ranch has only a few neighbors to the west and most have no problem with the project, said Dave Robert of Robert Ranch.

“Our deep irrigation well water level is constantly lowering every few years,” he said. “In the near future, we may not have enough water to maintain many irrigation crops. The solar project could be a great benefit to help the water level increase with 80% less irrigation water usage.”

Overall Management Co. said groundwater levels below portions of the properties to be leased have been declining since the mid 70s.

Likely contributors to the issue have been aquifer withdrawals from prolonged irrigation for farming, climate change resulting in warmer temperatures, drought conditions and less snowpack, it said.

The project will create up to 50 jobs while site is being prepared and then an average of 225 construction jobs for two years, Overall Management Co. said.

Over the 30 to 50 years the project operates, it would employ three to four technical workers and have a maintenance contract, Innergex said.

The company, which operates in Canada, France, Chile and the United States, strives to hire contractors and purchase locally, it said.

Some solar project concerns

Concerns were raised during public comment periods about Eastern Washington’s shrinking shrub steppe habitat.

The Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society said it was critical that the project not impact the biological, geological and cultural resources of the Hanford Reach National Monument.

Innergex said it plans to minimize impact to the shrub steppe habitat, including by having corridors without fencing to allow big game to move north-south and east-west through the project. Fencing will be designed with a four-inch gap at the bottom to allow passage of small game and no barbed wire on top.

Innergex has been in discussions with the Yakama Nation and has implemented most of its requested measures to mitigate impacts on traditional cultural properties., Innergex said in a document submitted to EFSEC.

EFSEC recommended to the governor that before construction starts, Innergex be required to submit a plan on the steps it will take to avoid archaeological resources that are discovered during work to build the solar project.

Benton County zoning

The project is proposed on Growth Management Act agricultural land, and the Benton County Commission voted in late 2021 to protect farmland by restricting new wind and solar projects to industrial zones. Previously, they were allowed in agriculture and small rural acreage areas.

There are opportunities for some of the land to continue to also be used for agriculture, according to Innergex. That could include grazing sheep or maybe some crops in limited areas.

Innergex chose to file for a state permit rather than requesting county approval. The Washington governor, upon recommendation from EFSEC, may preempt land use plans and zoning regulations to authorize an energy project.

Soon after Innergex applied to EFSEC in 2022 for approval of the project, county Commissioner Will McKay said he liked that the proposed solar project was “out in no man’s land” and would not be an eyesore.

Then Commissioner Shon Small said he liked solar because it has a smaller footprint than wind farms and is quieter.

The Washington governor has 60 days from Nov. 22 to approve the project application, reject the application or direct EFSEC to reconsider parts of its recommendation.

Benton County solar projects

Benton County now has about nine proposed or operating solar projects, including two others under consideration by EFSEC.

— About five miles south of the proposed Wautoma Solar Project is the proposed Hop Hill Solar and Storage Project. It could produce up to 500 megawatts of solar energy power and have some battery storage.

— In southern Benton County, Wallula Gap Solar would be a 60-megawatt solar farm, possibly with 240 megawatts of battery storage, on nearly 440 acres just north of the Columbia River off Highway 14.

— Inslee has approved the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Project, a wind farm with some solar, on EFSEC’s recommendation. The decision on the project that would stretch for 24 miles along the Horse Heaven Hills just south of the Tri-Cities is expected to be appealed to the Washington Supreme Court.

— Energy Northwest already operates the White Bluffs Solar Station 10 miles north of Richland and the Horn Rapids Solar, Storage and Training Project just north of Richland. It also has the opportunity to site another solar project on some former Department of Energy Hanford nuclear site land.

— DOE has picked Hecate Energy based in Chicago, Ill., for a gigawatt-scale solar and battery storage project on up to 8,000 acres of unused nuclear reservation land near the southeast edge of the Hanford site. It would be one of the largest solar and battery projects in the nation, of not the largest.

— Hecate Energy also had earlier proposed Benton Solar, a project on the scale of the Wautoma and Hop Hills project and that application to EFSEC remains pending.