Washington State energy council supports Columbia Solar project
The Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) voted this week to support approval of the proposed Columbia Solar project.
The Columbia Solar project would result in the construction of five solar arrays and two generation tie lines in Kittitas County, Wash. Each new solar array would provide up to 5 megawatts of solar energy within the Puget Sound Energy service area. Overall, it would generate a total of 25 megawatts of electrical power generation. The installations would span 200 acres of leased land.
In October 2017, TUUSSO Energy applied for a site certification agreement from EFSEC to construct the project. This week, EFSEC voted 5-to-1 to recommend to Gov. Jay Inslee to approve the project. The council also directed staff to draft a final report and final draft site certification agreements for each of the project locations. The SCAs and final report will be presented to the council for approval on Aug. 21.
After the final report is approved, the governor then has 60 days to make a final decision.
EFSEC received public comment on the project in May. The application received 111 comments in total, including 37 comments on the draft agreements.
EFSEC was created by the Washington State Legislature in 1970 to provide one-stop licensing for large energy projects. The council is responsible for siting large natural gas and oil pipelines, thermal electric power plants of more than 350 megawatts, new oil refineries or large expansions of existing facilities, and underground natural gas storage fields.
