Horse Heaven Hills Windfarm Public Comment Hearing Aug. 23
August 23rd, Wednesday, the public will have another opportunity to comment on the proposed Horse Heaven Hills wind farm project.
The plan is to put as many as 240 turbines along the spine of Horse Heaven
The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, will be holding an online meeting beginning at 5:30 PM until 8PM to gather public comments on the proposal. It's been in the works for several years now, Scout Energy of Colorado desires to put Space Needle sized wind turbines along a 50-plus mile stretch of what's called the 'spine' of the Horse Heaven Hills area south of Kennewick.
The Benton PUD and numerous public groups have already voiced stiff opposition to the plan, earlier Scout withdrew their request to have the project 'fast-tracked' by the state. There have been concerns raised about damage to wildland bird and animal environments, as well as light pollution at night from the lights on the turbines.
There have also been concerns raised by various groups, including the Washington Policy Center, that wind farm projects in SE WA are not effective during warm summer weather. The Columbia Basin experiences at least one ore more extended periods of extreme heat, accompanied by inversions that produce little to no wind at all. Sometimes these last as long as two weeks at a time.
The meeting or hearing will be done virtually, according to EFSEC, by Microsoft Teams. Citizens can also follow along via phone by dialing 1 564-999-2000 Conference ID:6326170#
The link to the Microsoft teams link is on this page, click here. For the actual link itself at the time of the meeting, click here.
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