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Gov. Inslee Approves Largest Solar Project to Date in Washington State by Annette Cary The Olympian, January 11, 2025

"Big Step."

In one of his last official acts before Gov. Jay Inslee retires from state leadership, he approved the Wautoma Solar Project proposed for a remote corner of Benton County.

(bluefish notes: Wautoma is planned to be 470MW solar photovoltaic paired with 470MW of battery storage.)

"We've made tremendous progress in the state of Washington in the last 12 years," Inslee said in a video that recorded his signing approval of the Wautoma project six days before his third term as governor ends.

"... And today I'm thrilled to yet again take another big step for the state of Washington in developing the world's best clean energy economy," he said.

Innergex Renewable Development, based in Canada, is proposing a 470-megawatt solar generation project with a four-hour battery energy storage system.

Inslee said the project could provide power to 300,000 homes.

"It is clean energy, it is economic development and it is helping us fight climate change," he said as he signed off on the project.

It would be the state's largest solar farm to date, Inslee said, although the Department of Energy plans what could be the largest solar farm in the nation on unused Hanford nuclear site land.

Construction on the Wautoma Solar Project could begin in the spring of 2028, with the project operating in early 2030, according to Innergex's site certification application, as updated in October.

The Washington Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) voted unanimously in November to recommend that Inslee approve the Wautoma Solar Project.

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.

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.

The developed portion of the land would cover about 4.6 square miles and include 1.3 million solar panels.

The project will create up to 50 jobs while the 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.

Farmers want solar project

Wautoma Solar Project will be developed on land with irrigated agriculture, rangeland, undeveloped areas and electrical utility infrastructure.

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.

Innergex has leased 35 privately owned parcels of land known as Robert Ranch for the project.

"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.

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 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.

Proposed, operating solar projects

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

Those include the Hop Hill Solar and Storage Project about five miles south of the Wautoma Solar Project and Wallula Gap Solar in southern Benton County just north of the Columbia River off Highway 14. An EFSEC application for another project, Benton Solar, is pending.

(bluefish notes:
Wallula Gap is planned to be 60MW solar photovoltaic paired with up to 60MW of battery storage.
Hop Hill Solar is planned to be 500MW solar photovoltaic paired with up to 500MW of battery storage.
Benton Solar is planned to be 100MW solar photovoltaic paired with 100MW of battery storage.)

(bluefish notes: Horse Heaven Clean Energy Project is planned to be 1150MW of wind and solar with battery storage to provide this power at a time when the market has demand.)

In addition, the Department of Energy has proposed what could be one of the largest, if not the largest solar and battery project in the nation, for unused Hanford nuclear reservation land near the southeast edge of the Hanford site near Richland.

Related Pages:
Solar Glut Boosts California Power Bills -- Other States Reap the Benefits by Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 11/24/24
California's Energy Glut