Commissioners to Hold Town Hall Meeting on Proposed Horse Heaven Wind Farm

The Benton County Board of Commissioners will be holding a town hall meeting on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM for residents to provide their comments on the proposed Horse Heaven Wind Farm.

Background
Scout Clean Energy recently applied for Site Certification with the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC, the Council) to construct a wind and solar generation facility with a generating capacity of 1,150 megawatts. The project will involve the placement of approximately 244 wind turbines and a solar component that will occupy up to approximately 6500 acres of agricultural land.

The project site is located approximately four (4) miles south of the Tri-Cities urban area and generally extends from the Columbia River to the south of Benton City along the Horse Heaven Hills. Rather than apply for a County permitting process for the project, Scout Clean Energy has the legal ability, in accordance with RCW 80.50, to apply for site certification with EFSEC and have the Council and the State of Washington be the decision-making authority. With this, Benton County and/or its representatives, do not decide if this project is approved or denied. 

The Board of Commissioners have chosen to host a town hall meeting to gather public comments on the project prior to submitting an official statement on behalf of the County to EFSEC during their application review and hearing process. EFSEC will be hosting a virtual public hearing on this application in the upcoming weeks. Project information and hearing dates may be found on the EFSEC website at https://www.efsec.wa.gov/energy-facilities/horse-heaven-wind-project

How to Participate
The public is invited to view and/or participate in the town hall meeting in three (3) ways: 

• Remotely via video (WebEx)
• Remotely via telephone
• In person at the Benton County Justice Center (7122 W Okanogan Place, Kennewick)

People wishing only to view the meeting and not wishing to provide comments are asked to participate remotely via video or telephone. Those wishing to speak to the Commissioners can do so remotely or in person. However, the meeting is subject to the current guidance for in-person meetings as issued by the Governor and the State Department of Health and, as such, space is limited. County staff has issued instructions for those wishing to participate and provide comments (see attached). People wishing to provide comments to the Board but not speak during the meeting are invited to send their comments to commissioners@co.benton.wa.us with the subject line “Wind Farm Town Hall Comments.”

Information for how to view the meeting or participate is available online at www.co.benton.wa.us. 

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