A few Morrow County residents gave their input Thursday, March 21, on an energy company’s proposal to expand a wind farm that it has yet to build.
The Energy Facility Siting Council heard the comments during a public hearing in Hermiston on NextEra Energy’s request to amend the site certificate for Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility East.
The wind farm would operate in Morrow and Umatilla counties, and NextEra seeks to increase the number of 500-foot-tall wind turbines from 66 to 107, which would boost the power generation from 200 megawatts to 300 megawatts, and expand the site boundary from 4,582 acres to 78,985 acres.
However, David Lawlor with NextEra Energy, stated the initial 4,582 acres are micrositing corridors, and that increase is more like 10,000 acres, to about 14,600 acres per micrositing corridor, so it’s not quite as substantial of an increase as it seems.
Around 30 people attended the meeting in person at the Hermiston Oxford Suites, and a few people offered testimony on parts of the proposal.
Voices in opposition
Wendy King, a farmer in Morrow County, asked the council “for consideration to limit negative impacts to our enjoyment of our property and livelihood,” which King said will occur if wind turbines are installed on Gleason Butte.
“We simply desire to continue farming,” she said. “The presence of wind turbines on our viewshed wrecks our enjoyment of our property with county-wide vistas that are pleasing to our working family.”
Sam Myers, King’s brother and another Morrow County resident, asked the council to consider not allowing turbines on Gleason Butte so it can stay a peak landmark in the area, though it does not have official landmark status.
“I’m also very concerned, in the expansion of this project,” he said, “that the expanse of some additional 50 miles of access roads present a weed problem and a fire hazard at the same time.”
Kochia weeds grow particularly well along the sides of the roads in the area and will pose a bigger maintenance challenge as more roads are added, he said. Kochia plants can grow to be 6 feet tall.
Because of this, Myers said, “the skeleton is so big, if a fire does move through there, it’ll exacerbate the length of the fire flame because there’s so much material to burn.”
Additionally, he raised concerns about the wildfire plan in the draft proposed order and said he hopes the council closely reviews the fire protocol and how it fits into the local departments’ fire response plans.
“All the farms in this area are hoping that wind will be a financial stability for them,” he said. “I’m not opposed to the project in general, I’m just saying it has to be done correctly.”
Another perspective
Another farmer in the area, James Cutsforth, said he has interacted with Wheatridge before and his experience has been positive. Adding more roads could be a benefit for the area’s ability to deal with fires, he said.
And so far as weed control goes, parent company NextEra and its subsidiaries have been supportive and helping to build a better weed control plan alongside local stakeholders.
“It’s a learning curve because it’s not something that they’ve really addressed before,” he said. “I’m not worried about them moving forward on weed control. I think they’ve got a handle on it and they’re good in the community.”
Local EFSC member has concerns
Energy Facility Siting Council members had a chance to ask Wheatridge and each commenter questions as well as make comments themselves. Katie Imes, the newest member on the council and a Lexington town councilor, said she is concerned about the wildfire mitigation plan’s lack of detail and specificity. She mentioned a few parts that she believed should be more specific.
The wildfire standard is relatively new to the council, she recognized, but said is part of the reason it’s so important to have a consistent approach to what is required in the mitigation plans.
Public still can comment
Todd Cornett with the Oregon Department of Energy is manager of the Energy Facility Siting Division and serves as council secretary. He said the earliest the council will make its decision about the site certificate amendment is at its meeting in May. However, if there are any holdups to the process, that could delay the timeline for a decision. He said the concerns raised during the comment period were “all absolutely related to our council standards.”
The decision, however, will not change the underlying facility, which the council already approved.
“If this ultimately gets denied, it doesn’t touch that at all,” Cornett said. “We’re only talking about the amended area that’s being proposed.”
The public can submit comments on the proposal through April 4 at 5 p.m. After that, likely at the April 19 EFSC meeting, the council will discuss the draft proposed order in more detail as well as consider some of the comments from the public and Wheatridge’s response.
Then, the Oregon Department of Energy will revise the draft based on the council’s and other stakeholders’ comments. The department then issues a proposed order with a notice. At that point members of the public who have made comments on the record can apply for a contested case proceeding, which is an independent administrative judicial review process of a specific piece of the proposed order. The council has final say on any contested case orders from the hearing officer.
After resolving contested cases, EFSC makes its decision to either adopt, modify or reject the certificate amendment. It’s not until the EFSC makes its decision that it is in control of the document; up until then, the document is owned by the Department of Energy.
“It’s very iterative and it’s meant to be iterative, to make sure that we have all the information as staff, the council gets to take a look at it a few times, the public has an opportunity,” Cornett said of the process. “Ultimately, it’s the certificate holder’s burden of proof to show they meet the standards.”
