KLICKITAT CO. — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson issued his final approval on the Carriger Solar Project in Klickitat County Dec. 4. The governor rejected the application in August after it was initially approved by state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC). He remanded the application, directing the developer, Cypress Creek Renewables, to address concerns raised by the several tribes.
As proposed, the Carriger project would construct 1,326 acres worth of solar panels within a 2,108-acre development site that is mostly agricultural and rural residential lands. That would have a rated capacity of 160 megawatts, enough, the company says, to power up to 32,500 homes. The project also includes a 63 megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS), which will tie into the Bonneville Power Administration transmission system through the Knight substation.
Cypress Creek made some modest changes prior to submitting a revised application to a second EFSEC hearing in October, but not enough to gain tribal support. That led Maverick Ryan, an enrolled Cowlitz tribal member representing the Department of Natural Resources on EFSEC, to vote against the revised proposal, but he was the only no vote.
EFSEC’s positive recommendation was sent to the governor for approval, the last state regulatory step required for the project to begin.
A press release from Governor Ferguson’s office said the facility “is projected to generate millions in local and state property tax revenue and create hundreds of needed jobs during construction.”
In an answering press release from the Yakama Nation, Tribal Council Chair Gerald Lewis harshly criticized the governor’s decision:
“It is alarming and bitterly discouraging to see that Governor Ferguson is continuing former Governor Inslee’s approach to championing new industrial-scale alternative energy development at the expense of our land, our water, our wildlife, and our sacred places,” Lewis said, adding that Ferguson’s approval announcement “shows a dismaying disregard for the impacts of new alternative energy development within Washington State on Yakama Nation and our People.”
The governor’s release also noted the project must start by July 4, 2026, in order to qualify for clean energy tax credits, and that “These tax credits ensure the project remains economically viable.”
Local opposition to the project has been impassioned, with particular concerns about the massive BESS that will be needed to store power when the sun shines and feed it back into the system when it doesn’t. Several such facilities full of lithium-ion batteries have burst into flames, sending out toxic smoke.
Opponents also wonder why taxpayers funds are being used to subsidize these projects for major companies that would not be profitable without such subsidies, and note the state is fast-tracking projects out of concern that the Trump administration will cut the lucrative tax credits.
Though Cypress Creek Renewables began as an American company founded in Santa Monica, California in 2014, it became wholly owned in 2021 by EQT Infrastructure, a devision of EQT AB, a Swedish company.
The Carriger project is expected to be online by 2027.
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