GOLDENDALE — With a 40-year construction and operations license secured from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Jan. 22, Rye Development can now start building Goldendale’s Energy Storage Project.

The project, which will produce enough electricity to power around 500,000 homes, is opposed by the Yakama Nation, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, National Congress of American Indians and 17 other tribal governments because of its impacts to cultural and religious resources, as previously reported by Columbia Gorge News.