San Juan County Council members agreed that county staff should draft and submit comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the current public comment period on a proposed OPALCO tidal‑energy pilot in the Rosario Strait.

Sam Whitridge, marine program coordinator with the Department of Environmental Stewardship and coordinator for the county Marine Resources Committee, told the council the MRC “recommends that that San Juan County provide comments to FERC at this time” to both assert the county’s interests and request missing information from the developer.

The recommendation is procedural: council members said they want the county “to get our foot in the door” as an official commenter while the project is in early feasibility and environmental review. Whitridge told the council OPALCO remains in a preliminary phase and that the MRC has identified gaps in the materials the utility has made public—especially data about likely effects on salmon, other fish and free‑swimming invertebrates, and cetaceans including killer whales. He added that “impacts related to noise would be 1 of the more important items” and that data from an analogous pilot off the Orkney Islands, Scotland, could inform analysis but had not yet been supplied by the applicant.

Council member Paulson asked whether filing a timely comment was principally a way of ensuring the county is listed as a participant in the FERC docket; Paulson said, “we just wanna make sure that we have our names on the comment list.” Whitridge responded that September 30 is “an important deadline to make public comment” but said the county can continue to engage through later phases of review.

Several council members said they want OPALCO to present to the MRC and to the council in an interactive format rather than a one‑way slide presentation. Council member Fola said she supported staff‑drafted comments based on the MRC’s investigation and “it would be really good to have a public comment make a presentation to council about this project, and provide council the opportunity to ask some questions.” Council member Fuller said she was wary of presentations that do not allow real back‑and‑forth and asked staff to lead engagement efforts with OPALCO.

Next steps discussed on the record were procedural: Whitridge and county staff will prepare draft comments for the council to review and submit to FERC during the public comment window; Whitridge and Kendra Smith (director of environmental stewardship) agreed to work on that draft. Council members raised the possibility that OPALCO might brief the council at a future meeting (Council member Fola noted a September 23 slot had been discussed), but no formal decision to invite the utility at a specific meeting was recorded.

Why it matters: the pilot would test in‑water tidal devices in San Juan County waters and could affect marine species, fisheries and tribal resources while also relating to county energy goals in the comprehensive plan. Council members emphasized they are not taking a final position on the project; they want to preserve the county’s ability to review data and comment through FERC’s licensing and environmental review process.

Staff identified the following immediate follow‑ups: (1) prepare and circulate a short, high‑level comment letter to FERC that requests missing environmental information and asserts county interests; (2) continue MRC review and coordination with OPALCO; and (3) consider inviting OPALCO for an engagement session if the committee and council determine it will be substantive rather than purely informational.