The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council on Jan. 15 approved a draft order finding the GoldenEye Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project consistent with Skagit County land-use provisions as they existed at the time of the project's application.

The decision followed staff revisions to the draft order prompted by public comments and two public comment periods. Acting Council Chair Kurt Beckett, who earlier disclosed prior consulting work involving several projects including GoldenEye and said he left the consulting firm on 11/01/2024, recused himself from any Council decision-making on GoldenEye and designated Stacy Brewster to preside for that agenda item.

Why this matters: The Council's land-use consistency determination addresses a narrow legal question—whether the proposed facility would have been eligible to seek a conditional or special use permit under local rules at the time of application. It does not itself grant a site certification or final project approval, but the conclusion is a required procedural step in the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council's review process.

Staff told the Council that FSEC opened an initial public comment period in December 2024 (Dec. 11–15) and, after identifying an error on the public comment website, re-opened a supplemental period from Jan. 6–12, 2025. Staff reported that approximately 22 comments were received during the initial December period and another 55 during the January period. Joanne Snarski, FSEC siting specialist, told the Council that suggested edits to the draft order were primarily editorial or clarifying and largely appear under the sections titled “Public Comments,” “Applicable Skagit County Codes,” and “Conclusions of Law.” Snarski said none of the proposed changes altered the draft determination of consistency.

Several public comments raised environmental and public-safety concerns and questioned whether the project would eliminate agricultural potential on the selected site. Those substantive concerns were addressed in the draft order text under the conclusions of law and a discussion of the county code changes adopted by Skagit County in November 2024 that affect major utility developments in agricultural and natural resource zones.

Robbie Eckroft, representing Skagit County, urged the Council to consider whether the applicant’s alternatives analysis met the county code requirement that an applicant demonstrate there is no viable parcel outside the agricultural natural resource zone. Eckroft said the alternatives analysis submitted “only reviewed a 1-mile radius around 1 substation and never explained why the facility needs to be connected to that particular substation,” and concluded, “I will be voting no on the land use consistency determination.”

Zach Becker, assistant attorney general, advised that the supplemental January comment period satisfied the Open Public Meetings Act requirement that the Council provide an opportunity for public comment on an action item to be taken at an open public meeting. Staff also referenced legal discussion in the draft order regarding case law on the Growth Management Act and how it applies to the Council’s narrow land-use assessment.

A motion to approve the draft order was moved by Lenny Young and seconded by Elizabeth Osborne. During the roll call on the motion, Robbie Eckroft and Mr. Levitt recorded their opposition; the motion carried and the Council approved the draft land-use consistency order as amended. Acting Chair Brewster returned the gavel to Kurt Beckett after the vote.

Votes at a glance
- Motion: Approve draft order determining land-use consistency for the GoldenEye Battery Energy Storage System project. Mover: Lenny Young. Second: Elizabeth Osborne. Outcome: Approved. Opposed (recorded): Robbie Eckroft; Mr. Levitt. Chair (Kurt Beckett) recused from deliberation and vote on this item.
- Other housekeeping votes taken during the meeting: agenda adopted (motion and second recorded; approved); minutes from Dec. 18 meeting adopted after minor corrections (motion and second recorded; approved). (Details of those procedural votes are recorded in the meeting transcript.)

Context and next steps: The Council’s determination addresses only whether the project, at the time of application, was eligible under local land-use rules to pursue the necessary local approvals. The draft order and staff responses to public comments are in the Council’s briefing packet; staff said additional post-certification coordination with the certificate holder will continue. The Council did not take final action to certify the site at this meeting; approval of the land-use consistency order is one step in the broader FSEC process.

Disclosure and recusal: At the start of the meeting, Kurt Beckett, acting Council chair, read a statement disclosing prior employment and consulting work at a Seattle-based consulting firm through 11/01/2024 and listed several projects the firm worked on that used the FSEC permitting pathway. Beckett said he would recuse himself from Council decision-making on GoldenEye, Hop Hill Solar, Wallula Gap, and specified elements of the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center, and that he would appoint a fellow Council member to chair those items in his absence. He said: “I will therefore be recusing myself from participating in any decision making related to the council's recommendations to the governor on the Goldeneye Battery Storage, Hop Hill Solar, or Wallula Gap projects.”

The Council packet and the draft order include staff explanations and the proposed textual edits made in response to public comments; those materials are available through FSEC’s public records for anyone seeking the full administrative record.

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