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Walla Walla County to apply for state Clean Energy Siting grant to write rules for utility-scale renewables
Summary
County planners will apply for a Washington State Department of Commerce grant to fund development of local siting and permitting rules for wind, solar and battery storage, the board agreed unanimously.
Walla Walla County will seek state grant funds to develop local siting and permitting standards for clean-energy projects, county planners told commissioners.
Lauren Prentice, director of community development, explained the Department of Commerce opportunity has a short application window and would fund consultant-driven work to draft development regulations, identify preferred locations, produce best-management practices, and conduct public outreach. Projected preliminary budgets run $200,000–$400,000 with the bulk of funds earmarked for contracted consultant work.
Commissioners expressed mixed views: some questioned department bandwidth to manage additional work during the comprehensive-plan update; others supported pursuing consultant-led work to create predictability for applicants and to retain local control. One commissioner noted objections to siting large-scale turbines or solar in rural landscapes and urged robust public comment; another urged that having county standards can reduce the likelihood developers go directly to state-level review processes that can pre-empt local controls.
Action: the board approved applying for the CESP grant and authorized the chair to sign a letter of support. The county will rely heavily on its on-call planning consultant to perform the majority of technical work but intends to provide oversight and outreach.
