FSEC staff provided a multi‑part update on the Cascade Renewable Transmission (CRT) project’s pre‑application and application review. Maria Belkina (siting specialist) and Amy Haffkumar said staff and the applicant met for an initial consultation in September 2023, and the project filed a pre‑application package and the required $10,000 deposit in December 2023. Staff also described pre‑application stakeholder notifications to landowners within 300 feet of the proposed corridor, affected cities and counties, tribes, and other stakeholders, and said public informational hearings were held in February 2024 in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties.

Amy Haffkumar told the council that, after the public informational and land‑use hearings in November, staff completed a review of comments alongside the application review and are developing land‑use specific data requests. She said the formal application transmittal included a $50,000 deposit and that RCW requires applicants to submit a deposit at time of application. Haffkumar said staff expect to provide applicant responses to the council and public in late January or February 2026 and that commenters on land‑use consistency may be offered an opportunity to respond and reply before an administrative law judge drafts the land‑use determination.

Councilor Asa Lecky raised local concerns he’d heard about prior Army Corps permits and the possible effects of DC current on fish; staff said they had no record of a prior Corps denial and that they would add questions about electromagnetic effects to future data requests. Belkina said staff are coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (expected NIPA lead), Washington Department of Ecology, Oregon Department of Energy and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and continuing tribal government‑to‑government consultation consistent with the Centennial Accord.

Why it matters: CRT is a large regional transmission proposal that implicates federal Clean Water Act permitting, tribal interests and cross‑state coordination. FSEC’s identification of data needs and interagency coordination will help define the council’s land‑use consistency analysis.

Next steps: Staff will issue data requests, collect applicant responses, and may provide an opportunity for parties who commented on land‑use consistency to respond before the ALJ drafts a determination; timing for applicant responses was estimated for late January or February 2026.