BY PETE LOS Copy Editor
Teanaway Solar Reserve (TSR) plans to begin construction of a new 400-acre solar park in the spring of 2010 that will bring 75 megawatts of energy to the Cle Elum community and power an estimated 45,000 households, schools and roadways.
Manufacturing and construction of the project and its 400,000 solar panels is estimated to take two to three years according to TSR. The project will bring 225 temporary jobs and 35 permanent positions to Kittitas County, but currently awaits approval of a conditional use permit (CUP). The initial permit was submitted last August, but was delayed due to the county’s demand for more environmental studies on the site’s intended location.
Determining how the project will affect local wildlife populations is also an important factor in approving the permit. Revision of the CUP is expected to be submitted by Feb. 22.
TSR was “going to submit Feb. 2, but they’ve been meeting with national resource agencies through the state as well as county,” said contract planner Anna Nelson, hired by the county to review the CUP and other documents.
TSR’s project proposal includes a solar panel manufacturing plant that would be built in the Cle Elum area. As an engine for economic growth and new jobs, TSR envisions the production of solar panels to continue for state and nationwide distribution after the project, located four miles north of Cle Elum, is completed.
Most of the Cle Elum and Roslyn communities have welcomed TSR, and Cle Elum Mayor, Charles Glondo, supports the proposal and its environmental and economic benefits.
While Glondo said, “I haven’t had any opposition at all,” a group has formed to oppose it.
The Citizens Alliance for a Rural Teanaway (CART), formed by Cle Elum local Jim Brose, is an organization opposing the proposal. CART believes that Cle Elum is not the right choice for the project in that it will cause unnatural erosion to the Teanaway and threaten local wildlife by way of habitat destruction.
“We’re still quite a few months away,” Nelson said. “They’re still in the process of pulling that information together. The environment will determine the impact.”
CART suggests the site be moved into the sage steppes of Kittitas County rather than clearing trees in the Teanaway basin. However, the geographic differences of the two locations make the Teanaway a more ideal site.
“The sage steppe habitat has been identified as a priority conservation [zone] in the state,” said Meagan Walker of strategic communications firm, Strategies 360, which is working with TSR.
The geographic and biological environment of the Kittitas sage steppe is a delicate ecosystem that could easily be destroyed if TSR were to locate the solar plant there. Approval for project construction in such a fragile environment would also be very unlikely. According to Walker, the Teanaway basin was picked because the environment is better suited to fit the project’s needs.
“The project needs sunlight, not heat,” Walker said. “Also, we need to have it very close to transmission lines.”
Optimal sunlight is top priority for TSR, and the Teanaway provides more sunlight, whereas the Kittitas sage steppe produces more heat than sunlight. Excessive heat is not good for the project because it contributes to equipment deterioration. Cle Elum also serves as a better hub for directing solar power by tapping into existing transmission lines - a necessity that would involve more time, construction and environmental damage to the sage steppes of Kittitas.
“The environment is more important than what we want,” said upper Cle Elum resident, Kelsey Amara. “I understand where [CART is] coming from, but [TSR] will probably help the environment more than it will hurt it.”
One of the most common complaints regarding opposition to the project is how unsightly a massive collection of solar panels might be at nearly two miles across. As a result, CART has even constructed a map of the solar installation and all surrounding facilities that will be visible from I-90. However, some residents see the project in a different light.
“It’s not going to be an eyesore,” Amara said. “It’s going to be surrounded by trees. Besides, we should be more concerned about the environment than whether or not [the solar reserve] is going to look pretty.”
The project for the Teanaway Solar Reserve is funded by private investors and is expected to cost between $300 million and $350 million. It is the largest proposal to be introduced to the Northwest, and if completed, will be the largest operating solar reserve in the world.
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