GOLDENDALE— A proposed energy storage project in southwest Washington is on hold after federal regulators denied a utility’s request to extend its permit application.
The small Klickitat County Public Utility District wants to build a 1,200-megawatt off-stream hydroelectric project near the John Day Dam near Goldendale.
The project would pump water uphill to upper reservoirs when there’s surplus energy, including when wind turbines are cranking. Water would be released through turbines to a lower reservoir to generate power during peak demand or when winds are calm.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in December dismissed the utility’s request for a second permit extension as well as a request for a new permit the utility had also filed, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported (http://goo.gl/zXfG1t).
Regulators also denied a permit filed by a private company, Portland-based Clean Power Development, which was set up by one of the utility’s former consultants.
The decision throws the fate of the $2.5 billion proposal into question. The utility’s existing preliminary permit, which gives it exclusive right to study and develop the project, is now expired.
Brian Skeahan, the utility’s project lead, says the next step will be up to the utility’s board and HydroChina, a major Chinese hydroelectric company collaborating on the project.
“We could still do a license application, but the question is will we?” he told the Herald-Republic. “That’s a big discussion for the PUD board and HydroChina.”
Skeahan said this week that the utility has 30 days to appeal the decision, but the board has not had time to discuss whether it should.
The utility doesn’t need a permit to apply for a license, but it gives companies the security of developing project plans without competition, Skeahan said.
FERC rejected the utility’s new request, saying that another extension would “constitute site banking.”
In its request for an extension, the utility cited unexpected contamination and clean-up needs at the site where it proposed to build the lower reservoir— an aluminum smelter that closed more than a decade ago.
FERC said the site is not ready for development since the time frame for completing the cleanup by previous owners is unclear.
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