Desert Claim Wind Power Asks EFSEC to Pre-Empt Kittitas County & Recommend Approval of Wind Farm to Power Nearly 55,000 Homes.

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Desert Claim Wind Power today asked the state to recommend approval of its wind farm in Kittitas County that could power nearly 55,000 homes, the company announced.

Desert Claim Wind Power made its request in a motion asking the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation

Council to pre-empt Kittitas County and recommend approval of the wind farm, said David Steeb, project director. The request comes after Desert Claim was unable to resolve the county's concern about the setback distance of the wind turbines from existing homes.

"Desert Claim is one of the best wind-farm sites in the state, and voters have said they want more clean, renewable power," said Steeb. "It's time to consider Desert Claim in light of its economic benefits and the region's power needs."

Desert Claim has proposed to locate all turbines at least 1,656 feet away from existing homes, or four times the turbine height. The four-times-height standard was specified by EFSEC when it recommended certification of the Kittitas Valley Wind Project on March 27 of this year. Desert Claim is now evaluating its proposal following Gov. Christine Gregoire's decision last week to ask EFSEC to reconsider its recommendation.

At the four-times-height standard, Desert Claim would consist of 82 turbines with a generation capacity of 164 megawatts. It would generate enough electricity to power nearly 55,000 homes, at a time when the state's population is expected to increase by 2 million people in the next 25 years.

The 82-turbine proposal is the second time Desert Claim has reduced the number of wind turbines in the project, which would be located eight miles northwest of Ellensburg. The original project numbered 120 turbines and was turned down by Kittitas County in 2005. After reducing the number of turbines to 90 and making other improvements, Desert Claim filed its application for certification with EFSEC in November 2006.

Desert Claim's parent company, enXco inc., is one of the nation's premier wind-farm developers and operators. Later this summer enXco will begin construction of Goodnoe East, a 94-megawatt wind farm in Klickitat County.

Transmission location is critical

The Desert Claim site has a rare combination of qualities in a wind farm site, Steeb said. It has plentiful wind and is located on 4,783 acres of rural farmland. What makes the site so unusually good, he said, is that it's within a power transmission corridor. Consequently, no new transmission lines would need to be built, saving $500,000 to $1 million per mile in construction costs that otherwise would have to be passed on to ratepayers in higher utility bills.