Wind Farm goes live

Construction on one of the largest projects in Whitman County history finished Tuesday, as First Wind began commercial operations on the Palouse Wind farm on Naff Ridge.

“It’s been a long road, but we’re finally here,” said Ben Fairbanks, west region business development manager for First Wind.

Fairbanks has spearheaded the wind farm in Whitman County since First Wind first applied to post a meteorological tower to gauge the Naff Ridge wind in 2007.

Officials from First Wind, Avista, turbine maker Vestas and lead contractor RMT hosted media Tuesday morning to mark the end of construction and the start of commercial operations on the 105-megawatt wind farm.

Construction began in October 2011, after a four-year process that included revision of Whitman County’s zoning code, a lengthy study of the wind farm’s environmental impacts and legal challenges from residents in opposition to the project.

First Wind was issued a permit with 158 conditions by a special hearings examiner after a permit review in May 2011.

The wind farm includes 58 turbines made by Vestas and capable of producing 1.8 megawatts each placed on the land of 40 private property owners along Naff Ridge, Steamshovel Hill and Granite Butte in north central Whitman County between Oakesdale and Highway 195.

Towers were erected over the summer. They were shipped via rail from the Vestas manufacturing plant in Colorado to Pasco, where they were off-loaded and trucked to the site. Transportation of the turbines and blades began in July and ended in September.

Only a few tractors remained to scoop up gravel at the Baird Road staging area Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the site was the home of a dozen trailers which served as headquarters for hundreds of construction workers who put in more than 190,000 work hours under the supervision of general contractor RMT of Madison, Wis.

RMT President Dave Kutcher said in a news release Tuesday that the project was built without a single serious injury.

Power from the wind farm will be sold to Avista under a 30-year purchase agreement signed late last year. Transmission will go from the wind farm to the Avista 230 kilovolt Benewah-to-Shawnee transmission line.

Bob Lafferty, Avista’s power supply director, said the timing and location of the Palouse Wind farm was a “perfect fit” for Avista’s renewable energy needs.

“This is a very good project for Avista,” he said. “It was timed and placed very well to give us power at a very competitive rate.”

Lafferty would not disclose what effect, if any, power from the wind farm would have on the rates of the 30,000 Avista customers it is expected to supply.

He did note that by having the project built before the expiration of tax incentives, while construction costs were lower and just a few miles away from Avista’s own transmission lines should all combine to hold down prices.

“Not having to pay someone to transmit the power should be a huge savings for us,” he said.

First Wind said Tuesday it had received a $50 million tax equity financing from Cook Inlet Region, Inc., a firm that invests on behalf of natives of Alaska’s Cook Inlet region.

Fairbanks said the financing will allow First Wind to pay down its debt while returning an investment to Cook Inlet.

“It shows the faith they have in this project, and in the ability of Avista to be there for the long haul in continuing to pay for the power it is getting from the Palouse Wind project,” said Fairbanks.

A few maintenance workers will stay behind to monitor and maintain the turbines as the wind farm continues to spin in the future.

As of now, one of the wind technicians lives in the Finch Road house that last belonged to Roger Whitten, said Fairbanks.

Whitten was an outspoken critic of the wind farm, suing to stop it until his house was purchased by First Wind for $350,000 just before construction began last year. Whitten contended low frequency sound waves from the wind farm would harm the health of those who live nearby.

“It’s a great place. I think he likes it,” Fairbanks said of the worker who lives there with his horse.

Wildlife impacts from the wind farm will be monitored by a technical advisory committee made up of representatives from the county, Palouse Wind, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Palouse Audubon Society and Avista.

The committee will monitor how wildlife are impacted, primarily the flight paths of birds and bats. Modifications to the wind farm can be prescribed by the committee as needed.