Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Plans Expansion of Wild Horse Wind Facility

April 18, 2008 – Vol.13 No.4

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Plans Expansion of Wild Horse Wind Facility.

Up to 50 megawatts of new power and approximately 25 wind turbines would be added to the wind farm located east of Ellensburg on Central Washington state’s Whisky Dick Mountain.

Wild Horse currently generates up to 229 megawatts (MW) of electricity–enough power to serve approximately 60,000 households. The proposed expansion project remains within the maximum number of turbines (158) and power output (312 MW) authorized by Wild Horse’s original development permits.

Kimberly Harris, executive vice president and chief resource officer for PSE said the utility will ask the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to amend the utility’s current Wild Horse site certification agreement to accommodate the expansion project. PSE will also be pursuing an amendment to its existing Wild Horse development agreement with Kittitas County. PSE will seek public input before filing permit applications for the expansion.

PSE anticipates that once the necessary approvals are received, construction will begin in 2009 with the new Wild Horse turbines producing electricity by 2010.

The Wild Horse site also includes a 500-kilowatt solar project, the Pacific Northwest’s largest solar energy producer, and the recently opened Renewable Energy Center, where the public can learn more about wind and solar power as well as the natural history of the Kittitas Valley. Wild Horse, together with PSE’s Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility near Dayton in southeast Washington, produces enough electricity, on average, to serve approximately 100,000 households.

Puget Sound Energy Washington state’s oldest and largest energy utility serving more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 729,000 natural gas customers. (4/17/08)

Links:

Puget Sound Energy
http://www.pse.com

Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: No