Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Developer wants to alter
proposed wind farm permit
- THREE
Baseball players selected for
all-conference teams
Nextera Energy seeks higher towers, longer blades
and battery storage on its Wheatridge Wind Farm
By David Sykes
The developer of an al-
ready approved 292-tower
wind farm straddling both
Morrow and Umatilla coun-
ties, has made application
to the Oregon Department
of Energy (ODE) asking
to increase the tower and
blade heights, and also
construct two large battery
facilities for storage of the
wind-generated electric-
ity. Nextera Energy made
the revised application to
ODE in April, and has not
yet heard if its request has
been granted.
If approved, the new
plan would allow for a
combined tower and blade
height of 500.5 feet, or
24.5 feet higher than the
current permit allows. The
bigger blades power a more
technologically advanced
turbine which is best suited
for wind generation in this
area, the request said. The
company also indicated
they “may”, but are not
sure, build fewer towers if
the permit is granted.
The proposed wind
farm is divided into two
groups of towers with
Wheatridge West located
entirely within Morrow
County approximately
seven miles northwest of
Heppner. Wheatridge East
is located approximately 16
miles northeast of Heppner
and will span Morrow and
Umatilla Counties. There is
also an approved 32-mile
interconnecting power line
between the two sites.
Also in the revised ap-
plication is a request to con-
struct two battery storage
facilities, one 20 megawatt
near the project substation
in Morrow County, and one
30 MW in Umatilla County.
The battery storage facili-
ties would allow Nextera
to provide electricity in a
steady stream, instead of
just when the wind blows.
The company said the bat-
teries would also help with
“load balancing” when the
power grid needs to provide
different levels of electric-
ity depending on demand.
Nextera has experi-
ence in battery storage at
its facilities in both Penn-
sylvania and Illinois. The
20MW Morrow County
facility would probably
need around 3,000 batter-
ies. The Umatilla battery
facility would need more
with its 30MW capacity.
A converter would also be
built at the site since wind
power produces alternating
current and batteries only
store direct current. The
power is then converted
back into AC before it is fed
into the grid for distribution
Baseball players selected for all-conference teams are Wyatt Steagall, Peyton Lehman, Beau
Wolters and Coby Dougherty. -Contributed photo.
If a revised wind farm plan is approved by the state, a battery
energy storage facility like this one will be built in Morrow
County. The facility has 3,000 batteries and stores power gen-
erated from the wind towers.
to consumers.
No timeline has been
given for when ODE may
reply to the revised plan
request, however, under the
original permit construc-
tion, the the wind project
must begin by May 24,
2020 and be completed by
May 24, 2023. To speed
things up Nextera had asked
the ODE to put the re-
vised plan on a fast track
approval process, saying
the proposed revisions did
not alter the original plan
enough to require a higher
level of scrutiny. The state
disagreed, and said because
of the addition of the bat-
tery storage facility and the
unknown impact of larger
wind blades on the envi-
ronment, it would require
the permit go through the
longer process, including
public hearings and public
input.
At a May 16 meeting,
the Morrow County Com-
missioners also addressed
the wind farm changes in
a letter to the Department
of Energy. The commis-
sion voted to write a letter
asking for the fast track
process, citing one reason
for quicker review as the
length of time already taken
to get the wind farm per-
mitted. “…application was
submitted in late 2014 and
deemed complete in July
2015. It then took nearly
two years to get to a final
order and site certificate in
mid-2017,” the commission
wrote in its letter. “Dur-
ing that time, wind energy
technology changed and
efficiencies such as battery
storage were developed or
improved. With a potential
buyer in sight and develop-
ment pending, the need for
a project utilizing current
technologies is imperative,”
the letter stressed. The letter
went on to say the changes
to the original plan were not
substantial enough to war-
rant the longer-term hearing
process.
The commissioners
voted 2-0 in favor of send-
ing the letter to the state,
with Commissioner Melissa
Lindsay saying she was
abstaining from the vote
because of a “conflict of in-
terest.” She did not specify
the conflict but did say she
was not opposed to wind
farms or people who make
money off their property
with the towers. However,
Lindsay added, “I do think
we should have a discus-
sion with all of the people
impacted by wind projects.
I want to protect economic
development which I am
all for,” Lindsay said. “But
I think we need to protect
the people around it also.”
Morrow County Plan-
ner Carla McLane said the
planning commission has
talked a lot about renewable
energy in the county with
no agreement on having
an open comment session
on renewables. “It’s an al-
lowed use (on agricultural
zoned land),” she pointed
out. McLane also added
that there are currently no
county standards for wind
projects. “When you start to
consider protecting a view-
shed (what people look at)
you have to be careful what
you are protecting peo-
ple from,” she said. When
speaking about potential
turbine noise, McLane said
there are state noise stan-
dards on the books, but
the state has no money to
enforce these rules.
Four Heppner Mus-
tang baseball players were
recently honored by being
selected to all-conference
teams for their performance
on the baseball diamond
this season.
Receiving first team
all-conference honors and
medals were seniors Beau
Wolters, Coby Dougherty
and Peyton Lehman. An
honorable mention all-con-
ference award was given to
fellow senior Wyatt Stea-
gall.
According to a spokes-
person, these four senior
baseball players have cer-
tainly made a difference
in the Heppner Mustang
baseball program over the
years and they will certainly
be missed next season. It
is good to see their play
this year rewarded by the
conference coaches who
voted for them to receive
these honors.
Road 24 reconstruction
completed early
The Umatilla National
Forest announced that the
Road 24 reconstruction
project has been completed
ahead of schedule. Equip-
ment is being moved out of
the area this week.
The Road 24 project,
started in April, was located
15 miles northeast of Spray
and about one mile south
of Bull Prairie Lake on the
Heppner Ranger District.
The segment of road under
construction was between
Highway 207 and the junc-
tion of FSR 2407, which
provides access to Tama-
rack Lookout.
The contractor’s goal
was to complete the proj-
ect prior to Memorial Day
Weekend, but the contract
was effective until June 8, if
additional time was needed.
For additional informa-
tion on this project, please
contact the Heppner Ranger
District at 541-676-9187.
4-H Club plants flowers
Heppner Grow Em & Show Em group planted flowers at the library. Pictured (L-R): Shayna,
Zandra, Zabrena, Trevor, Aden, Cody, Brock, Adan and Owen. -Contributed photo.
The Heppner Grow Em and Show Em 4-H club chose to replant flowers at the
library, pull weeds and pick up garbage throughout the park as their community service
project. The members will be completing several more community service projects
over the summer.
Ione summer reading program scheduled
Oregon Rocks is the
2018 theme for the sum-
mer reading program at
Ione Public Library. The
Rock and Roll Caveman
presented by the Dragon
Theater kicks off the pro-
gram on June 12 at the Ione
Library. “The puppet show
starts with the caveman
hearing a style of music,
then continues to explore a
wide range of music from
classical to old fashioned
rock and roll,” said Becky
Doherty, Ione’s librarian.
“It’s fun, fast paced and a
great way to start rocking
through the summer,” she
continued.
“We have lots of new
things planned for the
summer, including Oregon
Rocks from the Museum of
Natural and Cultural His-
tory and a song-filled morn-
ing with Joe Lindsay, where
everyone will be playing
along on their own flutes
and kazoos. July 24 wraps
up the year with team geo-
caching at the Ione Park.”
said Terry Feld a, program
coordinator.
The program is also
trying to be as bilingual as
possible with story times in
both Spanish and English.
The library is also enlarging
their collection of bilingual
books for young readers.
Program dates are June
12, 19, 26, July 10, 17 and
24 from 10 a.m. to noon and
is open to all children ages
four through fourth grade.
There will be story time for
the younger children along
with crafts, science proj-
ects, music and snack time.
LES SCHWAB WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THE
MUSTANG SOFTBALL TEAM FOR A GREAT SEASON
Back Row (standing): Head Coach Rick Johnston, Asst Coach John McCabe, Larysa Burright, Ma-
Linda Morter, Eva Martin, Kacie Gray, Tresslyn McCurry, Maggie Flynn, Alyse Wentz, Dakota Durfey,
Madison Ashbeck, Cami VanArsdale, Asst Coach Janelle Ellis, Asst Coach Mike Correa Front Row
: Gennell Blakley, Alexis Cutsforth,Sage Ferguson, Morgan Orem, Sydney Wilson, Morgan Correa,
Aimee Turrell, Stephany Dubry. -Photo by Damon Brosnan
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