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Solar farms aren't very popular in Ellensburg. County commissioners denied the last solar farm proposed in the area and proceeded to pass a moratorium banning any new "major alternative energy" projects in Ellensburg's Kittitas County.

But it looks like Ellensburg is going to get solar farms whether they want to or not.

The state's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) voted Tuesday to recommend approval of a 232-acre solar project in Kittitas County, about two hours east of Seattle. The project now only needs Gov. Jay Inslee's approval.

The only vote against the project came from Ian Elliot, a former state legislator and EFSEC's sole representative from Kittitas County.

EFSEC's approval comes as the local government in Ellensburg actively works against new solar projects. The Kittitas County Commission passed a temporary moratorium in early 2017 banning any new "major alternative energy" projects in the county. The county passed the moratorium, which is still in effect, after they denied a permit for a 48-acre solar farm.

County commissioners complained that the farm, proposed in 2017 by a Seattle company called OneEnergy Renewables, would have run against the rural character of the area.

Jason Evans, a vice president at Tuusso, the Seattle-based company behind the current project, said they decided to apply to the state's EFSEC instead of the county planning commission after seeing OneEnergy Renewables have their permit denied by the county.

"We felt that was an inappropriate denial of that project’s permit and we were worried about the same sort of denial for our project," Evans said.

By taking their application directly to the state, Tuusso may have found a way around the county's temporary moratorium. The EFSEC granted fast track status to the Tuusso project in April of this year after the commission determined the solar farms would have no extensive environmental impacts and that they were consistent with local land use designations. A local nonprofit called "Save Our Farms" filed an objection to the fast track status, arguing that "visual, noise, and wildlife impacts cannot be sufficiently mitigated" and that the local moratorium against solar projects precluded the EFSEC from granting approval.

The EFSEC disagreed, arguing that the county's moratorium did not qualify as a land use plan or zoning designation and the existing land use plans and zoning designations do not "clearly, convincingly, and unequivocally prohibit the project."

Local residents have complained about Tuusso's project taking away necessary farm land, as well as running counter to the rural character of the surrounding land, according to EFSEC staff and documents filed with the EFSEC.

Evans said his company hopes to have the solar panels in the ground in July of 2019. He said Tuusso has tried to gain support for the project from both the county government and local neighbors.

"I’m optimistic that when we start moving forward with the project folks in the county government and the community will find that we are good neighbors and we will be a low impact project and there is not a need to pursue any kind of legal path to deny our projects," Evans said.

Tuusso's 232-acre project would be spread across five different farms, each capable of producing 5 megawatts each. Most of the generated solar power would be used within Kittitas County, according to Evans. The panels will stand about eight feet off the ground and will move with the sun's rays.

"It’s a typical polycrystalline silicon panel, kind of like the ones you see on people’s roofs," Evans said.

EFSEC will take a second vote on the project on Aug. 21. If approved a second time, Gov. Jay Inslee will have sixty days to approve or deny the project. We'll see if our Democrat governor agrees with the solar advocates or the local solar skeptics.