HERMISTON — Locals can weigh in a public hearing Thursday, March 21, in Hermiston on the proposal to build a 300-megawatt wind farm in Umatilla and Morrow counties.

The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council in November 2020 approved the site certificate for Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility East. Now Wheatridge East Wind LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, seeks to amend that certificate, including requests to increase the number of wind turbines from 66 to 107, which would boost the power generation from 200 megawatts to 300 megawatts, and to expand the site boundary from 4,582 acres to 78,985 acres.

Wheatridge East Wind has yet to build the wind farm, and Morrow County resident Wendy King is opposed to project.

“After study of Wheatridge East wind turbine locations, at least 19 are located on Gleason Butte and cascading north on three ridges,” she said. “These turbines will be seen from as far as Hermiston and beyond … To allow wind turbines to outreach the peak of Gleason Butte will destroy its natural beauty and aesthetic scenic value.”

The site certificate limits the turbines to a maximum blade tip height of 500 feet, according to the draft of the order for the amendment. The turbines of Wheatridge would have blade tips reaching 499 feet.

Wheatridge East Wind also seeks to include up to 95 miles of underground 34.5 kilovolt transmission line, establish a new 26-mile transmission corridor to connect the facility to the existing Blue Ridge Substation and expand access roads and collector substations, among other changes. The company also wants to extend the construction completion deadline by three years, from May 24, 2023, to May 24, 2026.

EFSC’s public hearing on Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility East starts at 6 p.m. March 21 at Oxford Suites, 1050 N. First St. in Hermiston, according to the council’s meeting agenda.

Prior to the Wheatridge portion, the council is holding a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. on amending the site certificate for the Leaning Juniper IIA Wind Power Facility that is operating in Gilliam County. This proposal calls for replacing rotors, nacelles and generators on 36 turbines and increasing the blade tip height from 404 to 453 feet, among other requests. The public can submit written comments on the proposal through March 29.

The council picks up its meeting March 22 starting at 8:30 a.m. That day’s agenda includes consideration of terminating the site certificate for the 798-acre Boardman solar facility. Its construction did not start by Feb. 23, a condition the council set, so the site certificate has expired.

— East Oregonian reporter Rick Haverinen contributed to this article.

The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council’s public hearing on Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility East is Thursday, March 21, at 6 p.m. at Oxford Suites Oxford, 1050 N. First St. in Hermiston.

The public can join online and on the phone. For information on that, visit the council’s full meeting agenda here: shorturl.at/lrHIQ.

The public also can submit written comments on the Wheatridge proposal through April 4 to:

Christopher M. Clark, senior

siting analyst

Oregon Department of Energy

550 Capitol Street NE, First Floor

Salem, OR 97301

Email: Christopher.CLARK@energy.oregon.gov

Fax: 503-373-7806