The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council meets July 19, 2023, at the Oxford Inn Suites conference room in Pendleton to consider approving a site certificate for the Nolin Hills Wind Power Project near Echo. The council voted for the certificate.

BOARDMAN — The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council is holding public meetings Thursday and Friday, May 30 and 31, in Boardman on big energy projects in Eastern Oregon. The meetings are in the Riverfront Room at the Riverfront Center, 2 Marine Drive.

The council’s first public hearing of the visit is May 31 at 5:30 p.m. on the latest proposal to amend the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line project.

The council has approved the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line, a 500-kilovolt power line running approximately 271 miles from Boardman to western Idaho across Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Baker, and Malheur counties. Idaho Power has yet to start construction on the project. The council is considering an amendment that would expand the site boundary for most of the facility in addition to relocating the transmission line at 12 sites, including approximately 40 miles of 500-kV transmission line alternatives and 0.6 mile of 230-kV transmission line alternatives.

Other changes include:

• Refining 58 miles of roads resulting from additional design and engineering review.

• Widen the width of roads used for construction based on the slope of the terrain.

• Add a midline capacitor substation.

• Widen roads used for construction.

The second public hearing that day is at 6:15 p.m. on the draft proposed order for NextEra Energy Resources’ Wagon Trail Solar Project, a 500-megawatt solar array it wants to built in Umatilla and Morrow counties.

The council anticipates adjourning at 7 p.m. and resuming its schedule at 8:30 a.m. May 31, when its agenda includes a public hearing on an amendment to the Wheatridge Energy Facility East, the wind energy generation facility Portland General Electric plans to operate with NextEra Energy Resources on almost 4,600 acres in in Umatilla and Morrow counties.

The council also will consider any requests for contested cases on the proposed order to amend the project.

In addition, the council decides on requests for contested cases on Leaning Juniper IIA, a 6,400-acre wind farm in Gilliam County.

To see the full Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council meeting agenda, including links to attend remotely, visit shorturl.at/WlHDd.