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Gov. Inslee Visits Eastern Washington to Support First Wind Project by Rachel Dubrovin KLEW TV, July 9, 2013

"We're going to keep our glaciers and we're going to keep our oysters, and we're going to keep our salmon for our grand-kids," said Inslee.
"And the way we're going to do that, is to replicate this success at Palouse Wind a hundred fold across the state of Washington."

PULLMAN, WA - Washington Governor Jay Inslee made a trip to the eastern part of the state Monday to celebrate the renewable energy that's created by the wind turbines in northern Whitman County.

Palouse Reporter Rachel Dubrovin explains why the massive turbines aren't only environmentally friendly, but economically beneficial as well.

Wind is an abundant natural resource on the Palouse, and thanks to the turbines that are spread across the hills of northern Whitman County, it's a renewable energy source that's worth celebrating.

"Isn't great that clean energy in an Eastern Washington success story?" said Inslee. "I'm happy to celebrate that."

Inslee made a trip to the eastern side of the state on Monday to show his support for the Palouse Wind Project.

"We're going to keep our glaciers and we're going to keep our oysters, and we're going to keep our salmon for our grand-kids," said Inslee. "And the reason we're going to do that, and the way we're going to do that, is to replicate this success at Palouse Wind a hundred fold across the state of Washington."

You've probably noticed these huge turbines if you've recently made the drive from Pullman to Spokane. There's 58 of them installed just south of Rosalia.

"One of the reasons we're able to do it is because it's such a great wind resource here in the Palouse and we're using some new technology," said First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor.

The turbines are owned by a company out of Boston called First Wind. They were manufactured in Colorado specifically for the type of wind on the Palouse. First Wind provides the energy generated to the Avista Corporation.

"This project is delivering power to Avista at significant savings to their customers," said Gaynor.

"Because we decided to postpone this project in 2009, and re-bid it in 2011, just by waiting 18 months, the price of the wind energy came down to construct by about 40%," said Avista Corporation President and CEO Scott Morris.

Avista saved about $200-million by waiting to install the turbines. They went up in 2012, and in the last six months, they've generated 150-thousand megawatt hours of energy.

The turbines provide enough renewable energy to Avista to power about 30,000 homes, or roughly a community the size of Pullman.