Horizon Wind is a Texas-based company.
Tyson Utt, Horizon project manager in Portland, said that the sites will be studied for up to three years to determine whether they produce enough wind to support production of wind energy.
It is a matter of starting to collect the data, Tyson said.
A public hearing to consider the joint requests from Horizon Wind and the property owners is scheduled for March 19 2009 before the county hearing examiner.
Tyson said that the company does not disclose what it is paying the landowners for lease of their property.
Horizon Wind is pursuing the Kittitas Valley wind project, northwest of Ellensburg. Governor Chris Gregoire has approved construction of Horizon Wind’s 65-turbine wind farm 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg. The state Supreme Court upheld the decision to build the plant in November 2008. The project had been opposed by Kittitas county commissioners and neighboring landowners.
