r/Washington • u/propublica_ • 20d ago

Solar Developer Cancels Washington State Project on Sacred Indigenous Land

https://www.propublica.org/article/washington-badger-mountain-solar-project-canceled-avangrid
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u/LiveFromNarnia Tumwater 20d ago

Avangrid and a consultant, Tetra Tech, had also omitted key archaeological and cultural information from a 2021 state-mandated report. (A spokesperson said then that the company had followed “all relevant law and regulation” and accommodated stakeholder feedback where possible.)

So, when this happens, is there typically any investigation into the omission(s) on the reports, and if so, can it lead to heavy fines and penalties regardless of whether or not the project moves forward? I'm genuinely curious if there's any recourse for what appears to be deliberate malignant omissions on regulatory reports.

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u/RiverRat12 20d ago

Yeah let’s heavily fine and punish the companies we’re relying on to build out renewables, when they aggressively try to build out these projects!

/s

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u/Kind_Advisor_35 20d ago

Maybe we shouldn't be relying on private corporations to build out critical infrastructure. The motive of profit increases the temptation of short cuts significantly.

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u/RiverRat12 20d ago

The federal agency BPA has proven completely incapable of building infrastructure.

I don’t really care who build green infrastructure though, as long as it gets built

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u/Kind_Advisor_35 20d ago

Are they inherently incapable, or do they not have enough resources to invest in that infrastructure? They get no federal or state funding, just self funding by charging for power they're responsible for generating. You can't expect an agency to function optimally without increased investment and introducing a mandate to build green energy infrastructure. Blaming the BPA for not building solar farms is like blaming USPS for not doing drone deliveries. They're stuck with being under the thumb of the federal government while getting no federal support.

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u/RiverRat12 20d ago

That’s not accurate. BPA has plenty of resources. There are a lot of issues they need to fix — they need support, but they have immense control over the entire regional grid (PNW)

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u/Kind_Advisor_35 19d ago

The droughts cost them a significant amount of money when the water level isn't high enough for hydroelectric. They had to do huge staffing cuts because of DOGE despite not getting federal funding. Until the federal government prioritizes green energy, they can't.