Two U.S. lawmakers have introduced new legislation to ensure the continued operation of the Lower Snake River dams to provide power and irrigation to the region. 

The company’s goal is to develop a nuclear supply chain campus with its own manufacturing facility as the anchor. That facility would come through a $3 billion investment while creating 1,000 direct jobs and another 3,000 that would support them.

As the Tri-Cities works to position itself as a clean energy hub, a new college program aims to help fill the workforce pipeline that’s necessary to turn this vision into a reality.

The three plaintiffs challenging a wind and solar power facility in the Horse Heaven Hills share in their legal challenges a laundry list of how Gov. Jay Inslee, state agencies and the courts allegedly have violated everything from state environmental protection laws to local land use planning regulations and limited access to proceedings around the decision.

Energy Northwest’s small modular reactor project has moved one step forward with the announcement of the owner’s engineer for the project.

While small modular reactors have a long road ahead, the latest demand projections are accelerating development. New nuclear technology is coming with sizable investments. That’s good news because without nuclear, prospects for providing greenhouse gas free electricity are highly unlikely.

The dual-use demonstration site, funded by a state grant, is being designed to provide strategic orchard shading to help reduce summer sunburn risks while also generating solar power for agriculture operations. 

The proposed solar farm, located in northwest Benton County, will have a 470-megawatt solar generation facility – enough to produce enough power for 300,000 homes. 

Republican state Sen. Matt Boehnke filed a bill after saying the recent Energy Facility Siting Evaluation Council process to approve the siting of the Horse Heaven wind farm in his district did not properly account for local concerns and gave the governor too much authority.