Published 11:22 am Wednesday, April 29, 2026
By Don Jenkins
Horse Heaven Hills farmers dispute claims that Scout Clean Energy’s massive wind and solar project in southeast Washington will wreck agriculture, pointing to lease payments as agriculture’s salvation.
Some 19 farmers and landowners submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the Washington Supreme Court defending Scout’s plans to put windmills, solar panels and batteries on farmland near the Tri-Cities.
Benton County argues ex-Gov. Jay Inslee and the Energy Facility Site Evaulation Council dismissed the county’s concerns about losing 6,869 acres of farmland.
Dryland wheat farmers who signed the brief said lease payments will help them buy equipment, hire more people and invest in new technology.
“As a result, the project will support retention of these lands for agricultural purposes and avoid the need to sell off land to other parties and uses,” the brief reads.
The farmers and landowners filed the brief in advance of the Supreme Court’s hearing June 11. The county. the Yakama Nation and Tri-Cities CARES, a citizens group, allege Inslee and EFSEC violated state laws in approving the project.
Scout, based in Colorado and owned by Brookfield Renewable Partners, a Canadian company, has leased property from 42 landowners and plans to install up to 222 windmills and cover about 5,500 acres with solar panels.
Residential development poses more of a threat to agriculture on Horse Heaven Hills than do windmills, solar panels and batteries, according to the farmers’ brief.
The hills receive little rain, so farmers are limited in what they can grow, according to the brief. With input costs rising and wheat prices not keeping up, lease payments will help farmers survive lean years, the brief states.
“These are not hobby farms — those farming the Horse Heaven Hills live or die on the margins of a crop yield,” the brief reads.
“It (Scout’s project) will neither disrupt agricultural practices nor result in the long-term conversion of agricultural land; in fact, it will do just the opposite.”
The county argues the conversion of farmland would violate county land-use laws and the state’s Growth Management Act. The Yakama Nation and Tri-City CARES raised objections unrelated to losing farmland.
The tribe argues the project will damage traditional gathering places and cultural resources. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians submitted a brief supporting the Yakama Nation’s position.
The affiliation represents 57 tribal governments in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, California and Montana.
Tri-Cities CARES claims Inslee and EFSEC failed to balance the need for energy with other public and private interests.
The plaintiffs also allege procedural errors, such as EFSEC’s decision to hold formal hearings on the project before staff planners had finished a final report on the project’s environmental impacts.
If built, the 1,150-megawatt project will be the largest wind and solar project in Washington, with windmills stretching for 24 miles.
Scout has not disclosed the terms of lease payments to landowners. A study commissioned by the state Department of Commerce in 2024 found leasing land for wind and solar projects can be significantly more profitable than farming in some areas.
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