Cypress Creek Renewables, the company proposing to build the Carriger Solar project near Goldendale, currently operates this solar farm in Vale, Ore. It is a 13-megawatt farm compared to Carriger, which would generate 160 megawatts of electricity.
Business Reporter
Cypress Creek Renewables, the company proposing to build the Carriger Solar project near Goldendale, currently operates this solar farm in Vale, Ore. It is a 13-megawatt farm compared to Carriger, which would generate 160 megawatts of electricity.
Yakama Nation and the developer of a 1,300-acre solar farm in Klickitat County have resolved a legal challenge to the project.
The settlement announced Wednesday includes actions to support preservation of treaty-reserved resources on public lands adjacent to the Carriger Solar Project, located about two miles northwest of Goldendale. The Yakama Nation filed the challenge against developer Cypress Creek Renewables.
“Cypress Creek has made significant commitments to meaningfully minimize and mitigate the project’s negative impacts to Yakama Nation by not only modifying the project itself, but also addressing cumulative impacts of the project,” said Star Diavolikis, public information officer for the Yakama Nation, in a news release.
The project is expected to generate 160 megawatts of alternating current solar energy and 63 MW of battery energy storage, enough power for 32,500 homes, according to documents from the developer and information on the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council website. It will tie into the Bonneville Power Administration transmission system.
EFSEC officials recommended approval of the project last year, and Gov. Bob Ferguson approved the plans on Dec. 4, 2025 – with the expectation that company officials talk further with Yakama Nation leaders about protections for cultural resources in the area.
The governor’s approval required California-based Cypress Creek Renewables to provide a $100,000 grant to the Yakama Nation Cultural Resources Program once the project is operational. Also, tribal access to traditional and cultural properties must be maintained during construction.
Despite the grant, the tribe remained opposed to the project and filed a petition for judicial review on Dec. 31, challenging the EFSEC site certification process that culminated in Ferguson’s approval.
This week’s settlement should allow construction to begin on the project, which was planned to start this year to secure federal clean energy tax credits before they are ended by the Trump administration.
The joint statement issued by Yakama Nation and Cypress Creek officials said the settlement “is a result of respectful and solution-oriented communications that can happen during the permitting process and should be initiated by community-focused project developers.”
Both sides urged EFSEC and state Department of Natural Resources officials to help facilitate these types of solutions earlier in the permitting process.
Contact Joel Donofrio at jdonofrio@yakimaherald.com.
Business Reporter
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