Grant PUD staff is proposing to sign a 5-year contract with Goose Prairie Solar, LLC, to purchase 80 megawatts of power from the company’s solar-generation plant in Moxee, southeast of Yakima, Wash.
The contract would begin Jan. 8, 2025 and extend to Jan. 8, 2030.
Rich Flanigan, senior manager of Power Portfolio Strategy, told PUD commissioners at a recent meeting that the solar contract helps Grant PUD meet its Integrated Resource Plan needs in covering increased county demand.
The solar contract would help Grant PUD provide stable energy rates, source part of what the utility will need to provide reliable service into the future and position the utility to meet the state’s clean-energy standards, Flanigan said.
The Goose Prairie proposal was one of 82 that Grant PUD received in its recent request for proposals. Respondents included solar-generation projects, battery storage, wind power and biodiesel.
Flanigan said he and his team will be considering future generation contracts to help meet the utility’s energy portfolio needs over the next 20 years.
Commissioners will also weigh a second proposed contract, this one for a 3-year, 10% “slice” of Grant PUD hydropower, with Brookfield Renewables Trading and Marketing, from Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2027.
Brookfield is the same company that developed the Goose Prairie solar farm in Moxee, Flanigan said.
The Brookfied contract would replace a similar, soon-to-expire slice contract with Avangrid Renewables.
Under terms of the contract, Brookfield will buy 10% of Grant PUD’s 63% share of the power generation from Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams at a premium price. In exchange, Grant PUD will purchase firm, mixed-source power from Brookfield to help cover Grant County’s demand for electricity.
The deal would contribute to Grant PUD’s strong financial position by getting the most benefit from its clean hydropower – an arrangement favored by the agencies that rate the quality of Grant PUD debt, the PUD said.
It also helps insulate the utility from reduced generation during low water years.
Commissioners will vote on the contracts in the coming weeks.
