Overview
- FERC issued the license on January 22 after a multi-year NEPA review, marking the agency’s first major pumped‑storage approval in roughly 12 years.
- The closed-loop facility is designed to deliver 1,200 MW for up to 12 hours using upper and lower reservoirs at a former aluminum smelter in Klickitat County with nearby transmission access.
- FERC notes the lower-reservoir site is an RCRA-contaminated area under ongoing cleanup and that the project lies within ceded Indigenous territories where tribes have asserted treaty rights.
- Rye Development and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners say they aim to start construction next year, with a four to five year build and operations targeted around 2032, and project over 3,000 construction jobs, more than $10 million a year in local revenue, and union hiring that prioritizes local workers.
- Plans call for purchasing 7,640 acre-feet of Columbia River water from Klickitat PUD for the initial fill and 360 acre-feet annually for evaporation and seepage, with the initial fill expected to take about seven months.