Snoqualmie asks King County to find different battery site
Published 1:41 pm Tuesday, May 5, 2026
An April 30 letter from Snoqualmie administration urged King County Council and Puget Sound Energy to not allow the development of a battery energy storage system near Snoqualmie Ridge.
Snoqualmie Mayor Jim Mayhew and each Snoqualmie City Council member signed the letter, which was sent to King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, Puget Sound Energy CEO Mary Kipp and the King County Council.
The letter detailed the concerns Snoqualmie residents have been relaying over the past several weeks: the environmental and health impacts of having a battery energy storage system (BESS) so near to their homes and schools.
“These concerns are significant to the community, which is why we are raising them now and why they merit your careful attention,” the letter states. “We encourage consideration of alternative locations within the Puget Sound Energy transmission and distribution system to better address the concerns that have been raised, including locations with greater separation from residential areas and sensitive uses.”
Energy company Jupiter Power wants to build the BESS on a 45-acre lot behind Fisher Creek Park. It would reside in unincorporated King County and must go through King County’s permitting office for approval.
Jupiter filed a clearing and grading permit application the last week of April. This application, if approved, would allow the company to perform clearing and removal of vegetation, excavation, grading and earthwork on the site. If Jupiter continues to pursue construction, other permit applications will come.
Snoqualmie Valley for Responsible Energy, the local nonprofit fighting the BESS development, sent its own letter to the city of Snoqualmie on April 29, expressing concerns that the clearing and grading permit was being considered “in a vacuum.”
“If this were truly just a neutral clearing and grading request, there would be no reason to avoid disclosing the complete project it serves,” the letter states. “If the project sponsor intends to build a 130 MW battery storage facility here, then that is the project King County should evaluate honestly and lawfully.”
All of the documentation and permitting for the project can be found on the project’s website, cascadiaridgeenergy.com, and will continue to be updated, according to a Jupiter Power spokesperson.
Mayor Mayhew also sent a letter to Leon Richardson, director of King County’s Department of Local Services, who oversees the permitting division. The letter was to ensure residents’ concerns are “clearly conveyed and receive full consideration as the review proceeds.”
The city of Snoqualmie administration has stated that it will continue to review all incoming documentation for the project and provide input on behalf of residents.
