Snoqualmie residents share BESS concerns | Letters to the Editor
Published 12:00 pm Friday, August 7, 2026
The current opposition to the Cascadia Energy Storage facility on Snoqualmie Ridge is entirely missing the bigger picture. What is being framed as an environmental crisis is actually a fight between Ridge aesthetics and the Snoqualmie Valley’s electrical reliability.
Down on the Valley floor, we regularly deal with floods and downed power lines. Placing a privately funded, $100 million backup power source high up on the Ridge — safely out of the flood zone and tied directly to the Mount Si substation — provides critical grid resilience for all of us, from Downtown Snoqualmie to North Bend. It is the independent power source we need to keep the lights on during the next deep freeze, and it won’t cost taxpayers a dime.
The safety arguments against the facility also ring incredibly hollow. Many of the most vocal opponents happily park 80 kWh lithium-ion EV batteries inside their attached garages, right underneath their bedrooms, without a second thought. Yet, they are fighting heavily armored, thermally isolated commercial battery containers equipped with 24/7 automated fire suppression that sit securely on a concrete pad far from any homes.
We cannot let the fear of a perceived dip in property values dictate the electrical stability of the entire region. The Cascadia facility is a necessary infrastructure upgrade. It is time we prioritize keeping the heat on for the whole Valley over protecting the views from the Ridge.
Andrew Wissink, Snoqualmie
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Snoqualmie needs to annex, and not just for housing.
Like many here, I’m frustrated by the Cascadia Ridge battery proposal. But as someone in unincorporated King County adjacent to Snoqualmie, my frustration runs deeper. I’ve been hoping for years the city would annex our area. Instead, I’m watching neighbors in Snoqualmie discover what those of us outside city limits already know: When you’re unincorporated, you don’t get a seat at the table.
This didn’t have to happen. The area known as “West Snoqualmie” is inside Snoqualmie’s Urban Growth Area, land the state expects the city to absorb. In 2017, the council rejected an annexation proposal there because building housing on the terrain isn’t simple. But development complexity shouldn’t have been the only consideration.
If we’d annexed, Jupiter Power would need a permit from Snoqualmie, not King County. Our zoning. Our elected officials. Instead we’re writing comment letters and hoping.
This won’t be the last test. That land sits next to transmission lines and I-90. Maybe a data center will be next. Without annexation, we’ll be back here every time. Vocal but powerless.
Snoqualmie also has an unsolved housing shortfall, roughly 400 units short of its 2044 target. Annexation addresses both problems: housing on our terms and a real say in what gets built on our border.
Speaking out against Cascadia Ridge is welcome. But it’s not authority. Annexation is.
Emily Goll, Snoqualmie
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For more information on the proposed Cascadia Ridge battery energy storage site near Snoqualmie, visit “Timeline: Record coverage of Snoqualmie’s battery energy storage site.”
