Texas-based ConnectGen has submitted an application for the 48-turbine wind farm near Highway 299, 35 miles northeast of Redding, near the existing Hatchet Ridge wind farm. The application was deemed incomplete by state regulators in February and is still being developed.
But a California state law, AB 205, that took effect last summer means that once the application is deemed complete, the project's future now lies with the state’s Energy Commission rather than with the County Board of Supervisors, as in previous proposals.
Supervisor Kevin Crye said the county is losing its local control.
"You're taking away the people's right to govern and oversee, foster, shepherd — whatever term you want to use — their own county. I think it's completely wrong. It's a complete overreach of the state," he said.
In 2021, residents were concerned the turbines would create a barrier when fighting wildfires in the area and damage mountains that are sacred to the Pit River Tribe. The project was voted down twice that year.
Paul Hellman, director of resource management in Shasta County, said the county still opposes the project.
"We are actively working on reviewing and strategizing how best to, you know, what steps to take that would best achieve the outcome of defeating the project," he said.
The proposal drew widespread public criticism two years ago, which Crye believes ConnectGen is ignoring.
"Don't say they [the people] have a say if you're just gonna go around them anyway, because that's insulting to the people, and it's really insulting to the elected officials that made that vote and put that time in," he said.
Elizabeth Huber, director of the Siting, Transmission and Environmental Protection Division at the California Energy Commission, said they are working with ConnectGen to complete the application.
"We've got ongoing meetings with the applicant, and it's on data requests that we need in order to do our comprehensive environmental review. And so we're in the middle of a back and forth as well as meeting and answering some clarifying questions," she said.
Once the application is completed, the CEC will begin a nine-month-long review process before voting on the project. The process includes preparing an environmental impact report, holding public meetings to solicit feedback and gathering data.
This is the first application the commission has reviewed under the new guidelines created by AB 205.
Shasta County banned large wind energy systems in an ordinance last year, but the state could still approve this project under the new law.
Hellman said that the project is still in the early stages and that ConnectGen had indicated that the earliest the application would be completed is August.
Huber encouraged the public to submit comment on the proposal via the CEC's website.
ConnectGen did not answer emailed questions. The Pit River Tribe did not respond to a request for comment.
