How Big Will the Cat Creek Solar Energy Complex Be?

*At the intersection of Hwy 20 and Pine-Featherville Road.*

By our calculations, the Cat Creek Energy solar complex will cover almost 590 acres and consist of 170,000 solar panels. It’s hard to imagine just how big 590-acres of elk, deer and pronghorn migration blocking territory that covers. And for many in Elmore County, Idaho, they do not realize where this huge fenced-in complex would be located.

How big is a 590 Acres Cat Creek Energy Solar Plant?

About 17 US Pentagon buildings would fit inside the fence of the solar complex of the Cat Creek Energy project.
It’s larger than the country of Monaco.
It’s about five times as big as Vatican City.
It’s about 150 times as big as The Biltmore Estate.
It’s about 400 times as big as The White House.

Map Link to the Location of the Solar Complex: https://goo.gl/maps/6ioxxAX7ciL2

What Can You Do to Help Stop This Project?

Write, call and email anyone and everyone listed HERE (http://catcreek-energy.com/mailing-addresses-for-cat-creek-energy-issues/) and tell them you are opposed to the Cat Creek Energy project. You can tell your friends, neighbors, and coworkers about the project and how they can help prevent a mega-energy project from ruining our Elmore County backcountry.

“Transmission Lines Would Run From the Southern Shore” …

*What the Anderson Ranch Reservoir view might look like when the Cat Creek Energy project is finished.*

Elmore County’s own engineering study said this of the Cat Creek Energy project:

“Very limited information on the electrical line from the powerhouse to the
substation is presented. Voltage and construction information are absent. We surmise this line (34kV?) would run from the southern shoreline of Anderson Ranch Reservoir, ascend to the canyon rim through open forest habitat and then cross mixed grass land and shrub steppe to the substation. The line has the potential to cause a number of impacts to wildlife which would need to be addressed.”

In 2016, the Elmore County Planning and Zoning Board said the the vast majority of the project was “Not Compatible” with the surrounding environment when they denied Cat Creek Energy the permits to build a large-scale energy project in our backcountry.

Who hasn’t fished, boated, camped or driven along Anderson Ranch Reservoir? I can’t imaging anyone in Elmore County that hasn’t been along the shores of our finest body of water. This is what Cat Creek Energy considers “compatible” with the surroundings?

Take Action

Call, write to and/or email your government representatives and tell them you are opposed to the entire Cat Creek Energy project.

or, be bold and write a letter to:

Cat Creek Energy LLC
398 S. 9th St., Ste 240
Boise, ID 853701

List of addresses: http://catcreek-energy.com/mailing-addresses-for-cat-creek-energy-issues/

Reference: Attachment 2 found at Attachment 2 - Independent Review of the Cat Creek Energy Wildlife Management Plan

Stop the Cat Creek Energy Project (CCE) – Spread the Word

On October 20 & 21, 2018, we set up an information booth and spent the day at Carl Miller Park in Mountain Home, Idaho talking to the people who attended the 5th Annual Mountain Home Highland Games & World Fair.

Our goal was simple … Raise awareness about the Cat Creek Energy Project and how bad the project is for the residents of Elmore County.

*The Cat Creek Energy Project is bad for Elmore County*

What We Discovered – Many Locals Were Unaware of the CCE Project

A vast majority of the people who stopped by our booth were unaware that a corporation based in Gooding County wants to build a mega-energy project in our mountains just 21 miles from Mountain Home.

While we did talk with a few individuals who were from out-of-state, most of those who were interested in learning more about the ill-conceived project were from the Mountain Home area and knew nothing about the CCE Project. This means we have more work to do.

Video Highlighting Why Cat Creek is Bad for Elmore County

By The Numbers:

Booth Statistics – Number of Adults Interested in the Cat Creek Energy Project (CCE)

# of people who talked to us at the booth about the CCE Project: 104
# Opposed or Strongly Opposed to the CCE Project: 81
# who neither support nor oppose the CCE Project: 18
# who support the CCE Project: 5

Please help us stop the Cat Creek Energy Project. How? You can share a link to this website with your friends, co-workers, and neighbors, “like” our Facebook Page (@SBarRanch) and write to your federal, state and local government leaders. Tell them you are opposed to the entire project.

The 5 Conditional Use Permits (CUP) of the Cat Creek Energy Project

In 2017, the Elmore County Commissioners approved five different conditional use permits as part of a mega-energy project slated to be built in Elmore County. Cat Creek Energy has always told the residents that all five parts of the project needed to be approved to make it financially feasible. The commissioners approved those five CUPs with that verbal stipulation.

However, that is not the case anymore. Cat Creek Energy and Elmore County have separated the CUP and the project might be able to move ahead in a piecemeal progression. That was not the way it was sold to the residents and taxpayers of Elmore County.

A Conditional Use Permit: Elmore County has specific uses which are allowed only after review by the Planning & Zoning Commission. These uses require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The allowable uses for each zone are listed in the County Zoning Ordinance.
Note … The Elmore County Planning and Zoning Commission denied all 5 Cat Creek Energy CUPs in 2015. The County Commissioners overruled P & Z in 2017.

Here is a brief explanation of these very complex and seemingly ever-changing permits.

Meeting/Hearing Date: 6/15/2016 — Date Report Compiled: 6/8/2016

CUP-2015-03: Conditional Use Permit for transmission lines in the Agriculture and Area of Critical Concern Overlay Zones. Case Number: CUP-2015-03. The site is located in portions of Sections 26 and 35, Township 1N, Range 9E, B.M., Sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, Township 1S, Range 9E, B.M.

CUP-2015-04: Conditional Use Permit for pump storage hydro electrical generating facility in the Agriculture and Area of Critical Concern Overlay Zones. Case Number: CUP-2015-04. The site is located in portions of Sections 26, 27, 35, and 36, Township 1N, Range 9E, B.M and portions of sections of 1 and 2, Township 1S, Range 9E, B.M.

CUP-2015-05: Conditional Use Permit for a PV solar electrical generating facility in the Agriculture Zone. Case Number: CUP-2015-05. The site is located in portions of Sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, Township 1S, Range 10E, B.M.

CUP-2015-06: Conditional Use Permit for a wind turbine electrical generating facility in the Agriculture and Area of Critical Concern Overlay Zones. Case Number: CUP-2015-06. The site is located in portions of Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33, Township 1S, Range 10E, B.M., Sections 19, 20, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33, Township 1N, Range 10E, B.M., Sections 25, 26, 27, 35, and 36, Township 1N, Range 9E, B.M., Sections 1 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, and 24, Township 1S, Range 9E, B.M.

CUP-2015-07: Conditional Use Permit for a substation in the Agriculture Zone. Case Number: CUP-2015-07. The site is located in portions of Sections 2 and 11, Township 1S, Range 9E, B.M.

Applicant:
Cat Creek Energy, LLC
1989 South 1875 East
Gooding, ID 83330

Case Number(s):

CUP-2015-03 (Transmission Lines)
CUP-2015-04 (Pump Storage Hydro- Electrical Generating Facility)
CUP-2015-05 (Solar- Electrical Generating Facility)
CUP-2015-06 (Wind- Electrical Generating Facility)
CUP-2015-07 (Substation)

Location: A common way of locating the property for all the CUP’s is from Mountain Home travel US 20 north for 25.4 miles to Wood Creek Road. Center of projects is approximately 3.2 miles north on Wood Creek Road.

Reference: The 5 Condition Use Permits of the Cat Creek Energy Project – http://catcreek-energy.com/download/670/

Who Doesn’t Want Cat Creek Energy to get Rights to Anderson Ranch Reservoir Water?

In May 2017, Cat Creek Energy, LLC applied to draw 101,000 acre-feet of water from the South Fork of the Boise River water basin. This water would actually be pumped up to a new reservoir on Little Camas Prairie from Anderson Ranch Reservoir via a series of penstocks located across the lake from Evans Creek Campground.

This proposed new reservoir, Cat Creek Reservoir, is scheduled to be built just one mile or so north of Little Camas Reservoir and very close to three possible greater sage grouse nesting grounds, called a “lek.”

September 24, 2018, marked the deadline for individuals, groups and even other government agencies to file a protest against Cat Creek Energy’s water permit with the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR). By that deadline, 19 protests were filed against that water permit application.

Who Are Those 19 Protesters?

Here are just some of the names:

The Boise office of the Bureau of Reclamation (https://www.usbr.gov/).
The Idaho Conservation League (https://www.idahoconservation.org/).
The Boise Project Board of Control (www.boiseproject.net/index.php?pg=about).
SUEZ Water Idaho, Inc. (https://www.mysuezwater.com/idaho/about-us).
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (https://idfg.idaho.gov/).
The City of Boise City (https://www.cityofboise.org/).
A consortium of water related companies and irrigation districts that include: Ballentyne Ditch Company, Boise Valley Irrigation Ditch Company, Canyon County Water Company, Eureka Water Company, Farmers’ Co-operative Ditch Company, Middleton Mill Ditch Company, Middleton Irrigation Association, Inc., Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District, New Dry Creek Ditch Company, Pioneer Ditch Company, Pioneer Irrigation District, Settlers Irrigation District, South Boise Water Company, and Thurman Mill Ditch Company.
S Bar Ranch (Facebook @SBarRanch or https://www.facebook.com/SBarRanch/)

Again this is just eight of the 19 entities that filed a protest for many different and various legal/practical reasons.

These 19 protest letters filed with the Idaho Department of Water Resources tells us that the Cat Creek Energy pumped-storage hydroelectric facility is an ill-conceived plan.

“IDFG is concerned that the requested water diversion and associated hydroelectric project could adversely affect important public fisheries and Endangered Species Act protected bull trout populations within affected river and reservoir reaches of the Boise River system.” ~ Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Reference: Water-Permit-Protests-CatCreekEnergyOct2018.pdf at http://catcreek-energy.com/download/658/

Results From the Oct. 5, 2018 Cat Creek Energy Public Hearing

*If the Cat Creek Energy project gets approved, this is what you can expect to see on Little Camas Prairie.*

A public hearing regarding the Cat Creek Energy and Elmore County Development Agreement was held on Friday, October 5, 2018. However, Cat Creek Energy lawyers and the county commissioners could not come to a satisfactory agreement over water issues and Cat Creek bowed out of this public hearing that they requested in September 2018.

With Cat Creek Energy withdrawing their draft amendment to the development agreement, the Elmore County Commissioners decided there was no reason to take public testimony on the issue. Chairman Wes Wootan and Commissioner Corbus voted to close out the public hearing immediately following a quick briefing by Buzz Grant, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) legal counsel.

Mr. Grant indicated that Cat Creek Energy is aware that the incomplete Development Agreement needs to be finalized by December 31, 2018, or the conditional use permit for at least one portion of the mega-project will expire and be null and void.

The county fully expects Cat Creek Energy representatives will come back to the negotiating table in the future. Concerned citizens, the S Bar Ranch, and many others are closely monitoring all the shenanigans and legal maneuvering of Cat Creek Energy, LLC and will continue to post updates both on this website and on our Facebook page at @SbarRanch / https://www.facebook.com/SBarRanch/

Please help us get the word out by sharing this blog and/or Facebook posts.

Commissioners Select Oct. 5 for a new Cat Creek Energy Public Hearing

Public testimony will be accepted at a 1:30 p.m. hearing on Friday, October 5, 2018, in the Elmore County Courthouse regarding the Cat Creek Energy project. This public meeting was made necessary when the county commissioners refused to approve Cat Creek Energy’s previous draft amendment during a September 7, 2018 hearing pertaining to a development agreement between the fledgling energy company and the county.

During that Sept. 7^th hearing, Commissioner Corbus lectured the lawyers and spokesmen for Cat Creek Energy for trying to undermine the county’s efforts to obtain a water right from the South Fork of the Boise River. The major concern that the commissioners had with the proposal was the lack of detail Cat Creek provided for the money they could be charging the county for any water they might deliver to the citizens.

This new hearing and the proposed amendment is obviously an effort to smooth things over after the two parties walked away from the deal. In previous meetings, Corbus indicated that Cat Creek Energy categorically stated Elmore County wouldn’t have to worry about getting the water down to the Mountain Home area as Cat Creek Energy could get it there. However, Corbus said the actions and protests Cat Creek threw in front of the county was a sign that the energy company didn’t mean what it said.

According to Elmore County documents, “Any and all interested persons shall be heard at said hearing and the public is welcome and invited to submit testimony. Testimony will be limited to the Amendment of the Development Agreement and its terms and conditions.

Anyone who wishes to testify, but is unable to attend, may submit written testimony prior to the hearing by sending it to:

Elmore County Land Use and Building Department
520 East 2nd South Street,
Mountain Home, Idaho, 83647

Download the Public Hearing Notice by clicking here … Oct. 5, 2018 Public Hearing - Cat Creek Energy Development Agreement

or, the same information in a public link at http://catcreek-energy.com/download/586/

Cat Creek Energy – A Problem, Not A Solution!

Camas Prairie, Elmore County, Idaho

Tag Archives: Idaho