Updates

What we’ve published, who we’ve contacted, and what’s happened. Most recent first.

May 19, 2026

• North Bend City Council unanimously adopted a 12-month BESS moratorium within North Bend city limits (Ordinance AB26-045). The ordinance was amended on the floor to remove language limiting it to BESS paired with renewable energy, broadening its scope to all battery energy storage as a principal or accessory use. The work plan directs staff and the Planning Commission to consult with Eastside Fire & Rescue, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the King County Sheriff’s Office, King County, EFSEC, electricity utility providers, and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe. At the same meeting the Council also authorized Mayor Miller to send a letter to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) objecting to Jupiter Power’s proposed Cascadia Ridge BESS in unincorporated King County within Snoqualmie’s Potential Annexation Area, due by May 26, 2026. The moratorium applies only within North Bend city limits and does not directly reach the Cascadia Ridge project, but with this action North Bend joins Covington, Enumclaw, and Black Diamond as King County cities that have adopted BESS moratoriums. A fifth, Snoqualmie, introduced one on May 11 that is still in committee. City of North Bend newsflash.

May 15, 2026

• PSE v. WUTC dismissed in open court. Hon. Carol Murphy of Thurston County Superior Court signed the Stipulation and Agreed Order of Dismissal at the 9:00 AM civil motions calendar. The case is closed. The substantive win was the public filing of the less-redacted Cascadia Ridge Tolling Agreement on May 6 in WUTC Docket UE-240532, which made the project’s operating parameters (state-of-charge envelope, cycle rate, ambient operating range, ramp rate, cathode-chemistry language, augmentation-outage scheduling, operating procedures, and EMS telemetry terms) part of the public regulatory record for the first time. Those contract terms are now citable in any local proceeding.
• How we have used the now-public tolling agreement in our advocacy and policy work. A detailed permit-conditions briefing memo, prepared with extensive input from Eastside Fire & Rescue leadership and built directly around the tolling agreement’s operating parameters and the deployed-fleet incident record, was sent on May 13 to King County Fire Marshal Eric Urban, Eastside Fire & Rescue Chief Will Aho, and Eastside Fire & Rescue Fire Marshal Jeromy Hicks. The memo translates contract clauses into a seventeen-family inventory of specific permit conditions the County Fire Marshal can attach to the construction and operational fire permits. Councilmember Perry’s office forwarded the memo to the Department of Local Services staff conducting the county-wide siting analysis and to Executive staff (see May 13 entry below). A direct letter to PSE CEO Mary Kipp, identifying eight specific contract provisions whose amendment would align operations with PSE’s stated “safety remains our number one priority” commitment, is drafted and ready to send now that the records fight is cleanly separated from the substantive ask. The SEPA comment letter we will file when the County opens the comment window cites the now-public operating parameters at specific points, including the contractual override that allows the operator to bypass automated safety logic under “Prudent Operating Practices,” the 30,000-to-32,000-gallon on-site water tank against the project’s stated 1,000-gallon-per-minute hydrant flow requirement, and the Exhibit K CETA Equity Plan’s wildlife management language.
• King County Fire Marshal confirmed on the record that the application is not yet complete. Eric Urban, the King County Department of Local Services Fire Marshal who will issue the construction and operational fire permits for the project, wrote that “our Permitting Division has not yet received and verified a completed application for a battery energy storage system.” Urban also confirmed that the public notice “will likely include a combined notice for the application and related SEPA review,” meaning the Notice of Application and the SEPA threshold determination will publish together in a single 14-day window.

May 13, 2026

• King County is conducting its own battery storage siting analysis, with a final report expected in early 2027. Disclosed by Deputy Chief of Staff Robby Paige in response to a May 4 letter to Councilmember Sarah Perry’s office on Bonneville Power Administration’s Echo Lake substation as an alternative siting location. This is the first time the County has acknowledged the work publicly. The Echo Lake letter was forwarded to the Department of Local Services staff conducting the analysis. A separate briefing memo, prepared with extensive input from Eastside Fire & Rescue leadership and built around the now-public tolling agreement and the deployed-fleet incident record, was forwarded by Perry’s office to both the Department of Local Services and to Executive staff. The memo includes a seventeen-family operating-envelope inventory framed both as project-specific permit conditions and as siting-criteria input for the county-wide analysis.

May 11, 2026

• Snoqualmie City Council voted 5 to 1 to introduce a moratorium ordinance on battery storage facilities within Snoqualmie city limits. After a 20-minute executive session with legal counsel, the Council waived the 72-hour notification rule, read the ordinance in for the first time, and referred it to the Council’s Finance and Administration committee. Mayor Mayhew introduced the ordinance. Councilmember Dan Murphy, on the record: “This is a land use that is emerging. It’s one that’s created a lot of concern among our residents, and establishing the right policies with respect to this land use within our city limits is squarely something that a city council and a city can do.” The lone dissenting vote preferred to act on the ordinance immediately rather than refer. The moratorium does not directly apply to the Cascadia Ridge project (which is in unincorporated King County), but it is a clear policy signal from the closest incorporated jurisdiction. It also sits alongside the City’s April 30 Mayor and Council letters endorsing an EIS for Cascadia Ridge. Full Living Snoqualmie write-up.

May 1, 2026

• Snoqualmie Valley School District board adopted Resolution 901 unanimously at a special meeting Friday afternoon. The resolution does not take a position on whether the project should be approved or denied, and does not specifically endorse an Environmental Impact Statement. It requests “environmental review sufficient to evaluate potential project impacts on student and staff safety, District facilities, school transportation, emergency procedures, and continuity of school operations, including consideration of the appropriate SEPA threshold determination under applicable law” (Section 1). The resolution names Cascade View Elementary and the Snoqualmie Parkway school bus routes, asks the County’s review to extend beyond the project parcel, requests school-specific impact analysis (notification, shelter-in-place, evacuation, family reunification, special education transportation, medically vulnerable students and staff), asks for emergency-planning consultation with EF&R, the Snoqualmie Fire Department, and King County emergency management, and asks the District to be a notified affected public agency in the SEPA and permitting processes. SVSD is now a second adjacent jurisdiction with a written institutional position on the record, alongside the City of Snoqualmie’s April 30 Mayor and Council letters. Resolution 901 PDF.

April 30, 2026

• City of Snoqualmie published two formal letters on the project. Newsflash 1837 is a joint letter from Mayor Mayhew and the entire seated City Council (Johnson, Murphy, Wotton, Holloway, Washington, Cotton) addressed to PSE CEO Mary Kipp, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, and the King County Council. It catalogs resident concerns about proximity to homes, schools, and parks; fire risk, hazardous gas release, and toxic runoff; evacuation and emergency response; habitat, noise, traffic, visual, and cumulative impacts. It encourages PSE and the County to consider “alternative locations within the Puget Sound Energy transmission and distribution system…with greater separation from residential areas and sensitive uses.” Letter PDF.
• Mayor Mayhew sent a separate letter to King County Permitting Director Leon Richardson (newsflash 1838) that goes further. The mayor writes: “Residents have requested, and I share that request, that a full environmental impact statement be considered given the potential environmental impact of this proposal.” The letter calls for review of impacts “from construction and grading through operation and eventual decommissioning,” and names wetlands, steep slopes, habitat, fire risk, hazardous gas release, toxic runoff, evacuation routes, schools, parks, traffic, visual, and cumulative effects. Letter PDF.
• Jupiter Power posted a Documents and Permits page at cascadiaridgeenergy.com/document alongside its King County refile. The page hosts a near-complete set of the SEPA Checklist materials (Sound Study, Arborist Report, Fire Protection Plan, Emergency Response Plan, Fire Safety Approach, Geotechnical Report, Phase I ESA, Stormwater Management Plan, Preliminary Hydrology Study, Project Description, Visual Simulations, ALTA Survey, the SEPA Checklist itself with the Critical Areas Report bundled in, and others), the Clearing and Grading Permit package, the Floodplain Development Permit package, the 2025 Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis Report, and the open house information deck. Most of these documents are appearing publicly for the first time. King County is reviewing the submission for completeness. Once the application is accepted, the County will publish a Notice of Application that opens a 14-day public comment window. The SEPA threshold determination (the decision on whether the County requires an EIS) follows that, with its own comment period.
• The standalone “Critical Areas Report” link on Jupiter’s page points to the wrong PDF (the GHG Emissions Worksheet). The Critical Areas Report content does appear inside the larger “SEPA Checklist with CAR” file, so the substance is available, but readers looking for it as a separate document will need to open the bundled checklist file.

April 11, 2026

• Sent letter to Mayor Mayhew and the full city council analyzing predetermination risk under RCW 42.36, EFSEC jurisdiction, and a recommended path forward. The letter recommends the council frame any resolution around a Determination of Significance and full EIS based on site-specific environmental concerns, rather than project opposition, to avoid predetermination risk. It also analyzes why an EFSEC opt-in is slower and less favorable than the King County SEPA process, and identifies city leverage (PADA enforcement, political voice) that exists regardless of permitting pathway.
• Updated site content across all pages to reflect the community’s core ask: King County should issue a Determination of Significance and require a full EIS before permitting this project.

April 9, 2026

• PSE filed suit against the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (PSE v. WUTC, Thurston County Superior Court) to prevent disclosure of the unredacted tolling agreement. Transparency analysis.
• Sent letter to King County Department of Local Services (Director Leon Richardson) asking two procedural questions about SEPA: (1) whether the clearing and grading permit will trigger SEPA review for the full BESS project, and (2) when Condition 29 documentation enters the record. These answers determine whether environmental review covers fire risk, noise, and emissions, or just soil disturbance.
• Met with SVSD liaison Dr. Allie Schiavone to discuss school district engagement with SEPA process. Provided briefing materials covering Eastside Fire’s preparedness statement, school proximity, and how the district can participate in SEPA review.

April 8, 2026

• Published analysis of the PSE tolling agreement correspondence. PSE’s Director of Regulatory Policy (Wendy Gerlitz) confirmed that the tolling agreement lists a specific battery brand and model number but includes “or similar technology” language. PSE interprets this as consistent with Jupiter’s statement that chemistry “has not yet been selected.”
• PSE confirmed that all 47 standalone battery storage proposals received in the 2024 RFP were lithium-ion. Zero proposals used sodium-ion, iron-air, flow batteries, or any other alternative chemistry. No non-lithium-ion proposals were submitted for the Mt. Si substation interconnection.
• Updated parcel 9030 page with PADA covenant analysis. Jupiter Power’s planned gen-tie route across PSE-owned parcel 9030 may require city consent under the 2011 Covenant, which limits use to PSE utility infrastructure.

April 7, 2026

• Published analysis of Jupiter Power’s Blackberry Grove BESS application in Hillsboro, Oregon (100 MW, approved December 2025 despite 350+ opposition letters). Added conditions imposed by the hearings officer and a site comparison showing how Cascadia Ridge differs on every factor that made Hillsboro defensible: terrain, streams, wetlands, fire district readiness, water supply, and atmospheric conditions.
• Updated Critical Areas Ordinance analysis: Ordinance 20024 (effective February 18, 2026) increased the Fisher Creek riparian buffer from 100-165 ft to 180 ft, with up to 360 ft where steep slopes overlap.

April 6, 2026

• Eastside Fire & Rescue responded. Chief Will Aho provided a written statement: “Eastside Fire & Rescue cannot confirm that we are fully prepared today to mitigate an incident of this type and scale.” He validated water supply, site access, evacuation, and chemistry concerns as “valid and directly relevant.” Full analysis on the fire risk page.
• Published critical review of Jupiter Power’s four fire safety studies. All four have significant gaps: small-scale fires only (1-2 containers vs. 130 MW), no valley terrain analysis, no continuous HF monitoring, no aquatic life standards applied, and the industry’s own literature review excluded the largest US BESS fire (Moss Landing). The industry’s own sources acknowledge the research is “still somewhat limited.”
• Phone call with Jupiter Power (Hans Detweiler, Tom Walkinshaw). Chemistry narrowed to LFP or sodium-ion but not committed. Permit filing expected early May (clearing and grading). Duration may be 6-hour (780 MWh) rather than 4-hour. Jupiter claims 50 dBA at property line and no contamination beyond property line for containerized fires.

April 1, 2026

• Jupiter Power responded to questions submitted before and after the open house. The response addressed fire safety measures and confirmed coordination with the King County Fire Marshal, Eastside Fire District, and Snoqualmie Fire Department. Most site-specific questions (setbacks, noise, parcels, financial assurance, critical areas, decommissioning) were deferred to the permit application materials. The response included an important statement: battery chemistry “has not yet been selected” but is expected to be “lithium ion (LFP) or sodium ion.” This is the first time Jupiter Power has acknowledged sodium-ion as a possibility for this project in writing.
• Jupiter Power committed that “all project design, environmental diligence studies, and decommissioning plans will be made public during the SEPA checklist review.”

March 28, 2026

• Published analysis of PSE’s own ESS siting study (Power Systems Consultants, 2021). PSE screened all 382 substations in their system and identified 15 recommended ESS locations. Mt. Si had been operational since 2012 but was screened out on the merits. The nearest Snoqualmie-area substation was rated high risk and rejected. The study’s siting criteria explicitly flag residential proximity, schools, and hospitals as making a location “less desirable.” Full analysis. Full study (PDF).

March 25, 2026

• Updated SEPA comment guide to focus on the case for a full EIS (Determination of Significance). The site’s challenges, from valley topography and seismic hazard to school proximity and unconfirmed fire district preparedness, require the depth of analysis only an EIS provides.
• Published recorded land deal analysis for all 6 project parcels. Jupiter Power’s project entity (Cascadia Ridge Resiliency LLC, originally formed as “Snoqualmie Energy Storage LLC” and renamed June 2025) holds agreements on five parcels. A sixth parcel (5 vacant acres with a transmission line easement) has been under option since March 2024 but was not in the original permit application. Site and environment.
• Sent follow-up email to Jupiter Power. Third email, second follow-up. 16 questions across three emails since March 13 with zero response.
• Sent letters to Snoqualmie Valley School District board and Snoqualmie Valley Hospital board requesting they participate in SEPA review. SVSD board responded the same day.

March 24, 2026

• Published SEPA comment guide with all 9 checklist elements relevant to this project, guidance on what makes a comment effective, and what to avoid. How to write a SEPA comment.
• Valley Record covered the community opposition, reporting on the March 17 open house and the city’s three news releases. The article was republished in the Issaquah Reporter on March 26.

March 23, 2026

• Snoqualmie City Council cleared its regular agenda to take public comment on the BESS. Approximately 35-40 residents spoke over two hours. The room exceeded fire code capacity. Speakers included a seismologist, mechanical engineer, family physician, financial advisor, and environmental justice advocate. Full meeting video. Full summary.
• Sent follow-up letter to Snoqualmie City Council asking for a resolution, formal SEPA participation, and ESF #16 update.

March 17, 2026

• Jupiter Power held a community open house at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge. Turnout exceeded the venue’s capacity. Jupiter Power’s presentation focused on generic BESS safety statistics and did not address battery chemistry alternatives, the company’s own sodium-ion investments, or site-specific environmental risks.
• KOMO News covered the event. KING 5 also covered the open house, reporting that the meeting “erupted into chaos” and ended with attendees chanting “Step down” as Jupiter Power’s Hans Detweiler exited.
• Launched cascadiaridgebess.org with project overview, fire risk analysis, battery technology comparison, permitting status, FAQ, and take action page.
• Sent letter to Councilmember Sarah Perry proposing ordinance amendments: chemistry alternatives in Condition 29, scaled financial responsibility, seismic risk assessment.
• Sent email to Eastside Fire & Rescue (Chief Aho) with questions about pre-incident planning, training, and response capacity. No response as of March 25.

March 13, 2026

• Sent 11 questions to Jupiter Power (Gage Fuller, cascadiaridge@jupiterpower.io) about battery chemistry, setbacks, fire suppression, noise, decommissioning, and environmental monitoring. Jupiter Power responded on April 1 with information on fire safety and battery chemistry; site-specific questions were deferred to the permit application.
• Sent letter to Councilmember Sarah Perry about public records access for the Critical Areas Designation. Perry’s office escalated to the Department of Local Services. King County delivered the CAD report the same day (2-hour turnaround).
• Critical Areas Designation (CADS25-0076) confirmed: Fisher Creek (fish-bearing) runs through the parcel, Category III wetland with 150-ft buffer, steep slope hazard, unmapped floodplain. King County classified the project as high-impact. Site and environment.
• Notified the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe about the proposed facility near their land in the Snoqualmie Valley. No response.
• Sent letter to the City of Snoqualmie (Mayor, Council, Planning Commission) about the governance gap and annexation. Councilmember Dan Murphy responded the same day and spoke with us for 35 minutes.