At the June 22, 2026, Snoqualmie City Council meeting, councilmembers unanimously approved a $450,000 appropriation earmarked to hire experts and analyze options to potentially stop a large battery energy storage facility (BESS) project in unincorporated King County just outside Snoqualmie city limits.
The BESS project has generated public outcry from opposed residents, mostly centered on safety and environmental concerns. After the city’s initial response that it would carefully monitor the King County permitting process and weigh in where it could, Snoqualmie changed its stance after continued public pressure demanding more council and administrative action.
This spring, the Council approved $50,000 in funding to hire a land use attorney to evaluate available city options related to the controversial BESS project. According to the city, this new $450,000 in legal department funding will allow it “to hire experts to evaluate environmental and safety concerns and guide the city in taking appropriate action.”
$150,000 of the approved funding will cover ongoing costs of Snoqualmie’s contract with outside legal firm *Foster Garvey, which the city recently hired to analyze the proposed BESS project.
Additionally, $141,500 will cover contracts with subject matter experts including: 1) consultant firm Jensen Hughes which will provide third-party review of fire and emergency response plans, a wildland interface assessment, as well as a plume dispersion analysis; 2) firm Landau Associates for a stormwater management and a noise analysis; and 3) firm RH2 for a city water resources analysis.
During the June 22 meeting, the council had a lengthy discussion about reducing the amount of the appropriation as it included an approximate $150,000 spending cushion, but in the end, the council decided that the funding cushion was reasonable given that any additional spending on contracts related to the BESS project would require their approval.
City of Snoqualmie BESS Response
In late May, the council unanimously adopted a BESS Moratorium, imposing a temporary 12-month moratorium on new battery energy storage system facilities within its city limits. The moratorium took effect immediately and placed a pause on “A moratorium is hereby established on the acceptance, processing, and approval of applications for land use and/or permit approval for any Battery Energy Storage System Facility or related contract amendments or infrastructure additions if the Battery Energy Storage System Facility proposed is to be located within the City of Snoqualmie, fall under any City ordinance, or use any City infrastructure.” while the city develops specific regulations for them.
At the same meeting, the council also voted unanimously to form a working group that will includes both council members and community representatives. Nonprofit Snoqualmie Valley for Responsible Energy – which is dedicated to stopping the proposed BESS project – will serve as co-chair.
Continue following Living Snoqualmie for more updates on the BESS projects.
*Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the outside legal firm covered by $150,000 of the approved funding. The funding is for the city’s contract with Foster Garvey, which was hired to analyze the proposed BESS project, not Ogden Murphy Wallace.
Comments
Thanks for your coverage! Please update the description of the moratorium to reflect what Snoqualmie City Council adopted: “A moratorium is hereby established on the acceptance, processing, and approval of applications
for land use and/or permit approval for any Battery Energy Storage System Facility or related contract amendments or infrastructure additions if the Battery Energy Storage System Facility proposed is to be located within the City of Snoqualmie, fall under any City ordinance, or use any City infrastructure.”
While the community wants rigorous safety and environmental reviews, finding out about a half million dollar commitment after the fact raises serious questions about transparency. Why was there no communication or alert sent out to residents before a sum of this magnitude was approved? Why has SVRE not provided updates to the community on this massive funding development?
Where are these funds are being pulled from. The city has existing financial frameworks, and rushing a $150,000 “spending cushion” through the legal department feels like a major financial decision made behind the public’s back. We need to know how this impacts our city’s overall budget and why existing funds were not utilized transparently.