People in the business of delivering electric power say that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s claims that the massive Horse Heaven wind and solar project in Central Washington will make the electric grid more reliable are “utter nonsense” and “fanciful.”

We’ve always thought there was a certain amount of magical thinking in play in the state’s aggressive clean energy strategy, so we’re not surprised that the experts agree. If only Inslee and his administration would listen.

Scout Clean Energy, a company based in Boulder, Colo., wants to build a massive project near the Tri-Cities. As planned, it would include solar cells on more than 5,000 acres, and 222 wind turbines across a 25-mile stretch of farmland. Inslee wants the project to proceed as proposed, and doesn’t seem to care about its impact on threatened species, Indian tribe cultural resources or neighboring communities. Nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of the state’s alternative energy policy, or the Inslee green legacy.

“Washington state faces the stark reality that without a rapid buildout of new clean energy generation and transmission, the dependability of our electricity and grid is at risk,” the governor wrote to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.

In fact, Inslee says the state will need 20 projects the size of Horse Heaven by 2035 to meet Washington’s clean energy goals.

Enter the experts. They worry about those frigid mornings when the sun is dim and low on the horizon, and the turbines aren’t turning. That’s when Washingtonians will want to crank up their electric furnaces and find they don’t have any juice.

Benton Public Utility District General Manager Rick Dunn said the claim the Horse Heaven project would contribute to grid reliability was “utter nonsense.”

“We should be screaming across the mountaintops across the state, ‘It’s not true,’” he said.

Horse Heaven has a “nameplate” capacity of 1,150 megawatts. But, that’s only possible if the turbines are turning 24 hours a day at peak speed and solar cells are producing at peak capacity around the clock.

That’s impossible. The sun doesn’t shine at night, and sometimes the wind doesn’t blow. Weather extremes at both ends impact production, and regular maintenance is required.

The industry rule of thumb says the turbines will turn about 30% of the time, and the solar cells will produce 25% of the time.

Scout claims Horse Heaven will do better than that, but won’t say how much electricity it thinks will be generated.

Dunn said the Nine Canyon wind project next to the proposed Horse Heaven project stopped generating electricity during a cold and windless five-day snap in January.

Washington imported thermal electricity from the Southwest and Rocky Mountains that week to meet demand, according to the Western Power Pool, an association of utilities.

Washington Public Utility Districts Association policy director Nicolas Garcia is skeptical spreading out wind and solar projects would stabilize the grid. Weather patterns are large and more transmission lines would need to be built, he said.

He says the idea is “fanciful.”

Nonetheless, the Inslee administration is mounting its unicorns and charging ahead.