An Omaha, Neb., company has moved a step closer to winning approval to build a 200-megawatt battery complex on farmland in northwest Washington over the opposition of Skagit County commissioners.

Tenaska proposes to install batteries on 16 acres just outside Sedro-Woolley, about 70 miles north of Seattle. The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council voted 3-2 on Feb. 19 that the county’s zoning law doesn’t prohibit major energy projects on land zoned for agriculture.

The majority rejected the stance of county commissioners, who say the project would violate county zoning by taking up farmland and being too close to a fish-bearing creek.

Skagit County senior planner Robby Eckroth, the county’s representative on EFSEC for this project, and Eli Levitt of the Department of Ecology voted “no.”

Tenaska failed to do enough to find non-farmland to build the energy facility on, something the county’s zoning law requires, Eckroth said.

Representatives from the Department of Commerce, Department of Natural Resources, and Utilities and Transportation Commission voted “yes.”

Tenaska’s proposal must still undergo environmental reviews. EFSEC will make a recommendation to Gov. Bob Ferguson on whether to permit the project.

EFSEC has overruled the objections of Eastern Washington counties to some renewable energy projects in recent years. Tenaska’s project is the only one west of the Cascades under review by EFSEC.

By coincidence, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee held a hearing Feb. 19 on a bill that would prohibit EFSEC from preempting county zoning laws.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, said Tenaska picked a “terrible spot.”

“I’m not against the technology. I’m against where they can site it. And I’m against the idea they can subvert local zoning,” Wagoner said.

Wagoner’s legislation, Senate Bill 5283, has seven Republican co-sponsors, but no Democrats. It’s not scheduled to pass from the Democrat-controlled committee.

Wagoner said in an interview he hopes other Western Washington lawmakers will realize EFSEC can override local governments. “It could happen anywhere,” he said.

He said he will ask Ferguson to veto the project if EFSEC recommends it.

Skagit County commissioners in November passed a moratorium on energy projects. EFSEC, however, only considered county land-use laws in effect when Tenaska applied in June for a permit.

Tenaska plans to bury a transmission line under a creek and connect the batteries to a Puget Sound Energy substation about 625 feet away.

The company said it scouted for non-farmland parcels within one mile of the substation, but found nothing else suitable.

Owners of undeveloped land zoned for homes about a quarter mile from the substation were not interested in selling or leasing, according to the company.

Tenaska plans to install lithium-ion batteries that are expected to last 20 years. The batteries will be charged when electricity generation exceeds demand and will be discharged when demand surpasses the supply, according to Tenaska.

A lithium-ion battery complex in Monterey County, Calif., caught five Jan. 16 and burned for five days, forcing residents to evacuate, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Monterey County emergency officials alerted residents Feb. 19 that batteries were on fire again and emitting light smoke. Officials recommended closing windows.