San Juan County Comp Plan: Get involved!

||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE |||

San Juan County is updating the County Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) this year. The Comp Plan is an
important guiding document for managing land use and infrastructure in a coordinated and sustainable way.

The Comp Plan goals and policies can help local organizations prepare and adapt as climate disruption
accelerates. The plan addresses key elements, including land use, housing, transportation, capital facilities,
utilities, and economic development. For essential infrastructure organizations like OPALCO, we use the Comp Plan to guide our long-term planning, and most of the plan elements touch on OPALCO’s day-to-day mission.

For example, the Comp Plan currently calls for energy independence, yet San Juan County land use
designations make it incredibly difficult to install local renewable generation projects like utility-scale solar and battery projects. OPALCO wants to get co-op members involved in the Comp Plan updates this year. As an electric cooperative, OPALCO can’t do it without co-op members’ support.

The OPALCO team is making recommendations regarding the various elements of the Comp Plan that impact the work OPALCO does. The Comp Plan needs to be more action-oriented, focus on practical implementation, and incorporate data-driven planning to support policy decisions. The Comp Plan acknowledges the significant challenges our County is facing, such as climate change, mainland power outages, water shortages, the lack of affordable and worker housing, and local infrastructure needs; however, it does not prioritize meaningful action and lacks the urgency needed to put this plan into effect.

Within the Climate Element, OPALCO made comprehensive recommendations for the plan to address the
urgent need to expand local renewable energy generation, simplify permitting for utility-scale solar projects,
and improve energy resilience in light of imminent regional power shortfalls. Our recommendations also
advocate for planning to ensure adequate water supply, worker housing, and infrastructure capacity through 2045. The revisions further emphasize practical climate adaptation strategies, including wildfire risk reduction, regenerative agriculture, and effective implementation of climate goals through measurable targets.

In the Utility Element, OPALCO included actionable items that aim to support the expansion of local renewable generation, such as increased permitting predictability, revised land use policies, and acknowledgment of utility-scale solar as essential public infrastructure. The revisions emphasize the pressing need for affordable workforce housing that have more flexible income requirements to aid utility operations and suggest practical solutions like density incentives and flexible land use.

During the recent COMPASS community engagement sessions, the public expressed strong support for
expanding local solar energy production, implementing progressive electricity rates, promoting energy-efficiency policies, and advancing the electrification of transportation.

OPALCO has led the charge on rooftop solar and energy efficiency initiatives by providing incentives, low-
interest financing, and facilitating installations on homes and businesses. Local solar energy has reached
adoption levels comparable to California, generating over ten times more energy per load than the state
average. That said, even with the full use of suitable rooftops and impermeable surfaces, the energy produced would still account for less than 5% of the county’s total energy needs. OPALCO still encourages rooftop solar for co-op members but also sees the need for utility scale projects.

With no new hydropower available, a declining snowpack, and submarine cables projected to reach capacity within a decade, the county must prioritize significant local solutions. OPALCO is legally obligated to provide safe and reliable service to co-op members – the power cannot be rationed. Utility-scale solar, requiring less than 1% of county land (about 875 acres), presents a cost-effective and resilient alternative. When combined with agrisolar partnerships, it can also improve food production, soil health, and farm income—while delivering reliable, winter-optimized energy at a fraction of the cost of rooftop systems.

It is crucial for the Comprehensive Plan to encompass actionable and feasible solutions that protect and
prepare our community. This plan, along with clear policies and measurable goals, will help San Juan County cultivate a sustainable community now and into the future. We urge co-op members to encourage the County Council to support these priorities.

There are several ways co-op members can participate in this Comp Plan update:

• Speak at a County Council meeting: The County Council meets regularly on Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:00am. These meetings are open to the public via online or in-person “Public Access Time” at the beginning of each meeting. Find out more: https://sanjuancowa.portal.civicclerk.com/
• Speak at a Planning Commission meeting: The Planning Commission meets monthly on the third Friday of the month at 8:30am. There is “Public Access Time” at the beginning of each meeting, where anyone can share their input. Check the meeting agenda to see which elements will be discussed that month.
• Provide written feedback: Email your comments or questions to compplan@sanjuancountywa.gov.
• Please let the OPALCO team know your thoughts: Email us at communications@opalco.com and let us know what your ideas are or what you plan to share with the County.

Here are some talking points that members could give to the County to support the work OPALCO is doing and looking to do in the future:

• Prioritize Local Energy Indepndence to Prevent Future Blackouts
  San Juan County is facing a growing energy reliability crisis due to regional power shortages, declining hydropower, and limited submarine cable capacity. The Comprehensive Plan must support local renewable energy development—especially utility-scale solar—to ensure we can power our homes, ferries, and essential services during increasing demand and climate-driven grid instability.
• Streamline Permitting for Utility-Scale Solar and Agrisolar Projects
  OPALCO has maximized rooftop solar deployment—achieving participation levels similar to
  California—but rooftops alone can only satisfy about 5% of our energy needs. To meet future demand, we need to use less than 1% of county land for utility-scale solar, ideally co-located with farms (agrisolar). The Plan should modernize land use codes and ensure permitting certainty to facilitate the efficient construction of these projects and access crucial grant funding
• Recognize Local Renewable Energy Projects as Essential Public Facilities
  Energy infrastructure is as critical as water, communications, and emergency services. The Comprehensive Plan should formally recognize utility-scale solar and microgrid facilities as essential public facilities (EPFs)—giving them the same planning priority and permitting pathways as other crucial services needed to support our island community and local energy independence
• Support Worker Housing
  OPALCO and other essential service providers face challenges in hiring and retaining skilled staff due to a significant shortage of housing. This is affecting not only low-income but middle-income workers as well. The County should permit flexible workforce housing solutions—such as density incentives, multi-unit housing on utility-owned land, and co-located housing with agrisolar projects—to sustain the reliable utility services islanders rely on
• Plan for Resilience, Not Just Conservation
  While conservation, rooftop solar, and EVs are important and strongly supported by OPALCO, the Comprehensive Plan must adopt a balanced approach. We need to plan not only for sustainability, but also for realistic resilience. That means backing utility-scale solutions that can operate during outages, accommodate growing electric demand, and ensure islanders have access to safe, affordable, and reliable power now and in the future.

Find OPALCO’s suggested edits to the Comp Plan and detailed response to the COMPASS engagement sessions here: www.opalco.com/compplan. Stay tuned for OPALCO’s input on the Unified Development Code (UDC) which can help ensure we can address some of these big challenges in real and practical ways.

Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is our member-owned cooperative electric utility, serving more than 11,400 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 97% greenhouse-gas free and is generated predominantly by hydroelectric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937.