Kittitas County, Central Washington University, the Economic Development Group of Kittitas County, Puget Sound Energy and enXco are forming a coalition to create a broad public- private partnership focused on renewable power research and job growth. This group has committed $1.2 million in financial support and in-kind services over the next three years.
The group is called the “Central Washington Resource Energy Collaborative” and has applied for state designation as an Innovation Partnership Zone (“IPZ”). Designation as an IPZ would allow future state support of the Collaborative. (IPZs are designated by the state Department of Commerce. Their purpose is to stimulate industry in a specific geographic area. There are 11 in the state of Washington.)
The Collaborative brings together both public and private sector partners, including PSE which is the second-largest utility owner and operator of wind power facilities in the US.