Scout Clean Energy Signs Agreement with Tri-Cities Union Trades to Construct the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chad Thompson
901-331-0779
Scout Clean Energy Signs Agreement with Tri-Cities Union Trades to Construct the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center
Commitment ensures the hundreds of family wage jobs created by the project will be filled by local workers
Boulder, CO June 08, 2022 – Scout Clean Energy announced today that after much collaboration with LIUNA Local 348, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center in Benton County, Washington has been reached between Scout Clean Energy and the local Tri-Cities union crafts responsible for putting people to work through building clean energy projects.
“Scout Clean Energy is excited to partner with local labor unions to construct the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center,” said Michael Rucker, founder and CEO of Scout Clean Energy. “This partnership represents Scout’s commitment to ensuring good-paying clean energy jobs are available in the Benton County area to help capture the benefits of a growing sector of jobs across the country.”
The agreement, which ensures the general contractor awarded the construction of the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center signs a project labor agreement, is executed between Scout Clean Energy and the local affiliates of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC), International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (Iron Workers), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
“It is vital that our members are part of the equitable energy transition,” explained Francisco Elguezabel, Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer with LIUNA Local 348. “With this agreement, our members will be able to build something that will benefit our community for many years to come and be a part of the energy future. We appreciate the efforts that Scout Clean Energy has taken to recognize this importance and we look forward to putting our people to work for a multi-year project.”
The Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center is estimated to create nearly 1,000 jobs for skilled trades workers during construction, according to an economic impact assessment conducted by Tetra Tech. The project will become a substantial source of new revenue for Benton and Franklin County, generating an estimated $260 million in new revenues over the life of the project, helping to fund local schools, roads, hospitals, and emergency services. The project will also help Washington State meet its clean energy transition goals, bring needed power generation, and make the local power infrastructure more resilient -- all of which help the region avoid the growing threat of blackouts or brownouts.
“Washington’s communities and the overall economy depends on this critical infrastructure, now more than ever, to keep our lights on and our families safe. We are proud that the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center will be built by the hardworking and highly skilled local workforce of the Tri-Cities and Central Washington," said Senior Project Manager Dave Kobus. "We are fortunate to have such great labor partners and look forward to putting a lot of people to work."
Today’s announcement follows the Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council’s (EFSEC) recent order finding the proposed Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center site consistent with land use regulations. EFSEC is expected to issue a draft environmental impact statement on the project this spring.
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About Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center
As the largest renewable energy project proposed in Washington State, the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center represents significant benefits to the local community, economy, and workforce. Learn more at www.HorseHeavenCleanEnergy.com.
About Scout Clean Energy
Scout Clean Energy is a renewable energy developer, owner-operator headquartered in Boulder, Colorado with over 1,200 MW of operating assets. Scout is actively developing a portfolio of over 15,000 MW of onshore wind, solar PV, and battery storage projects across 24 US states. Scout has expertise in all aspects of renewables project development, permitting, power marketing, finance, construction, 24/7 operations, and asset management. Scout is a portfolio company of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners. For more information, please visit www.scoutcleanenergy.com.
About Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (http://www.quinbrook.com) is a specialist investment manager focused exclusively on renewables, storage and grid support infrastructure and operational asset management in the US, UK, and Australia. Quinbrook is led and managed by a senior team of power industry professionals who have collectively invested c.USD 8.2 billion equity in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990s, representing a total enterprise value of c.USD 28.7 billion or 19.5 GW of power supply capacity. Quinbrook has completed a diverse range of direct investments in both utility and distributed scale onshore wind and solar power, battery storage, reserve peaking capacity, biomass, fugitive methane recovery, hydro and flexible energy management solutions in the US, UK, and Australia.
