Yakama Nation protests clean energy project on sacred site that could power data center
Members of the Yakama Nation are protesting a proposed pumped-hydro energy storage project near Goldendale, Washington, arguing it will be built on a sacred tribal site with significant environmental impacts. They claim the project, owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is primarily intended to power a large data center campus, specifically naming STACK Infrastructure, despite developers' public statements about residential power needs. Nonprofits are challenging the project in federal court following state and federal permit approvals.
The Yakama Nation is actively protesting the Goldendale pumped-hydro energy storage project near Goldendale, Washington, asserting it is slated for a sacred tribal site known as Pushpum. The protest highlights concerns over "significant and unavoidable adverse impacts" on historic sites, culturally significant plants, and critical wildlife corridors, despite state and federal agencies issuing key permits after a decade-long review process.
The project, owned by Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is touted by developers as a clean energy solution for up to half a million homes. However, Yakama leaders, supported by evidence from permitting documents and local utility data, claim the primary beneficiary of the generated power would be a large data center campus. Denver-based STACK Infrastructure is identified as a likely power buyer, with reports indicating it is in talks to acquire land adjacent to the energy project and is working with Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure on a hyperscale data center.
Elaine Harvey, a Yakama Nation member and watershed manager at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, voiced strong opposition, questioning the location on root grounds and asserting the project serves data centers rather than state mandates. The Klickitat Public Utility District's own projections show only a 3% rise in industrial and commercial energy demand over the next decade, with no existing data centers in the county. The district stated it cannot provide electricity to a hyperscale data center unless it buys power from a source like the Goldendale project, as its Bonneville Power Administration supply is restricted for new large loads.
Nonprofits, including Columbia Riverkeeper, are fighting the project in federal court and have called on Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson to intervene. They argue the opaque nature of power buyers and the project's progression represent another instance of multi-generational displacement and environmental exploitation for industrial energy consumption, echoing historical impacts from hydroelectric dams.