Wind farm lawsuit must move out of Shasta County due to 'local hostility': California AG

Arguing that the California Energy Commission can’t get a fair hearing in Shasta County because of presumed local “prejudice” against the state agency, the California Attorney General’s Office wants to transfer out of the county a lawsuit filed over the controversial Fountain Wind Project.

The AG’s office filed the request after the county sued the energy commission in Shasta County Superior Court in November, claiming it did not have the authority to consider for approval the proposed 4,500-acre project some 35 miles east of Redding.

State law requires the case be heard outside Shasta County because the energy commission, while a statewide agency, is based primarily in Sacramento, according to a court motion filed by Deputy Attorney General Matthew J. Goldman.

The Pit River Tribe, whose ancestral lands include the area where the wind turbines would be located, opposes the project and joined in the lawsuit against the state.

Goldman's request to move the case outside the county notes the proposed project met with significant opposition from residents and was rejected by the county Board of Supervisors.

"The petition (lawsuit) portrays the commission as an outsider that seeks to improperly meddle in the county's local prerogatives. The county's allegations reflect strong local hostility to the permit applicant, and opposition to the commission's jurisdiction, which, the county alleges, 'usurp local and judicial authority,'" Goldman said in court documents.

"Under these circumstances, the commission will likely be perceived as a distant sovereign opposing the interests of the local county and the tribe, allegedly serving the interests of the local residents, including members of the tribe," Goldman wrote in an argument for moving the case out of Shasta County to a neutral site.

After the county rejected the project, the California Legislature in 2022 approved AB 205 which allows the commission to consider approving the project. That means the state could overrule Shasta County's decision and approve the Fountain Wind project.

Texas-based ConnectGen wants to build up to 48 wind turbines on 4,500 acres in the Montgomery Creek-Round Mountain area, about 35 miles east of Redding. According to the company's website, the turbines would have the capacity to generate about 200 megawatts, enough to power about 80,000 homes.

In denying the project, county officials said the wind turbines would create a wildfire risk and harm cultural and tribal resources, tourism, the watershed, and mental and physical health.

The county has filed arguments with the court against the AG's office's request to move the case out of the county.

Because the lawsuit would be weighed by a judge, rather than a jury, prejudice against the project would not be an issue, according to the argument submitted to the court by Piero Dallarda, an attorney with Best Best and Krieger, the law firm hired by the county to represent it in the case.

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Moving the case outside the county would also make it difficult for members of the Pit River Tribe and other county residents to follow the case, Dallarda wrote.

"Finally, the CEC (commission) blithely assumes that the community in Shasta County and the tribe will not suffer any prejudice if the case is transferred outside Shasta County, which is wrong both factually and ethically," the argument says.

The county's attorney also proposed that rather than move the case outside the county, the court appoint a judge from outside Shasta County to hear the case at the courthouse in Redding.

A hearing on the issue is set for 9 a.m. Monday before Superior Court Judge Stephen Baker.

Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Why Calif. AG wants Fountain Wind lawsuit moved out of Shasta County