Washington County adopts fees for energy and major development projects
The schedule sets a $5,000 application fee, a $20,000 permit fee, a $3,500 publication fee and two charges of 1.5% of project costs.
Washington County commissioners adopted a fee schedule Sept. 1 for nine categories of energy, utility and major-development projects. The schedule took effect immediately under Resolution 48-2026.
The schedule applies to wind and solar facilities; private-use and other transmission lines; water-storage facilities; public-utility facilities subject to the county’s 1041 regulations; carbon-capture facilities; recreational-vehicle parks; and battery energy-storage systems.
Applicants must pay $5,000 when they file an application and $20,000 upon final approval. The schedule also sets a $3,500 publication fee and two charges equal to 1.5% of the project’s total cost. It does not specify when the publication fee or percentage-based charges are due. Applicants remain responsible for posting signs, subject to county approval.
A project charged all three fixed fees would pay $28,500 before the percentage-based charges. For a $10 million project, the two percentage-based charges would total $300,000.
The new schedule replaces or updates the county’s previous Use by Special Review fee schedule, approved May 29, 2025. The earlier schedule listed the same fixed fees and two 1.5% charges but did not specifically enumerate the facility categories.
Resolution 48-2026 calls the percentage-based charges an “impact fee” and a “special use tax” but does not explain how they differ. It says the fees are reasonable and do not exceed — or are directly proportional to — the county’s actual and necessary costs for processing applications or providing services.