Washington Governor Jay Inslee visited Goldendale October 24. He joined with State Representative Gina Mosbrucker in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Klickitat Valley Health, where the hospital was dedicating a first-in-the-nation fuel cell power generator. It runs on hydrogen and the only thing it generates is heat and water vapor. The governor praised Goldendale, saying the town was “leading the state and the nation in a first-of-a-kind renewable source, which is hydrogen, which does not pollute…Isn’t it kind of cool that Goldendale is the most innovative place in the state of Washington this morning?” (Applause )
“When we’re all done,” said Former Goldendale Mayor and longtime member of the KVH board Mark Sigfrinius, “it will also power the grade school, the middle school and the high school…and it will make us a total emergency center in case there’s any kind of a tragedy.”
The fuel cell provides the hospital with its own source of power and upgrades a heating system that dates from the 1940s.