[CAUTION - EXTERNAL EMAIL - Verify Sender] Hi Alex, Happy New Year – hope you are doing well! I wanted to follow up on a project you and John had about the Big Rock Project in Spokane County that Apricus Energy Partners is working on for hydrogen production. As John mentioned, there would be a data center attached to the project to help offset cost associated with building out the hydrogen production facility. One issue we’re running into is that while there are datacenter tax incentives in other areas of the state, there are six counties who do not see those incentives and Spokane County is one of them. In order to keep this project moving forward, we’re working on seeing if we can get an exemption for Spokane just like the majority of the rest of the state has. As you know, not only will this project bring green energy to the region but it will make critical and substantial upgrades to the current infrastructure in Spokane County which will benefit the entire region for years to come. I’ll keep you posted on how this is going but would love any support the city and Mayor can lend in order to get this over the finish line. We have some momentum that I can keep you updated on but would be incredibly grateful for any other support that might be possible. Below is an overview of the project as well as some back story on the incentives – timeline, etc. Again, let me know if you have any questions but wanted to get you this information. Truly appreciate your support and work and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything at all. Thanks, Kyla Shkerich Blair -- The Big Rock Project is a shovel-ready, integrated clean-energy and digital-infrastructure campus in Spokane County designed to deliver reliable power for hyperscale data centers, strengthen grid resiliency, and drive long-term economic growth for Eastern Washington. We’re developing a one-gigawatt data center campus co-located with on-site power generation and a green hydrogen facility on a 759-acre, fully entitled industrial site adjacent to I-90. By sharing power, water, transmission, and fiber infrastructure, we significantly reduce capital costs, permitting risk, and environmental impact compared to standalone projects. The project will require Avista Utilities and Inland Power & Light to build over $200M in power infrastructure that will support the power load of the Big Rock project as well as future economic development in the West Plains for the next 50 years. A key differentiator is our partnership with the Kalispel Tribe to provide sovereign power generation for the data center and regional grid support. This adds a layer of resilience and reliability that traditional utility-only structures cannot provide, while advancing Tribal economic participation and energy sovereignty. Washington State has successfully attracted data centers through targeted sales-and-use tax exemptions, but today Spokane County does not qualify for those incentives, despite having the land, transmission access, workforce, and utility capacity to support projects of this scale. Without inclusion, Spokane is placed at a competitive disadvantage relative to Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. At the same time, the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub recently lost its DOE funding, slowing regional hydrogen deployment. That makes privately financed, infrastructure-efficient projects like Big Rock even more important. By integrating hydrogen directly with the data center, we create on-site offtake, eliminate diesel backup, and deliver long-duration, zero-emission resiliency aligned with Washington’s climate goals. Big Rock is ready to move now. We’re seeking policy and legislative support to expand Washington’s data-center tax incentives to include Spokane, unlocking thousands of prevailing-wage jobs, long-term tax base growth, and a resilient, sovereign-supported infrastructure platform for the region. Background on incentives: The original data center tax incentives were passed in 2010 (SB 6789) for rural counties only and the really only stipulation around the incentives was job creation. In 2015 that was extended but not expanded – this was part of a larger technology tax incentive package. In 2022, the incentive was extended again and expanded to “nonrural counties” (HB 1846). However, the definition of “nonrural” was counties with a population of over 800k (Pierce, Snohomish and King). This left out six counties in the state, one of which being Spokane making investors interest difficult in the only six counties who do not have the incentive. While we’re focused on Spokane – the other counties are Thurston, Kitsap, Benton, Whatcom, and Clark. Kyla Shkerich Blair Principal Capitol Path Consulting 425-891-5519 Kyla@thecapitolpath.com