Leading up to the financial credit crisis, there was competition for a $3 billion high-tech conduit from Wyoming to the Oregon coast - a link critical to maintaining the state's growth in natural gas development.

Also in the works are two separate high-voltage power line proposals to connect Wyoming to Idaho and California, at $3 billion each. A $1.35 billion power plant is under construction north of Gillette and another billion-dollar plant is planned near Wright.

For years, Rawlins and several small communities in Carbon County have been counting on the arrival of a $2 billion coal-to-liquids refinery near Medicine Bow.

Economists say whether big projects such as these will survive the current financial crisis depends on two things: How much credit versus existing capital is needed to pay for the project, and how good is the project plan?

David Siever, of Capital Technology, Inc., said until about two weeks ago finance service giants such as Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Credit Suisse were all in agreement that a good project with long-term fuel contracts and customer contracts in place were financially sound.

But some proposals could suffocate in the credit market squeeze.

"For well-structured projects the money is still there," Siever said. "There is still a flight to quality."

El Paso, the company behind the Wyoming-to-Oregon Ruby Pipeline, intends to move forward with its $3 billion project, according to company officials.

"We feel we can weather these uncertain times. We don't expect them to last forever. We have additional cash on hand and other forms of liquidity to meet our (expenses)," said Robert Newberry, spokesman for Ruby Pipeline LLC.

Newberry said the company already has shippers lined up for the pipeline. It also has a $450 million letter of credit to purchase pipe.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative backed off a U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development loan about a year ago after pressure from environmental groups that didn't want the program to fund coal-fired power plants. But because of its prime credit rating, Basin Electric easily found funding on the open market for its $1.35 billion Dry Fork Station plant now under construction north of Gillette.

This summer, the $3 billion TransWest Express project to string 900 miles of high-voltage transmission from Wyoming to California was taken over by Anschutz Corp., backed by tycoon Phil Anschutz. At the same time, Anschutz announced one of the biggest wind energy projects in the United States: The Chokecherry and Sierre Madre wind farms will crank out a maximum 2,000 megawatts from 1,000 new wind turbines in south-central Wyoming to tie into the TranWest Express transmission line.

"Between Warren Buffet and Anschutz and T. Boone Pickens, those guys don't need capital infusions to make investments," said Steve Waddington, outgoing executive director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority.

The immediate future for energy developers without deep pockets is still unclear. North American Power Group Ltd, which has tried for 10 years to build a coal-fired power plant in Campbell County, has a long history of ups and downs in trying to secure financing.

A spokesman for the Two Elk project could not be reached Friday.

For years, Wyoming officials have urged private enterprise to expand the electrical grid system in the West. Waddington said finance companies have insisted on solid, credit-worthy players to get into capital-intensive industry.

Just this summer, GreenHunter Wind Co., LLC, and Duke Energy Ohio, Inc. passed thorough credit checks and were successful bidders in an auction to sell transmission capacity on the proposed Wyoming-Colorado Intertie transmission line. Together, the companies have tentatively committed to ship a total 585 megawatts of power near Chugwater to ship on the line to customers in Colorado.

However, the credit crisis could make it more difficult for some advanced technologies, such as coal-gasification.

An integrated gasification combined cycle plant (IGCC), for instance, is a multi-billion-dollar endeavor. Siever said some banks have reacted to the credit crisis by committing to smaller dollar amounts. Whereas a big bank might have committed $1 billion toward a coal-gasification project, today might only go as high as $400 million.

"That definitely would impact large projects of all kinds. But that's not to say it's insurmountable," said Siever. "The bright spot for any of these energy sources is that energy is the one area of economy, I think, that is going to get pulled to the forefront. We have to have cheap energy to keep the economy going."

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffertrib.com.