GREEN RIVER - There's a small energy boom blowing in southwest Wyoming, literally.

A Utah-based engineering company has one project ongoing in Uinta County and another planned for Sweetwater County that aims to tap into some of the region's seemingly endless wind power, according to officials involved in the projects.

Tasco Engineering Inc. and partner Teton Power LLC received Sweetwater County Commission approval last week to build a $100 million, 36-turbine wind farm on private land between Rock Springs and Green River.

The proposed site lies near the scenic Pilot Butte landmark and near the county's recently completed Wild Horse Loop Tour along the rim of White Mountain. The project marks the county's first foray into wind energy production.

Tasco is also involved with Mountain Wind Power in the construction of an up to 25-turbine project near Bridger Butte in eastern Uinta County, and at another site southwest of the butte in the same area.

As in many Western states, southwest Wyoming's wind resource is vast, and the wind farm operator believe there is adequate wind for commercial power production.

"There's a tremendous wind resource in southwest Wyoming," Tasco President Gary Tassainer told commissioners during a hearing on the company's conditional use permit application for the wind farm.

"The first thing we looked for was not just a casual wind, but a miserable wind … I'm talking about the kind that blows your hat off - that's what we were looking for … and White Mountain has got it," Tassainer said.

Tassainer said pending federal approval of the project, construction could begin as early as 2009 or 2010.

The Sweetwater County wind farm and the two new operations in eastern Uinta County would be in addition to Wyoming's largest wind farm, a $150 million, 144-megawatt project that went online in June 2004 near Evanston. FPL Energy Inc. and Florida Power Inc.'s Wyoming Wind Energy Center includes 80 wind turbines that are capable of generating enough electricity to power 43,000 homes.

Few places visible

Improved technology and increasing demand for power generation have raised interest across the nation in wind energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Wyoming's industry has a leg up on many other states, and over the past few years there have been several projects proposed for the state's wind-swept prairies.

On a typical wind farm, wind power is converted to electricity by huge wind turbines. The turbines come in a variety of sizes depending on the use of the electricity.

Tasco received a conditional use permit from Sweetwater County officials to construct wind energy operation on White Mountain on private lands owned by the Rock Springs Grazing Association. The project is a scaled-down version of an earlier proposal by Tasco and Teton Power that sought permitting for 133 wind turbines atop White Mountain.

Plans this time call for building all 36 of the 1.5- to 2.5-megawatt turbines during a single phase of construction. Tassainer said the company anticipates the life of the project will be from 20 to 25 years.

He anticipated upwards of 100 workers will be needed for the project's construction. Once it's completed, eight to 12 people will be hired permanently to operate the wind farm.

The turbines will stand 212 feet high and will have a total height of 328 feet at the top of the rotor's diameter, according to county studies.

The turbines will be placed about a mile from Pilot Butte and away from the rim of White Mountain, which means "there will be very few places in Green River and Rock Springs where the turbines will be visible," Tassainer said.

County planning officials said the turbines will be most visible from the Farson/Eden area north of Rock Springs and from the Firehole turnout along U.S. Highway 191 south of Rock Springs.

Teton Wind is negotiating a contract with PacifiCorp for the sale of the power generated. Officials said the power generated most likely will be used in California or in the Salt Lake City area.

Plans call for moving the produced electricity through an existing 230-kilovolt power line that runs along the top of White Mountain. A substation, underground power collection system and an operations building will be constructed as part of the project.

Nature retreat

Rock Springs Grazing Association spokesman John Hay said the association and company hope the project can use some of southwest Wyoming's renowned wind to produce a much-needed alternative energy source.

"When all this is finished, it should be something we can all be proud of," Hay told commissioners. "This is good economic development, and maybe we can finally get some benefit from that rim up there."

Some area residents, however, questioned the placement of the wind turbines at a location so close to Pilot Butte and the recently constructed Wild Horse Loop Tour that runs along the top of White Mountain from Green River to Rock Springs.

Rock Springs resident Craig Palmer said for many residents, White Mountain provides a convenient, "quick access to a nature retreat and for recreation … and if permitted, this project will destroy this resource that we're enjoying now."

"Wyoming's a really big state, and there's a lot of places to put wind farms in other than our back door," he said.

Chris Plant, an instructor at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, said he often takes his students on top of the local landmark Pilot Butte when there's a full moon. "The view from there is incomparable … How much more are we going to sacrifice for corporate (profit)?" he asked.

Commission Chairman Wally Johnson said he also enjoys hiking and walking along White Mountain. "The only negative I see is the viewship … but I think (wind energy) is an essential, renewable source of energy our nation needs badly."

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.