Despite a drought in new wind development proposals over the last decade, about $8 billion could flow into ongoing wind energy projects in Wyoming, providing one possible solution to the state’s precarious revenue outlook.
Primarily located in the blustery prairie of Carbon and Converse counties, about a dozen wind projects in various stages of growth could unlock sizable economic returns and increase the state’s energy capacity some five times over. If the wind projects already in permitting or construction phases come to fruition, approximately $7.1 billion and 4,700 new jobs could result, according to the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy. That estimate excludes projects still in their planning stages.
“Wyoming has a really difficult economic development challenge ahead,” said Rob Godby, economist at the University of Wyoming. “We, like the rest of rural America, are looking for an economic base that can support and sustain us.”
Although a thriving wind market will likely never replace the colossal revenue stream coal once provided, it may be a critical part of the future, according to several energy experts. But myriad hurdles often stand between wind energy proposals and their actualization — from limited transmission line capacity and lawmakers’ ambivalence over taxation, to onerous permitting requirements in the state. This chapter in wind energy leaves Wyoming with a decision: to invest in wind or leave it to neighboring states, Godby noted.
“Wind is really the only sector that would provide significant economic diversification,” he said. “The capital investment in wind, while it’s not nearly the scale of the tax revenues we get from coal or oil and gas, are to the tune of multi-billions of dollars.”
‘Beautiful and majestic’
As a leading proponent of wind energy in Carbon County, Cindy Wallace knows not all her neighbors are supportive of increasing the state’s wind capacity. The executive director of the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation said the influx of some seven wind development proposals with a footprint in her county has already brought fruitful returns to the region.
“Wyoming has the wind, and when people think it hinders the landscape, that’s up to personal taste and personal opinion,” Wallace said. “I think they’re beautiful and majestic.”
According to the American Wind Energy Association, around 9 percent of the Wyoming’s electricity now comes from 1,003 wind turbines.
“With all the wind projects, if they all come online in seven years, I counted about 300 permanent jobs,” Wallace said. That doesn’t include the indirect jobs wind farms will also generate, she added.
If existing tax rates stay the same for wind over the next 20 years, current wind projects across Wyoming could rake in $750 million in local taxes and $70 million in school finance revenues for the state, according to a University of Wyoming study.
More wind projects are on the way. The Power Company of Wyoming is developing a massive wind farm south of Rawlins: the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project. Once completed, the facility is expected to provide 2,500 to 3,000 megawatts of energy, doubling the state’s wind energy production.
The wind farm has been in the works since 2008, with construction of crucial infrastructure, like turbine pads and roads well underway, according to a Power Company of Wyoming update released on July 23. A new transmission line, TransWest Express, will funnel energy to consumers throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
To Wallace, the economic payback for Rawlins in even preliminary wind development has been notable, not just from the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre project, but also other fledgling wind development projects.
“It’s really reviving life — especially in the northeast part of the county, like in Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain,” Wallace said. “Eventually, I hope Carbon County will be the wind energy capital of the country.”
To tax or not to tax?
Along with spurring job growth, wind energy can boost local economies in rural America, proponents of wind development say. But some economists said the state’s stringent regulations and unusual taxes may be stymieing fuller wind development.
In Wyoming, once wind facilities have been up and running for three years, companies must pay a $1 per megawatt wind generation tax, in addition to sales and property taxes. The state has a $1 per megawatt hour tax, and several energy experts have said the tax has stifled wind development. Layered on top of these taxes, wind developers must go through a web of permits on the county, state and federal level before beginning construction of wind turbines.
“The permitting process has been egregious,” said Jonathan Naughton, engineer and director of the Wind Energy Research Center. “For Wyoming specifically, it certainly hinders projects. Other states have proceeded to build wind energy much more than Wyoming has.”
With coal’s decline, some Wyoming legislators, including Revenue Committee co-chair Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, have sought to institute additional taxes on the wind industry.
Raising the tax to $4 would bring the state an additional $1.4 billion. But that assumes the higher costs do not repel developers, the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy found. To advocates of a wind tax, that additional revenue is critical, comparing it to the severance taxes placed on oil and gas companies.
But to Naughton, even the perennial discussion of a possible wind tax brews enough uncertainty to deter investment in the state.
“Wyoming has always had the attitude that our wind is so good, but if we make it hard for people to build here and if it’s too tough to build, it will be built elsewhere,” Naughton said. “If we are not proactive, development will go other places.”
Wyoming ranks fourth when it comes to the lowest cost for wind development in the West, trailing behind New Mexico, Montana and Colorado, according to the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy. Researchers estimated wind development in Wyoming costs about 10 percent more than in New Mexico.
Tantalizing technology
Yet the current wind generation tax has not deterred the state’s largest utility company from proposing a $2.6 billion investment in wind farms and transmission lines throughout the state.
Utility companies saddled with the mandate to keep electricity prices low for consumers have been attracted to the increasing cost effectiveness of wind energy, Naughton said.
PacifiCorp announced Tuesday it would fully acquire the state’s first wind facility, as part of its plan to increase the site’s power capacity by 60 percent. The 69 turbines built in 1998 will eventually be whittled down to a mere dozen — albeit hundreds of feet taller and styled with new nacelles, towers and blades.
Wind generation costs have dropped by nearly 70 percent in the past decade, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The cost savings come largely from the development of more efficient wind turbines, which often tower hundreds of feet taller than their predecessors. PacifiCorp purchases electricity from six wind facilities and also runs nine of its own wind farms throughout Wyoming.
“The strength of the U.S. economy has not been in Western rural developments, it has been in newly urban centers,” Godby, the UW economist said. “It’s sort of a wild ride for the state; we absolutely need to diversify.”
Wind Farm

Turbines stand out from the landscape Monday, July 2, 2012 at a wind farm in Shirley Basin.
Wind Farm

Turbines are silhouetted by the setting sun July 2, 2012 at a wind farm in Shirley Basin.
Wind Technicians

Rocky Mountain Power wind turbines stretch toward the horizon in Shirley Basin near Medicine Bow. PacifiCorp, the parent company of Rocky Mountain Power, has committed to a $2 billion investment in new Wyoming wind and transmission in the next few years.
Wind Power

Turbines in Duke Energy's Top of the World wind project in Converse County northeast of Glenrock, Friday, March 16, 2018.
Wind Technicians

Wind tech Jesse Green begins the 200-foot climb to the top of a turbine at a Rocky Mountain Power wind project near Medicine Bow recently. Goldwind Works, a wind technology firm, is hosting free introductory classes for potential wind techs at Casper College in October.
Starry Night

The stars and the faint arm of the Milky Way can be seen over a wind farm just north of Medicine Bow on January 3, just before moonrise. The glow along the horizon is light from Casper, more than 80 miles away.
Wind Farm

Turbines in Chevron Global Power Co.’s wind farm dot the horizon near Evansville in October 2009. Efforts to speed up permitting of Wyoming wind farms and transmission line projects are paying off, government officials and developers say.
Wind Farm

A truck travels along Wyoming 487 toward a group of turbines Monday, July 2, 2012 in Shirley Basin.
Chevron Wind Farm

A turbine at the Chevron wind farm just north of Evansville is shown in this 2013 file photo.
Wind Farm

Turbines stand out from the landscape Monday, July 2, 2012 at a wind farm in Shirley Basin.
Glenrock Reclamation

Wind turbines spin Tuesday on land once mined for coal in Glenrock. The Dave Johnston Mine site recently exited a lengthy reclamation process and has been repurposed by Rocky Mountain Power into wind farms.
Wind Turbines

The Dunlap Ranch Wind Farm turbines continue spinning as the sun slowly sets Jan. 22 in the Shirley Basin.
Wind Turbines

The Dunlap Ranch Wind Farm turbines continuing spinning as the sun slowly sets on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in the Shirley Basin.
Wind Turbines

The Dunlap Ranch Wind Farm turbines continue spinning as the sun slowly sets in January in the Shirley Basin.
Wind Technicians

Rocky Mountain Power wind turbines are pictured June 28 near Medicine Bow. If the several wind proposed Wyoming wind projects are completed, the state’s wind production would double in a matter of years.
Wind Technicians

Wind tech Jesse Green carries equipment through the access door to a turbine June 28 at a Rocky Mountain Power wind project near Medicine Bow. The wind technicians, who work for contractor UpWind Solutions, complete the majority of scheduled maintenance in the summer months to avoid shutting down turbines during the high winds of winter.
Wind Technicians

A network of access roads lead to Rocky Mountain Power wind turbines in June near Medicine Bow. A pending increase in wind development in Wyoming has some concerned about federal laws that encourage small projects.
Wind

An antelope stands on the prairie against the backdrop of a Rocky Mountain Power wind farm near Medicine Bow. More wind projects are proposed for the area.
Wind Technicians

A Rocky Mountain Power wind turbine pictured Wednesday, June 28, 2017 near Medicine Bow. A pending build out of new wind in Wyoming has some pushing for changes to federal laws that allow small firms to develop wind power whether its needed on the grid or not.
Wind Technicians

The access door to a turbine pictured Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at a Rocky Mountain Power wind project near Medicine Bow.
Wind Technicians

Brian Hail, left and Jesse Green get ready to climb a wind turbine Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at a Rocky Mountain Power wind project near Medicine Bow. Wind technicians wear full-body safety harnesses and carry 100-meter ropes in case they need to make an emergency rappel off the top of the tower.
Wind Power

Turbines in Duke Energy's Top of the World wind project pictured March 16 in Converse County, northeast of Glenrock.
Wind Power

Turbines in Duke Energy's Top of the World wind project in Converse County northeast of Glenrock, Friday, March 16, 2018.
Wind Power

Turbines in Duke Energy's Top of the World wind project in Converse County northeast of Glenrock. A new report showed as surrounding states have increased their use of wind power since 2011, Wyoming has decreased slightly.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

The Power Company of Wyoming plans to build 1,000 turbines at the Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind farm near Rawlins, which would double the number of turbines in the state.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

An environmental contractor's pickup travels along a newly-built road Monday, May 7, 2018 at the future site of the Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind farm near Rawlins. The Power Company of Wyoming spent 10 years securing the permits needed to start construction.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

The Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind farm near Rawlins is seen in May of 2018. Carbon county commissioners have said that applications for two wind farms are incomplete.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

Bill Miller, president of the Power Company of Wyoming, talks about progress on the Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind project on May 7 at the site near Rawlins. The project as proposed would be the largest onshore wind farm in the United States.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

The Power Company of Wyoming has constructed about 40 miles of roads to service the future Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind farm near Rawlins.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

A two-track ranch road crisscrosses the site of the Overland Trail Ranch near Rawlins, where the Power Company of Wyoming so far has constructed about 40 miles of roads to service the future Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind farm.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

Bill Miller, president of the Power Company of Wyoming, looks over a map of Chokecherry Sierra Madre turbine sites Monday, May 7, 2018 on the Overland Trail Ranch near Rawlins.
Chokecherry Sierra Madre

A bulldozer sits near the end of a road currently under construction Monday, May 7, 2018 at the Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind project near Rawlins. The Power Company of Wyoming is currently focused on building infrastructure to service the 1,000-turbine wind farm.
Wind Energy Eagles

Wind turbines pictured Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 at PacifiCorp's multi-project wind development near Rolling Hills in Converse County. Black Hills Energy is proposing new renewable energy options for Cheyenne customers and seeking approval for a 40-megawatt wind facility west of the city.
Wind Energy Eagles

Wind turbines are shown Nov. 15 at PacifiCorp's multi-project wind development near Rolling Hills in Converse County. Albany County will likely need to return roughly $600,000 that it was scheduled to receive from the Boswell Springs project in the northwest part of the county.
Wind Energy Eagles

Jason Martin, a biologist with environmental contractor West Inc., scans the horizon for golden eagles Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 at PacifiCorp's multi-project wind development near Rolling Hills in Converse County. Biologists stationed in one of two watch towers on the property have the ability to quickly shut down turbines when an eagle is in the area.
Wind Energy Eagles

One of PacifiCorp's two eagle watch towers pictured Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 the company's wind energy development near Rolling Hills. From roughly October through March, when migratory golden eagles make the area their winter home, biologists monitor the birds and can shut down turbines to avoid strikes.
Wind Energy Eagles

A biologist from West Inc., which provides environmental contracting services for PacifiCorp, walks a grid Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 while looking for carcasses of birds that may have hit a turbine at the company's multi-project wind development near Rolling Hills in Converse County.
Wind Energy Eagles

Jason Martin, a biologist with environmental contractor West Inc., scans the horizon for golden eagles Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 at PacifiCorp's multi-project wind development near Rolling Hills in Converse County. Biologists stationed in one of two watch towers on the property have the ability to quickly shut down turbines when an eagle is in the area.