BLM issues key approval for massive Wyoming wind farm
The largest onshore wind farm in development in the U.S. received two critical approvals from federal regulators last week, moves which could allow the first turbines to be constructed as early as next year.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency of the Department of Interior (DOI), approved the first 500-turbine phase of the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind project, a 1,000-turbine wind farm to be located south of Sinclair and Rawlins in Carbon County, Wyoming. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), also under the DOI, indicated they too would approve permits allowing a limited number of wildlife to be disturbed or killed during construction and initial operation.
The approvals mean that, after a decade of government review, the first turbines could be constructed as soon as next year, according to officials at Power Company of Wyoming (PCW), which is developing the project.
BLM issued an environmental assessment of the project in March of last year, which incorporates and builds on an analysis undertaken in a 2012 environmental impact statement. After allowing for public comment, the BLM issued a record of decision and finding of no new significant impact.
About half of the 220,000 acres associated with the project are administered by the BLM, while the rest is owned privately or by the state. The project is expected to generate up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power nearly 1 million homes.
“This is a very good project for the state of Wyoming and for the West in general,” said BLM spokesman Brad Purdy, to K2 Radio. “I think it goes to show that Wyoming is a leader nationally as far as energy production goes.”
The FWS approval, which includes an Eagle Take Permit for PCW, allows for the site to kill an estimated 10 to 14 eagles per year. BLM and FWS both determined that the first 500 turbines would create negligible environmental impacts, and would turn out as a net-positive for the eagle species which had threatened the proposed site.
“We can develop our nation’s wind resources in a way that conserves our extraordinary wildlife resources,” said FWS Mountain-Prairie Regional Director Noreen Walsh.
Development of renewable energy projects in Wyoming was subject to controversy recently, after Republican lawmakers in the state legislature introduced a bill that would essentially ban utility scale wind and solar projects. The bill, sponsored by lawmakers from Wyoming’s top coal-producing counties, would require utilities to use “eligible resources” to meet 95 percent of Wyoming’s electricity needs in 2018, and all of its energy needs in 2019.
“Eligible resources” are defined solely as coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, and individual net metering. The latter includes rooftop solar and localized wind installations. Utility-scale wind and solar projects are not included in the bill, which would make their use illegal by Wyoming utilities in any way if the legislation passes.
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