Former Air Force Base May Host Big Wyoming Windfarm

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Following the Biblical injunction to "beat swords into plowshares," the Cheyenne, Wyoming, city council is considering plans to build a 300-megawatt (MW) windfarm on land that used to be a U.S. Air Force missile base. The $750 million Cheyenne Project windfarm was formally presented to Cheyenne city councilors on December 7 by The Morley Company (Jackson Hole, Wyoming), which has developed several large-scale wind projects in the Western U.S.

If the 130-turbine Cheyenne Project moves forward, it would give a needed boost to Wyoming's renewable Power Industry. The state has high-quality wind resources and a lot of rural, undeveloped land--both important characteristics for siting large-scale windfarms. Nearby states like California and Colorado have aggressive renewable portfolio standards (RPS) mandating up to one-third of electricity be produced from renewable resources by 2020. The state also has about six high-voltage transmission projects under development to export wind-generated electricity to those nearby state markets.

But the national slowdown in wind power has affected Wyoming's wind power industry. A planned $40 million wind tower manufacturing facility scheduled to be built near Cheyenne has been deferred to 2012. Observers say uncertainty over renewal of the federal production tax credits (PTCs) caused co-owner Worthington Industries Incorporated (NYSE:WOR) (Columbus, Ohio) to delay building the plant. The federal PTCs for wind power projects expire at the end of 2012.

Bruce Morley, chief executive of The Morley Company, told Industrial Info that the proposed 750-MW Cheyenne Project windfarm is large enough that it could cause a wind turbine maker to site a manufacturing site near Cheyenne. He declined to identify the blade-making firms that have expressed interest in building a manufacturing facility near Cheyenne. Building a blade-making plant near the windfarm would lower the transportation and logistical costs of bringing the blades to the site from a remote manufacturing site.

Morley acknowledged that the Cheyenne Project, and any linked wind turbine manufacturing plant, depended on congressional reauthorization of PTCs. "Today, no wind project in the U.S. is viable without PTCs," he said in an interview. "If Congress doesn't extend the PTCs, renewable power in the U.S. is dead. We will have lost out to China and Germany. Those countries are pressing the 'fast forward' button on renewable energy. If Congress doesn't act, it will, in effect, be pressing the 'rewind' button."

Speaking about the Cheyenne Project, Morley said, "We're at the beginning stages. We're still providing information to the city council. But I'm confident we will be conducting avian studies of the project area next spring. In an ideal world, construction could begin in about three years, and we'd be operating one year after that."

Morley wants to build the Cheyenne Project on land that was part of the U.S. Air Force's Atlas D Missile Site 4, which has been closed since the mid-1960s. "It's the best site for this project. It's a nice irony that it used to be a military base," he said, adding that there were no special incentives that caused him to propose siting the windfarm on a former military base.

In his early-December pitch to the Cheyenne City Council, Morley extolled the financial benefits the 130-turbine windfarm would bring to the local economy. The city of Cheyenne would receive a minimum of $72 million in direct royalty payments over the approximate 30-year life of the project, plus a substantial increase in the county's tax base. The financial benefits would also swell if the wind turbine manufacturing plant were built.

In a statement, Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen said, "The potential of the wind power project combined with the blade factory is of significant importance for Cheyenne and Wyoming. Individually, each project has its own strengths, and combined the projects certainly complement one another."

Morley added that Cheyenne would not be required to take any financial risk, as he is negotiating for project funding with global financial institutions based in Europe. "There has been keen interest in this project from major international financial institutions with whom we have conducted business in the past," he said, though he said it would be premature to name the institutions.

The project's low risk was music to the Cheyenne mayor's ears: "When you consider there is no investment by the City and no financial risk, (this project) certainly provides distinct benefits for the City," Kaysen said.

The Morley CEO noted that six major transmission projects have been proposed to better connect Wyoming to electric markets in California, Colorado, the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest. He told Industrial Info the Cheyenne Project likely would have to build a radial line to connect with one of the planned high-voltage transmission lines being developed.

The federal government has fast-tracked two planned interstate high-voltage transmission lines between Wyoming and other states: the Gateway West and the Rawlins Trans West Express projects. For more on that federal fast-track efforts, see October 19, 2011, article - Controversy Surrounds Obama Administration's Fast-Tracked Transmission Projects.

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