May 31, 2013 – Field work is in full swing this season on the Overland Trail Ranch, home of Power Company of Wyoming LLC’s proposed Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project.

Following the release of the BLM’s Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision last year, PCW is now preparing its site-specific plans for the wind project’s construction, including working to microsite up to 1,000 wind turbines within the areas approved for wind energy development. All plans will be reviewed by BLM to ensure they tier to and comply with the project-wide analysis described in the ROD.

The science and engineering behind this micrositing work was profiled in the Casper Star-Tribune’s May 28 issue of Energy Journal, “Intensive work begins on Wyoming wind power mega-project.” In addition, the article outlines other project elements such as access roads and a rail facility; the extensive wind testing and monitoring program validating the ranch’s excellent wind resource; and the project’s relatively small footprint compared to other major energy developments proposed in Wyoming.

The complete series of Energy Journal articles focused on wind energy and transmission development in Wyoming can be found at http://trib.com/business/energy/.

Two other articles this week also focused on renewable energy and transmission in the western U.S.:

• May 28, “Wyoming makes power play” (subscriber access only): The Wall Street Journal highlights some of the benefits of using Wyoming’s high-capacity wind energy resources to complement California’s renewables, providing geographic diversity that helps Californians not only save money but also achieve their GHG emissions reduction goals.
• May 27, “Haywired” (subscriber access only): In an in-depth cover story, High Country News profiled the complexities of the western power grid, as well as how more connectivity between geographically diverse renewable resources can help smooth operations as the grid grows “greener.” According to one of the region’s energy experts quoted in the article, “The West is very diverse, and that’s a good thing. You want plants all over the place, because the wind’s always blowing somewhere.”

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