Organization Proposes 26,000 Acre Southern Wyoming Wind Turbine Project

PUBLIC SCOPING MEETINGS TO BE HELD ON THE RAIL TIE WIND PROJECT

Announced in a press release, Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) has scheduled two public scoping meetings on Jan. 14 in Laramie, Wyoming, to describe the proposed Rail Tie Wind Project.

The proposed project would be owned by ConnectGen. It would include up to 151 wind turbines with a generating capacity of up to 504 megawatts. A typical coal plant (according to the Union of Concerned Scientists) is 600 megawatts.

The wind project would be located on an approximately 26,000-acre site roughly centered on the town of Tie Siding and bisected by U.S. Highway 287.

WAPA seeks to identify the issues and environmental resources most important to the public and answer questions.

There will be a project presentation at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Public meeting details

• Date: Jan. 14
• Meeting 1: 9 a.m.-noon
• Meeting 2: 5-8 p.m.
• Location: Hilton Garden Inn Laramie
  2229 Grand Ave.
  Laramie, WY  82070

WAPA is evaluating an interconnection request submitted by ConnectGen Albany County LLC (ConnectGen) to connect the Rail Tie Wind Project to WAPA’s existing Ault-Craig 345-kilovolt line in Albany County, Wyoming.

Because this project involves an action by the federal government, WAPA will prepare an environmental impact statement for the interconnection request and proposed wind project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The public meetings constitute part of a 30-day scoping process that began with a notice of intent published Dec. 30 in the Federal Register and ends Jan. 31.

During the scoping process, the public, interested parties and other agencies are invited to provide input on which issues and resources are important and deserve greater analysis in the EIS and which are of lesser importance.

In addition to submitting comments at the public meetings, the public may also submit comments on the scope of the proposed project through Jan. 31 to the point of contact listed on the project website.

In addition to the turbines, the proposed project would include access roads, collection lines, substations, control buildings, meteorological towers and other related infrastructure. If WAPA decides to approve the interconnection request after the environmental process is complete, WAPA would construct, own, operate and maintain a connection with the existing transmission line and a switchyard to control power flow onto the existing line.

More information is available on WAPA’s project website.

Learn more about the NEPA process at the Department of Energy website.

Full links:

Notice of intent: https://www.wapa.gov/transmission/EnvironmentalReviewNEPA/Documents/rail-tie-notice-of-intent.pdf

Rail Tie Wind Project webpage: https://www.wapa.gov/transmission/EnvironmentalReviewNEPA/Pages/rail-tie-wind-project.aspx

NEPA process webpage: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/office-nepa-policy-and-compliance