Energy company pursues legal action following denial of Laramie Range Wind Project

CHEYENNE — The company seeking to build a large wind farm northwest of Cheyenne has asked a district court judge to review a September decision by county commissioners to reject its site plan.

ConnectGen Laramie County, an affiliate of project developer Repsol Renewables North America, filed a petition to the Laramie County District Court on Friday, asking a judge to review the commissioners’ decision.

Commissioners voted 3-1 on Sept. 16 to deny the proposed 170-turbine Laramie Range Wind Project, which would be located on more than 56,000 acres 20 miles northwest of Cheyenne. The decision came after almost four hours of public comment, during which community members expressed discontent with the project.

Reasons for denial

According to an undated resolution to deny the site plan signed by Commissioner Troy Thompson, who is the board’s vice chairman, the reasons for the denial include too many unanswered questions and incomplete responses regarding design, haul routes, the construction process and impact to surrounding public roads.

Other concerns cited include a lack of answers regarding the Laramie County Fire Authority’s request for a tanker truck to be used for fire mitigation, impacts regarding the Quebec 01 Missile Alert Facility State Historic Site and missing information about water well permits.

The resolution also states that when Repsol was asked about how officials may enforce any commitments made, the answers were “vague and unspecific.”

The court documents

According to its petition for review, ConnectGen submitted its site plan application on June 27. The plan is noted to have “demonstrated the project’s compliance with the standards for large wind energy systems, as required by the county’s 2022 land-use regulations,” which were the regulations in effect at the time of submission.

The court document also states that Thompson’s signed resolution to deny the site plan “does not include any findings of fact or conclusions of law.”

Additionally, ConnectGen asserts that the commissioners did not issue any opinion in the resolution, including whether the application met the standards of the 2022 land-use regulations, or conformed with Wyoming State Statute 18-5-507. The latter states that within 45 days of the date of completion of the public hearing required by W.S. 18-5-506, the county commissioners “shall make complete findings, issue an opinion and render a decision upon the record either granting or denying the application.”

The resolution was seemingly also not presented, read or passed in an open meeting, the company argues.

Lawsuit against ConnectGen

According to previous reporting by the Laramie Boomerang, this is not the first time ConnectGen has been involved with legal action regarding a wind farm.

ConnectGen officials made a presentation to the Albany County Board of Commissioners in July 2021 regarding the Rail Tie Wind Project, which is a 504-megawatt project with up to 149 turbines that will stretch across about 26,000 acres of land southeast of Albany.

The commissioners approved the project that same day, and the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council voted to issue a permit to ConnectGen to build the Rail Tie Wind Project, with more than a dozen conditions regarding traffic management and emergency services access.

Albany County residents strongly opposed the project, citing concerns with increased noise, light pollution, wildlife safety, resident safety and impact to the overall aesthetic of the area.

In 2022, county residents and landowners filed a case in Albany County District Court, but it was appealed after it ended in a ruling against the residents. In April of 2023, the case was taken to the Wyoming Supreme Court, which upheld the Albany County court’s decision.

Because of the legal pushback, ConnectGen’s construction start date was pushed from 2022 to 2024, and the wind farm is now set to be operational by 2026.

Public’s concerns

At the Sept. 16 meeting in Cheyenne, members of the public cited concerns with wildlife impact, noise, road usage and traffic, environmental impacts, emergency service accessibility and disruption to the site’s natural beauty.

Many community members referenced studies on how wind turbines can drive away and/or kill the local wildlife.

Ken and Jane Osborn, a ranching couple who live just east of the proposed project, both brought up issues with wildlife at the meeting.

Ken said he’s seen many animals flee toward the highway and end up getting hit by cars trying to escape the noise and vibrations caused by turbines.

Wendy Volk, another public commenter at the September meeting, said there has not been enough information presented to make a decision to approve the site plan.

“I think we need to know with the utmost confidence that you can look every voter in the eye and say, ‘As county commissioners, it was worth the risk we took,’” Volk said at the meeting.

The one “aye” vote

Thompson, who was acting chairman due to Chairman Gunnar Malm being absent, was the only one to vote in favor of the project at the Sept. 16 meeting.

Thompson had proposed amendments to the wind farm plan, which included a road-use agreement for all county roads that would be used in the project, installing aircraft lighting systems on top of all the turbines, having Repsol provide a 2,000-gallon fire truck to the Laramie County Fire Authority, installing a bird safety system on the turbines and going through the state engineer’s office for water usage permits.

The amendments failed with a 2-2 vote, and Thompson said he was “disappointed” in his fellow commissioners for not voting in favor.

Issues to be addressed by the judge

The court documents outline ConnectGen’s request for four specific issues to be addressed by District Judge Nathaniel Hibben, who is assigned to the case.

The first of these issues is whether the commissioners’ denial of the site plan should be held unlawful and set aside as arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law.

The second issue to be addressed is whether the commissioners’ denial exceeded statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations, and the third is whether the denial was made without observance of procedure required by law.

The fourth issue is whether the denial of the site plan is unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

No further information, such as a future court date or any other filings, has been specified.