Despite county denial, energy developer turns to state permit for Laramie Range Wind Project

CHEYENNE — The company seeking to build a large wind farm northwest of Cheyenne has distributed a letter to local agencies and nearby property owners describing its intention to submit an application to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Industrial Siting Council (ISC) to permit the project on private and state lands.

The letter, which was sent Jan. 16, follows the Laramie County Board of Commissioners’ denial of the project’s site plan in September, and the company’s filing of a petition to a district court judge in November to review the commissioners’ decision.

The proposed wind farm is headed by ConnectGen Laramie County, an affiliate of project developer Repsol Renewables North America.

The Jan. 16 letter

Wendy Volk, a Cheyenne resident and landowner near the proposed wind farm property, sent an email to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Saturday that included a copy of the letter, and a statement that the letter does not acknowledge the commissioners’ denial of the site plan after months of review, public testimony and agency input.

“Rather than address that denial, the applicant appears to be operating under the assumption that a district court will overturn the county’s decision,” Volk wrote in the email. “That assumption is premature — and it underscores a deeper problem with how industrial wind development is advancing across Wyoming. Local decisions are being treated as temporary obstacles, not governing authority.”

The letter also breaks down changes being made to the wind farm, such as the number of turbines, size of the project boundary, a change in construction routes and more.

Initially, the wind farm was proposed to entail 170 turbines installed on more than 56,000 acres of unincorporated Laramie County land 20 miles northwest of Cheyenne.

However, in ConnectGen’s letter, Laramie Range Wind Development Manager Charlie Banke wrote that the project is now proposed to be 139 turbines on 41,220 acres of private ranch land and land managed by the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments roughly 20 miles northwest of Cheyenne.

The plan entails interconnecting to the existing transmission system of the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association through the Ault-to-Laramie River 345-kilovolt transmission line, which runs along the eastern edge of the project area, according to the letter.

The letter states that the wind farm will be built in two phases totaling 650 megawatts, with the first phase consisting of 400 megawatts, and the second phase adding the remaining 250 megawatts.

“Initial construction activities may start as early as 2026, with both phases operational by the end of 2029,” the letter reads. “If construction begins in 2027, it will run during these periods: May-November 2027, April-November 2028 and March-November 2029.”

As for construction routes, the developer’s original plan was to use Horse Creek Road (Wyoming Highway 211) to its intersection with Hirsig Road (County Road 237), and potentially via a proposed new private access road constructed off of WY 211.

But now, the letter states the developer is no longer considering the use of WY 211 for delivery of turbine components or other large project infrastructure.

It states that while final site access is still being determined, the developer anticipates that “the transportation routes for construction materials will utilize a subset of the same network of roads, with delivery of turbine components via truck along I-25 North to the Bear Creek Road exit.”

The commissioners’ denial

On Sept. 16, the Laramie County Board of County Commissioners voted 3-1 to reject the Laramie Range Wind Project site plan following more than three hours of public comment.

Reasons for the denial include ConnectGen’s “incomplete and perfunctory” responses to questions regarding project design, construction routes and impact to public roads; impact to the Quebec-01 Missile Alert Facility State Historic Site; missing information regarding water well permits; whether an agreement with Wyoming Game and Fish had been finalized; impact on wildlife and more.

Commissioner Troy Thompson was the only board member to vote in favor of the site plan. He stated during the Sept. 16 meeting that making decisions like this is a disservice to those who elected the commissioners, and that he was disappointed in his colleagues.

ConnectGen’s petition for review

According to ConnectGen’s petition for review that was filed Nov. 7 in Laramie County District Court, the company asserts that its site plan application, which was first submitted on June 27, “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 the resolution to deny the site plan, signed by Thompson in his role as vice chairman, “does not include any findings of fact or conclusions of law.”

Additionally, ConnectGen states in the petition 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.

At the time of publication, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle could not find evidence that a judge had come to a conclusion regarding ConnectGen’s petition.

ConnectGen’s ISC permit application

In its letter, ConnectGen notified recipients of its intent to submit an application to ISC to permit the wind farm on private and state lands.

The letter states the application is set to be submitted in the first quarter of 2026.

According to the ISC website, the council has a statutory requirement of 165 days to approve or deny a permit application. Over the 165 days, the council and applicant have to complete four steps.

First, ConnectGen has to submit the application, and the 165-day period will begin. Ten days after receiving the application, ISC will give public notice that the application was submitted.

Twenty days after public notice, ISC will perform a completeness review of the application and will notify the applicant of any deficiencies. After 120 days have passed since submission, ISC will hold a hearing with ConnectGen before deciding whether to approve the permit.

Following the hearing, ISC has 45 days to make a final decision.

Keith Guille, DEQ outreach manager, told the WTE on Thursday that if ISC approves the permit, there will still be local conditions ConnectGen has to meet, such as county requirements regarding permits and studies, before construction of the wind farm can begin.

Additionally, Guille said the county commissioners denying the wind farm site plan does not mean ConnectGen cannot move forward with other permits not directly related to the county while the company waits for a decision regarding their litigation.

“Typically industrial siting used to be the last process that people went through,” Guille said. “They would go and get all of these other permits, requirements, authorizations done, and then they would come to an industrial siting (meeting). We have seen that, in more recent years, they have been sometimes coming to us a little earlier.”

In an interview with WTE Thursday, Volk said ConnectGen applying for the ISC permit raises a red flag, especially with the unresolved, ongoing litigation.

“It’s just troubling because I think what we’re seeing in these other counties is if the county says no, the companies oftentimes will try to just bully through the court system to say, ‘No, you can’t shut my project down. You can’t do that,’” Volk told WTE. “I’ve had a couple people tell me there’s no silver bullet to stop a wind project.”

Volk also said she thinks the permit application is an insult to the county commissioners.

“It’s not an argument against renewable energy,” Volk told WTE, “it’s an argument for accountability. So, if our local government, if they’re the ones that are the first step in this process … their decision should carry real weight.”

At the time of publication, WTE was unable to reach a ConnectGen representative or county commissioner for comment.

ConnectGen is scheduled to hold a public meeting Thursday, Jan. 29 at the Kiwanis Community House, 4603 Lions Park Drive, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., during which company officials will present updates on the project site plan, as well as answer questions from the public and share feedback.

*Editor's note: The above article has been edited to reflect the correct timeline for the ISC permit process as of Jan. 1. At the time of publication, the ISC website had not been updated with the new timeline.