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Alliance's December Update Issued

Alliance December update covers Converse County Planning & Zoning and County Commissioners' actions, raises alert about industry plans for transmission development

Dear Friends,

This is to bring you up to date on recent developments in our efforts to protect the Northern Laramie Range and the quality of life in Converse, Albany and Natrona Counties.

The bottom line is that the situation remains urgent: Although Rocky Mountain Power, working with your Alliance, has agreed not to put transmission-line corridors across the Northern Laramie Range, Wasatch Wind, Inc. has convinced a handful of local landowners to put their property at its disposal for construction of an industrial-scale wind farm in the mountains. This development, if it goes forward, will bring dozens of 400+-foot-high turbines and the associated roads and transmission lines into the Northern Laramies.

Converse County Commissioners and the Planning & Zoning Commission

As you know, earlier this fall, in an effort to head off just this kind of unwelcome industrialization, NLRA petitioned the Converse County Commissioners for a moratorium on industrial development over $10 million in areas of the County south and west of I-25. The Commissioners referred the petition to the County's Planning and Zoning Commission ("P&Z"). P&Z recommended a much broader moratorium, covering the entire County, which NLRA opposed on the grounds that it was unnecessary and could interfere with responsible development in the high plains areas of the County. The County Commissioners rejected the P&Z recommendation.

The effect of this is that the Northern Laramie Range remains unprotected from the kind of wind and transmission development currently being promoted by Wasatch Wind, Inc.

NLRA intends during December to renew its petition for a moratorium and zoning resolution covering only the mountain areas of the County.

Wasatch Wind applications to put wind turbines and related infrastructure on state land in the mountains

Earlier this month, Wasatch Wind finally made public what we had long suspected - that it has induced several landholders in the Northern Laramie Range to put their land at its disposal for the construction of dozens of wind turbines and the transmission links necessary to deliver to the grid whatever power they may generate. Wasatch and the landholders signed these deals early in September, but they delayed recording the leases until early November The Wasatch Wind proposal covers most of the country between Boxelder and Mormon Canyon Roads.

Meanwhile, on October 5, Wasatch Wind filed with Wyoming's Office of State Lands and Investments so-called "special use" applications on more than 7,250 acres of State land within the area in which it proposes to construct its industrial wind energy facility, in order to be able to include these lands in the industrial facility it hopes to build across this mountain country. Wasatch's applications include most of the Duncan Ranch, on the edge of the mountains south of Glenrock.

Obviously, the Wasatch proposal carries the potential to industrialize the entire area encompassed by the scenic Boxelder Rd - Mormon Canyon Rd circuit above Glenrock. It increases vastly the urgency of our efforts to prevent this kind of industrial development in the mountains.

Transmission Industry and Wyoming Infrastructure Authority Plans for Eastern Wyoming: A Vast Industrial Facility

At the end of this e-mail you will find the cover and pertinent excerpts from a report prepared for the Wyoming Legislature's Task Force on Wind Energy, describing the hopes of the transmission companies and its official-sector cheerleader, the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority ("WIA"), to industrialize the southeastern part of Wyoming. Please see especially pp. 26-29, which cover the web of wire that will enmesh our area. And note that the maps on these pages cover a system designed mainly to serve wind development in the central part of the state; if, as the state intends, the power is generated further east, the Laramies will be even more in the transmission promoters' sights, as noted on p. 27:

"Note that the map shown is for a central Wyoming dominated wind resource development. The eastern Wyoming development scenario would have all of the collector lines ending in the east and routed through the Laramie Mountain Range."

To make sure we all understand the import of this report, and other information that's come out in connection with the Task Force work, keep in mind that the WIA and its out-of-state, industry clients are promoting 10-15 gigawatts of "nameplate" windpower capacity in the state (actual production is only 35% of nameplate capacity, of course - we're not talking about the most efficient form of energy production here!). This would require 4,000-6,000 of the 400+-foot-high 2.5 megawatt turbines, or 6,700-10,000 of the slightly smaller 1.5 megawatt turbines such as those in operation at Rolling Hills. Assuming 50 acres per turbine, this development would consume as much as 750 square miles of countryside, without taking into account the miles of transmission lines necessary to connect all these wind farms to the grid.

Bottom line: The WIA's intention, and that of the industry, is for the southeastern quarter of the state to become a vast industrial facility. Based on ownership patterns in the industry, little, if any of this facility will be owned by Wyoming citizens, nor will its highly-paid executive staff live in the state. On the contrary, as noted during Task Force testimony in August, post-construction employment in this facility will be relatively small, and salaries and benefits (judging from the experience so far) are likely to be significantly lower than in other sectors of the energy industry. They certainly will be lower than in a normally-diversified economy such as exists elsewhere in the US. Another certainty is that this kind of industrialization will prevent that diversified economy from ever emerging.

This is not to suggest that there's no room for responsible wind development on the high plains, as we've said repeatedly to anyone who'll listen. Evidently, however, this isn't enough for our industry friends and the WIA. If Wasatch Wind gets a toehold in the mountains, the WIA "vision" for our part of the world will be much more difficult fend off.

NLRA activity

The Steering Committee continues working for Alliance members to protect the Northern Laramie Range and the quality of life in our part of Wyoming:

As noted above, during December we'll renew NLRA's petition for a narrowly-targeted zoning resolution to forestall large-scale industrial development at elevations of 5,500 feet and higher south and west of I-25.

NLRA has established the Northern Laramie Range Foundation ("NLRF") to increase public awareness of the natural, agricultural, recreational and historic assets of the Range. The Foundation plans its inaugural education programs for the spring of 2010. It recently filed - with the consent of grazing leaseholders - "special use" applications for conservation activities on state land in the Boxelder/Mormon Canyon area (including the Duncan Ranch). The activities for which the Foundation is applying are not compatible with wind energy generation and provide an alternative for the Office of State Lands and Investments to meet its fiduciary obligations as trustee of state assets. The Foundation has applied to be qualified as a charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, which means that donations to support it will be tax-deductible; we'll send information shortly about how you can contribute.

We're working with state officials and representatives of the responsible segment of the wind and transmission industries to try to ensure that Wyoming adopts policies leading to responsible wind energy development that protects the quality of life in our communities and countryside. Right now, there is a chaotic rush underway threatening that quality of life with little or no economic benefit to the State and its citizens.

What you can do: We need for all of you to contact County Commissioners and Planning & Zoning Commissioners in Converse County to support our efforts to protect the mountain. We need all of you to attend P&Z and County Commission meetings where these matters are being considered. We will notify you by e-mail when these sessions are scheduled, and post information on the Alliance website: http://www.NLRAlliance.org. And we need your financial support, both for the Alliance directly (for its efforts to influence public policy) and for the education and conservation activities of the Northern Laramie Range Foundation.

Here are the mailing addresses:

Northern Laramie Range Alliance
P.O. Box 3215
Casper, WY 82602-3215

Northern Laramie Range Foundation
P.O. Box 3215
Casper, WY 82602-3215

We're working on establishing a secure site for online contributions to each of the organizations.

THERE IS A MAJOR RISK THAT WASATCH WIND AND ITS COLLABORATORS WILL BEGIN INDUSTRIALIZING OUR MOUNTAINS. WE ALL NEED TO WORK TO STOP THEM.

We hope you and your family have had a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Best regards,

The Steering Committee
Northern Laramie Range Alliance

Bret Frye, Kenneth Lay, Lisa Mangus, Willard McMillan, David Pestotnik, Sharon Rodeman, Steve Sibrel, Kevin Stowe, Tom Swanson, and Diemer True

Report by the Wyoming Legislature's Task Force on Wind Energy regarding Transmission (Cover): http://www.nlralliance.org/downloads/TaskForceTransmissionCover.pdf

Excerpts: http://www.nlralliance.org/downloads/TaskForceTransmissionExcerpts.pdf

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