Staff-Compiled

Duke Energy’s ambitious plan to build a 66-turbine wind power project near Casper is still on schedule to start construction this spring, after a unanimous vote by a Wyoming environmental commission approved the project’s permit.

The Wyoming Industrial Siting Council voted last week in favor of the power company’s application for a permit to build the Campbell Hill Windpower Project. Under the Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act, permits are required of all projects with construction costs of $178.9 million or more.

Industry experts expect the project will generate 99 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy when it comes on line at the end of this year. Construction is expected to begin shortly after the project permits are granted sometime next month.

PacifiCorp, which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, will purchase all of the power from the project as part of a 20-year agreement made public last September. Wind turbines at the Campbell Hill site will be capable of producing power for approximately 25,000 to 30,000 homes annually.

“The Campbell Hill Windpower Project will be good for the state, good for the regional economy and good for the environment,” said Wouter van Kempen, president of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a business unit of Duke Energy that owns and develops renewable energy assets. “Our collaboration with state officials and other key stakeholders is paving the way to bring more renewable energy to Wyoming.”

This will be Duke Energy’s second wind power project in Wyoming. The 14-turbine, 29-MW Happy Jack Windpower Project near Cheyenne began commercial operation in September 2008. It produces clean energy for Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power customers in Laramie County.

The business strategy of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS)
is to develop, own and operate electric generation for large
energy consumers, municipalities, utilities and industrial
facilities.