Rocky Mountain Power to expand wind base

Rocky Mountain Power will significantly expand its wind power base by 2020. The utility is filing a $3.5 billion dollar wind and transmission plan to regulators in Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Rocky Mountain Power said the plan would upgrade or “repower” the company’s existing wind fleet with longer blades and newer technology, add approximately 1,100 megawatts of new wind power, and build a new 140-mile Gateway West transmission segment.
Rocky Mountain Power said the “Energy Vision 2020” projects were chosen as the most cost-effective option to meet customers’ energy needs over the next 20 years. The company will be able to use federal production tax credits to provide net cost savings to customers over the life of the projects. Most of the new investments will be in Wyoming. “We are very excited to begin the stakeholder review process for these projects that will significantly increase the renewable energy that serves all our customers,” said Cindy A. Crane, Rocky Mountain Power President and CEO. “These investments will provide significant long-term benefits to our customers and bring substantial economic benefits to rural communities where the facilities will be located.” The projects are expected to create between 1,100 and 1,600 construction jobs in Wyoming and add about $120 million in tax revenue from construction. Once built, the utility said the projects would create post-construction annual tax revenues of approximately $11 million in 2021 and $14 million by 2024. The Gateway West Transmission Project will span approximately 1,000 miles from the Windstar substation near Glenrock to the new Hemingway substation southwest of Boise, near Murphy.