Laramie Range landowners mount opposition to wire for wind farms
By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER Star-Tribune energy reporter
Thursday, May 7, 2009
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2009/05/07/homepage_lead/doc4a02384e57641547549264.txt
Some prominent Wyoming landowners and businessmen have formed a group to fight a pair of proposed routes for the Gateway West electrical transmission project.
Kenneth G. Lay, vice president and treasurer of World Bank, along with oil and gas businessmen Diemer True and Tom Swanson, all own property in the Laramie Range and have formed the Northern Laramie Range Alliance.
The group includes dozens of landowners, according to organizers. They will meet at 7 tonight at the Best Western in Douglas to discuss organized opposition to proposed segments of the Gateway West transmission project.
Gateway West is a joint effort between Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power. The 1,150-mile-long transmission project would require a 2-mile-wide corridor with a right-of-way 350 feet wide for each section of the transmission line spanning from Glenrock to Medicine Bow and all the way to Boise, Idaho. . .
Also at issue is the alliance’s complaint that Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power are overbuilding the transmission in anticipation of more wind development in Wyoming.
“Without this (1E 230-kilovolt) line, future energy resources would require multiple lines in order to tie into the transmission system further west, resulting in a larger overall footprint,” Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Jeff Hymas said. . .
“Even in this time of economic downturn, we must plan and prepare to meet the growing demand for electricity that is expected to continue in the future,” Hymas said.
Because Gateway West would cross public lands, the Bureau of Land Management is conducting an environmental impact study. A draft environmental impact statement is scheduled to be issued in August or September.
