The four projects will expand Rocky Mountain Power’s owned and contracted wind power by more than 60 percent and add enough new wind energy to power approximately 450,000 average homes.
The bids were selected following a request for proposal issued in September 2017. The RFP establishes a competitive bidding process for the company to select the most cost-effective new wind projects. The four selected projects are:
“The new wind projects are part of the company’s Energy Vision 2020 initiative, which will significantly expand the company’s Wyoming wind fleet and benefit the state and local economies,” said Cindy A. Crane, Rocky Mountain Power President and CEO. “The project also includes a 140-mile segment of the Gateway West high-voltage transmission line in Wyoming to connect the new wind energy to Rocky Mountain Power’s grid.”
The additional wind generation and associated transmission line were identified in the company’s 2017 Integrated Resource Plan as part of a broader approach to most cost-effectively meet customers’ energy needs over the next 20 years. Completing the wind projects by 2020 will allow the company to use federal production tax credits to provide net cost savings to customers over the life of the projects.
The cost of the four new wind projects is estimated at approximately $1.5 billion, which is significantly less on a per-megawatt basis than when the new wind and transmission plan was first announced last April. The per-megawatt reduction in project costs helps make the Energy Vision 2020 initiative lower cost compared to other resource alternatives, such as energy market purchases, to meet forecasted customer energy needs.
Pending approval from state commissions, acquisition of rights of way, and receipt of permits, construction of the new wind and transmission projects is expected to begin in 2019. Visit the following link for more information about Energy Vision 2020: www.rockymountainpower.net/ev2020
