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PacifiCorp, local leaders break ground on Energy Vision 2020 wind project

CARBON COUNTY, Wyo. — PacifiCorp, local leaders and community members kicked off construction efforts on Energy Vision 2020 Wednesday during a groundbreaking in Carbon County.

The project includes three new Wyoming wind farms that will provide a total 1,150 MW of new wind, which represents a nearly 60 percent expansion of PacifiCorp’s current owned and contracted wind fleet, as well as a 140-mile high-voltage transmission line in Wyoming that will help more wind energy connect to PacifiCorp’s transmission system.

In addition to the new wind projects and transmission line, the company’s Energy Vision 2020 initiative will upgrade, or “repower,” the company’s existing wind fleet with longer blades and newer technology to boost output and extend the life of the projects.

“Today’s achievement is an important milestone in a long history of PacifiCorp’s investment in Wyoming,” said Gary Hoogeveen, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp. “Working in partnership with community leaders and active citizens, we continue to forge new ways to maintain Wyoming’s place as a national powerhouse in energy production.”

“We are very pleased to move forward with construction of these projects,” said Stefan Bird, president and CEO of Pacific Power, the division of PacifiCorp that serves customers in Oregon, Washington, and California. “Our Energy Vision 2020 projects will benefit all our customers in the form of low-cost renewable energy and a more robust transmission system.”

Projects within Energy Vision 2020 include:  

  • Repowering current wind turbines, Converse and Carbon Counties, Wyoming
  • Repowering current wind turbines, Columbia and Klickitat Counties, Washington
  • Repowering current wind turbines, Gilliam County, Oregon
  • New wind construction, Ekola and TB Flats I & II, Carbon County, Wyoming
  • New wind construction, Cedar Springs, Converse County, Wyoming
  • Gateway West Transmission (Sweetwater & Carbon Counties, Wyoming)

These investments will help diversify Wyoming’s economy, create jobs and add to the tax base. These projects are expected to:

  • Create between 1,100 and 1,600 construction jobs in Wyoming and more than 100 full-time positions.
  • Add approximately $120 million in tax revenue from construction.
  • Bring significant post-construction annual tax revenues starting at approximately $11 million in 2021 and growing to $14 million annually by 2024.