Boswell Springs wind farm aims for 2024 completion

Company representatives gave the county commissioners an update this week, touting tax revenue figures and addressing environmental concerns. Innergex will host an open house in Rock River today.

As the imminent Rail Tie Wind Project clears its final hurdles, other wind farms are emerging in the northern part of the county — to significantly less fanfare or controversy.

The Boswell Springs Wind Project aims to be nearly as large as Rail Tie, planning to construct nearly 100 turbines across 21,000 acres before the final days of 2024. (By comparison, Rail Tie aims to construct up to 149 turbines across 26,000 acres in the south of the county.)

Innergex is the renewable energy company behind the planned Boswell Springs wind farm, and representatives of that company gave Albany County Commissioners a status update Tuesday during the commissioners’ regular meeting.

Ellen Bird, Community and Government Relations Manager for Innergex, told commissioners construction will begin in mid-June. Construction will pause for the winter and resume in spring 2024. The project site is located 14 miles northeast of Rock River and will connect to a substation 34 miles to the west in Carbon County.

“It’s expected to generate approximately 1,160 gigawatt-hours per year — so that’s the equivalent of about 113,000 Wyoming households,” Bird said. “And it’s expected also to contribute at least $119 million in tax revenues.”

The company estimates that $119 million will come from property tax ($65 million), wind generation taxes ($34 million) and sales and use taxes ($20 million).

A “tentative project timeline” from Innergex’s May 2 presentation to the Albany County Commission.

Innergex has a policy of hiring locally where possible and aims to employ the equivalent of 250 full-time jobs during the 2023-2024 construction as well as 10 permanent full-time employees to operate the site thereafter.

Unlike the Rail Tie wind farm, which occupies a mix of private and public land, Boswell Springs is sited exclusively on private land. It’s a “fairly remote site,” Bird said.

“It’s private land and used for ranching and ranching will be able to continue once construction is completed,” she said.

The company touted other benefits it claims it will bring to the county, such as infrastructure development — in the case of nearby roads it will improve — and community investment — in the case of local donations.

“We aim to be a good long-term neighbor and member of the community,” Bird said.

Commission Chair Pete Gosar asked about a few other contentious issues that have been raised during community debates surrounding wind development.

Company representatives told the commission their turbines would be outfitted with aircraft detection lighting — blinking lights on the turbine tower rigged to turn on when planes or helicopters come anywhere near. Detection lighting balances the safety needs of air travel with the environmental impacts of adding even more light to the night sky.

Company representatives also said they were developing an Eagle Conservation Plan and were seeking an “eagle take permit” from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — an allowance that accounts for the raptors who might die as a result of the nearby turbines. There is a known eagle nest in the southwest portion of the project site.

The northern part of Albany County — alongside every other Wyoming county on the Colorado border, and especially neighboring Carbon County — has seen rapid wind development. Last year, the Albany County Commission approved a wind farm for that area that will occupy a larger footprint than either Boswell Springs or Rail Tie. Carbon County is looking to welcome perhaps the largest wind farm in the country soon and the state as a whole is poised to reap the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act by going big on wind.

The companies behind these developments and the advocates fighting for them often highlight the tax revenue each project will generate. But for a significant portion of the county — especially its youngest, most progressive activists — a statewide shift from fossil fuels to renewables is about something more than cash.

As droughts, heatwaves and wildfires intensify, young people are demanding action from their governments to mitigate climate change. Sometimes, governments listen.

But not everyone is pleased with the rapid pace of wind development. Rail Tie saw pushback from local landowners who voiced concerns about raptor displacement and impacts to their viewshed.

In an effort to connect with potentially concerned community members, Innergex is hosting an open house today from 5:30-7 p.m. at Rock River Town Hall. The event is open to the public and will be hosted and attended by company representatives.