Since earliest recorded history, windpower has been used to move ships,grind grain, and pump water. Today, windpower is also being used to provideelectricity to homes, schools, busi-nesses, and entire communities. Morethan half the United States have windresources that could support the devel-opment of utility-scale wind powerplants.

Wyoming is recognized as one of thepremium wind sites in the United Statesand is home to one of the oldest devel-oped wind sites in the region. The focusof the first site, built in Medicine Bow in 1982 with support from the U.S.Department of Energy (DOE), was towardresearch of wind energy production, particularly from large turbines.

Today, Wyoming has wind power plants at Cheyenne, Foote Creek, andMedicine Bow, with a total output capac-ity of 73 megawatts (MW). Wyoming’slargest wind site, constructed at FooteCreek Rim near Arlington, Wyoming, in 1999, is a 69-turbine wind plant with an output capacity of 68 MW. It can generate enough electricity to serve the needs of 15,000 to 25,000 homes.Although this wind plant occupies2,156 acres, only 1% of that land will beused for the plant’s operation. The bal-ance will remain free for ranching use.

"This wind project is the largest in thenorthwestern United States," said TomGray, director of communications for the American Wind Energy Association(AWEA), "and it is a major milestone onthe road to tapping the region’s windresources in a significant way. Wyomingand Montana each have the potential to generate hundreds of billions of kilo-watt-hours (kWh) annually from the wind,and to create tens of thousands of jobsin the process."

Nearly all of the wind energy producedby Wyoming’s wind plants is sold out ofstate, and as the need and the demandfor wind power in the northwest contin-ues to grow, Wyoming officials plan tomeet a major portion of those needsthrough expansion of existing sites andinstallation of new sites.

Green Power"Green power" is power produced by renewable or environmentallyfriendly energy sources, as distinctfrom power produced by fossil fuel,nuclear, and other types of genera-tors. Customers can arrange to pur-chase a certain amount of greenpower (energy in kilowatt-hours) permonth, for which they commonly pay a small premium to completelyor partly offset any higher cost ofrenewable power sources. The pol-icy of transferring these costs togreen power customers is called"green pricing."

Five turbines recently installed atMedicine Bow, Wyoming, by thePlatte River Power Authority will helpsupport green power programs. Fourof the turbines installed will servegreen-pricing customers and renew-able energy programs in Aspen, FortCollins, Longmont, and Loveland,Colorado. Output from a fifth turbine will be sold to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to support its green-pricing program.

State SummaryInstalled—73 MW

Planned—30.1 MW

In-State Wind Energy Potential:277,200 MW capacity after land use

and environmental exclusions545 billion kWh per year in electric

energy

Installed ProjectsCheyenneInstalled—0.4 MWPower Purchaser/User—CheyenneLight/Fuel & PowerType of Turbine—TMA

Foote Creek RimInstalled—68 MWPower Purchasers/Users—Pacificorp/Eugene Water ElectricBoard/Bonneville Power Administration,Public Service Company of ColoradoType of Turbine—NEG Micon, Mitsubishi

Wind Powering America

Wyoming

Clean Energy for the 21st Century

What is the installed wind energy capacity in the United States?

By January 2000, the totalU.S. installed wind energycapacity was 2500 MW.(See http://www.awea.org/faq/instcap.html) That’senough electricity to meetthe needs of 600,000 to800,000 typical U.S.homes.

Medicine BowInstalled—4.6 MWPower Purchaser/User—Platte RiverPower Authority, Fort Collins Light &PowerType of Turbine—Vestas V-47

Planned InstallationsFoote Creek Rim, 1.8 MW, BonnevillePower Authority

Foote Creek Rim, 25 MW, Public ServiceCompany of Colorado

Harris Cattle Ranch, 20 MW, Zywind, Inc.

Medicine Bow, 3.3 MW, Fort Collins Light& Power/Platte River Power Authority

Key ContactsDale HoffmanWyoming Department of CommerceWyoming Energy and Conservation Office

Herschler Building, 1EW122 West 25th StreetCheyenne, Wyoming 82002phone (307) 777-7284fax (307) 777-5804

Wyoming

Produced for the U.S. Departmentof Energy by the NationalRenewable Energy Laboratory, a DOE national laboratory

DOE/GO-102000-1009April 2000

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper

containing at least 50% wastepaper, including

20% postconsumer waste

Additional ResourcesNational Renewable Energy Laboratory

National Wind Technology Center1617 Cole BoulevardGolden, Colorado 80401(303) 384-6979www.nrel.gov/wind

U.S. Department of EnergyDenver Regional Support Offices1617 Cole BoulevardGolden, Colorado 80401(303) 275-4826http://www.eren.doe.gov/dro/

U.S. Department of EnergyWind Energy ProgramForrestal Building1000 Independence Ave., S.W.Washington, D.C. 20585(202) 586-5348www.eren.doe.gov/wind

American Wind Energy Association

122 C Street, NW, 4th FloorWashington, D.C. 20001phone (202) 383-2500fax (202) 383-2505www.awea.org