Cowboy Solar’s permitting process is not yet complete; even though the meeting board was appeased, Enbridge still needs to get county, environmental and municipal permits.
Despite the dominance of fossil fuels in Wyoming, the land rush for renewables continues in the state, driven by the very strong economics of solar and energy storage, the state’s friendly permitting process and the Biden administration’s newly developed Western Solar Plan. . This ambitious plan opens up more acres than ever before for the US Bureau of Land Management to oversee solar energy production on public lands for decades to come.
Although Wyoming lags behind in solar power, ranking 46th among US states with only 124 megawatts of capacity, it’s no slouch when it comes to wind power. Since 2019, the state has been harnessing its excellent resources by doubling wind generation, which would account for 22 percent of total electricity generation in 2022. Wyoming had just over 3 gigawatts of wind capacity at the start of 2023. EIA.
While record-breaking utility-scale solar-plus-storage installations have become commonplace in sunnier places like Texas, Florida, and California, a new and real trend has emerged to place these giant plants in less-exposed places like Minnesota, Ohio, and Louisiana. , and now Wyoming. Smart energy policy and forced economy do not recognize state borders.