PacifiCorp plans 6 wind farms; could power 1M homes

CASPER, Wyo. — A utility proposes to build six wind farms that could supply enough electricity for over 1 million homes by 2024.

Portland-based PacifiCorp, whose subsidiary Rocky Mountain Power serves Wyoming, Utah and Idaho, announced the plan this week.

The wind farms would add more than 1,600 megawatts of power capacity in Wyoming. Combined with PacifiCorp’s plans for solar, battery power and transmission proposals, the utility would add 3,200 megawatts of capacity in four states.

The proposals would concentrate wind development in Wyoming and Idaho, and solar development, including battery storage, in Utah and Oregon, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.

It would be the utility’s first large-scale battery installation.

PacifiCorp’s latest round of renewable development began in 2019, when the company’s biannual economic analysis identified renewables as a highly cost-effective electricity source.

“Planning process after planning process for the company has shown that Wyoming wind tops the list of cost competitiveness. It’s just incredibly affordable,” said Shannon Anderson with the Powder River Basin Resource Council landowner and conservation group.