Federal and state officials dug into a pile of dirt on the Overland Trail Ranch, just southeast of Rawlins, on a recent windy day.
They broke ground on the TransWest Express Transmission project – which will be a 732-mile line that will transfer renewable electricity across the West. Many say it is a crucial piece of the puzzle for the future renewable energy grid.
The power line will transfer electricity from 3,000 megawatt, 600 turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project, which is a planned wind farm that will also be in Carbon County. If it comes to fruition it will be the largest in the country. The farm is currently being built and is slated to be complete by the end of this decade.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm spoke to Carbon County residents at the groundbreaking, giving a nod to its fossil fuel history.
“I want to thank Wyoming for having powered this nation for the past 100 years,” she said. “And, thank Wyoming for powering this nation for the next 100 years.”
The power line will cross both federal, state, county and private land starting in Rawlins and extending through Colorado, Utah and ending in southern Nevada. It took 18 years to get building permits and reach agreements. The project was just given the final approval in April.
“It took way too long to get this permitted. We all agree, in the Biden Administration, that we need to accelerate these transmission lines,” Granholm said. “The Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy and the White House have been working on a process to accelerate these transmission lines in a way that still, of course, protects our natural environment.”
Officials say they hope future transmission line projects can be expedited, as without the lines, the growing industry of renewable energy cannot be transferred to the grid. Granholm said the renewable power line capacity in the country will likely need to “double” to meet the country’s climate goals, which include 80 percent renewable energy generation by 2030. This will increase the demand on the grid, therefore creating a need for more power lines.
Meanwhile, Wyoming has some ambitious climate goals too, including going ‘carbon-negative’ in the near future. Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon said this could include capturing emissions from the air and fossil fuel production, but also implementing renewable energy in the state.
“There is an urgency as we see climate change. We know that we don’t have time to waste,” Gordon said at the event. “We have to move, with diligence, forward to make sure that we address the issue of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with alacrity, with diligence and with dedication.”
Meanwhile, the TransWest project will create 1,000 temporary jobs in Carbon County, which is a much needed boost to the local economy, said Rawlins Mayor Terry Weickum.
“Quality of life begins with the paycheck, and this is what we're doing today,” Weickum said to Wyoming Public Media at the event.
He added that the power line and wind farm are a change to what local people have known – which is oil, gas and coal.
“They feel like it's replacing it, well the coal is gone, and they've been closed,” Weickum said. “We need it all. We need all the energy sources we can get. It's not a competition.”
The TransWest Express power line is expected to be complete by 2028.
