Republished with permission from The Douglas Budget.
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to allow the Pronghorn H2 wind project on state trust land near Glenrock to move forward.
The court ruled that the Wyoming State Board of Land Commissioners’ approval of the Pronghorn H2 wind lease south of Glenrock could advance to the Industrial Siting Council, even though the court also found that neighboring landowner Michael Stephens and Stephens Land and Livestock have standing to sue.
The Wyoming Supreme Court, with no judges dissenting, reversed Douglas District Court Judge F. Scott Peasley’s decision to toss the deal. Peasley threw out the lease because the project did not connect to the power grid, interpreting the “wind energy leasing” rule as requiring a grid connection. The supreme court disagreed.
At the same time, the state’s high court also found that the petitioners have standing to sue because of their proximity to the project, calling the harms to views and property values “substantial, immediate and pecuniary.”
The justices rejected the other challenges to the project, regarding how much money it would raise for the state, future mineral interests and impacts to wildlife. The court found that the land board is allowed to set rates on a case-by-case basis, and that companies could still lease the minerals on the state land, provided they cannot unreasonably get in the way of the wind farm.
The Pronghorn H2 project still has to go through the Industrial Siting Council permitting process, which can take several years and may address other concerns the plaintiffs have.
“These decisions were never political, they were made to ensure the highest and best value for our state lands, buttressed by the legal and contractual obligations made by the state,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. “Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms the original vote made by the State Board of Land Commissioners granting this lease.”
The plaintiffs can file within the next 15 days for a rehearing, although these requests are rarely granted.
There are about 1,500 wind turbines spinning in Wyoming with a generating capacity of approximately 3,700 megawatts — that’s about 25% of the state’s total electrical generation capacity, according to multiple sources compiled in April by WyoFile.
