Survey sheet no. 01, Wyoming wind country
The wind out here is not the problem. Moving it is.
Wyoming's ridgelines hold some of the best wind in the country, and the state already makes roughly a quarter of its electricity from it. The hard part is the outlet: one very long power line, one very large wind project, and a decade of waiting on both.
Top Story
Reported this week
A high-voltage direct-current line begun in 2023 is due to carry on the order of 3,000 megawatts from Carbon County toward the Desert Southwest around 2027. Pair it with the largest wind build in the country and you get the biggest story in Wyoming energy this decade. Here is what it means for county tax rolls, for construction jobs in Rawlins, and, yes, for your Rocky Mountain Power bill.
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From the sheets-
Ridge-line wind, measured at horizon scale
Wind supplied roughly 23% of Wyoming's in-state generation in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the state's wind output has more than doubled since 2019. Most of that power leaves the state on lines built for coal. The ridgelines keep the receipts.
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The long line out of the basin
TransWest Express, roughly 732 miles of direct-current line from south of Rawlins toward the Southwest, started construction in September 2023 with a planned capacity on the order of 3,000 megawatts. The developer's target in-service date sits around 2027. We walk the route and the holdups.
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Exports and the ratepayer: who gains when the power leaves
Wyoming generates far more electricity than it uses, and the surplus is the state's economic engine. The $1 per megawatt-hour state wind tax flows to county governments where turbines stand. What that means for a residential bill in Cheyenne or Casper is more indirect, and worth being honest about.
Where Things Stand
Numbers we can point to-
Share of Wyoming generation from wind, 2024
Per the EIA state analysis, wind has more than doubled its share since 2019 even as coal remains the largest source by far.
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Growth in Wyoming wind output since 2019
On the order of 10 million megawatt-hours a year now, by EIA's count, up from roughly half that six years earlier.
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Megawatts planned at Chokecherry and Sierra Madre
The Power Company of Wyoming project south of Rawlins counts itself at roughly 3,000 to 3,550 megawatts across two phases, with major permits secured.
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Miles of TransWest Express line under construction
Direct-current line planned at about 3,000 megawatts, begun in September 2023, with the developer and the California ISO both pointing at a 2027 in-service window.
How We Work
The house rules-
Primary sources only
Grid operators, government agencies, utilities, and project companies. If a number cannot be traced to one of those, it does not run.
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Hedged numbers
Schedules slip and estimates move. We write roughly and on the order of, and we say which document the figure came from.
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The bill is the story
Every piece answers the reader's actual question: what does this do to my power bill, my county's budget, my ridge line?
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Corrections welcome
Public dockets and agency pages are the record. When they change, we update and say so.