Virginia-based energy giant AES Corp. says its $233.4 million Settler wind farm near Glenrock, Wyoming, could bring 200 jobs at the peak of construction and produce enough electricity to power 44,000 homes.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siting Council has set a public hearing to consider the utility-scale wind farm project application Sept. 18 in Casper.
The project will be constructed entirely on private land leases within the southwestern part of Converse County, about 13 miles south of Interstate 25 near Glenrock.
Participating landowners have entered long-term real estate arrangements over the course of the 30-year life expectancy of the wind farm project.
AES states in a 1,390-page application filed with the industrial siting council that the wind farm will generate up to 150 megawatts of electricity, consisting of as many as 40 wind turbines, according to the permit filed with the state’s industrial siting council that has a key determining opinion over utility-scale projects.
The East Coast energy behemoth with a market capitalization of $12.35 billion estimates that the wind farm project could generate $26.6 million in total ad valorem tax revenue from 2027 to 2056.
An ad valorem tax is a tax based on the value of a transaction or of a property.
Windy 16,663 Acres
Previously, AES stated that it would submit a permit application for its Settler project on 16,663 acres of ranching land between Casper and Douglas with the county and the industrial siting council by late March.
Construction on the project — which will be accessed by Converse County Road 18, also referred to as Mormon Canyon Road — is expected to begin in August 2025 and take roughly 17 months to complete.
The workforce in 2026 is expected to peak at 200 in August and September, then begin ramping down to an average 60 workers by the end of the construction phase in December.
The project is expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
The Settler project, which would generate enough power to light the equivalent of 44,000 homes, would be built adjacent to the already built Pioneer Wind Park, an 80-megawatt wind power project that AES has owned and operated since 2016, said Terrance Unrein, AES senior director of wind development in the Western United States.
Settler and Pioneer are the only projects AES has underway in Wyoming.
“We are currently focused on the successful development and permitting of the Settler wind project,” Unrein said. “We do not have any other announced renewable energy projects in Wyoming."
Getting Out Of Coal
AES said in the application that the adjacent Pioneer project reduces the need for additional transmission infrastructure in the area.
AES previously announced its intent to exit its coal generation businesses by the end of next year and instead refocus on alternative forms of energy, Unrein said.
"AES intends to exit all of our coal businesses by the end of 2025,” he said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. “In a few markets, our coal assets will be needed temporarily to support the energy transition beyond 2025, as renewable deployments and transmission buildout have not progressed as quickly as required."
During construction, it is estimated that expenditures in the local economy for equipment, materials and services would total $6.7 million. It is anticipated that an additional $2.3 million would be spent on local accommodations, food and incidentals by the nonlocal workforce.
A wind energy conversion system (WECS) application was submitted to Converse County’s board of commissioners a few months ago. The commissioners will hold a public hearing to consider that application on July 23.
A WECS is a complex system of interconnected components that operate together to convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical energy and subsequently into electrical energy with the aid of generators.
Without explanation, the application also mentions that AES would notify interested parties in the project.
These parties include Turtle Rock Ranch LLC, a cattle ranch located along Boxelder Road in Glenrock; True Ranches LLC, a family owned ranching operation based in Casper, Wyoming, that includes business entities serving the agriculture, energy, financial and real estate industries; and Richard Grant, vice chairman of the Converse County Board of Commissioners.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
