Rancher Says Wind, Solar Don't Impact Land Any More Than Cell Towers, Oil Rigs

CHUGWATER — As the tires of Paul Norfleet’s Ford Super Duty truck crunch down the gravel roads near his ranch, he points out all the manmade landmarks scattered across the horizon.

From where he sits, he can see cell towers, oil rigs, energy transmission lines and defunct missile silos. Norfleet can even make out steam from a nearby power plant sometimes in the mornings.

These structures don’t bother him to look at, he tells Cowboy State Daily while delivering a tank of fresh water to his hundreds of sheep. To him, they’re just part of the rural Wyoming landscape. 

“It takes a lot for something happening to bother me,” he says.

That’s why Norfleet was so surprised to learn he had stepped into a fierce debate over Wyoming land usage by partnering with a company to bring a new energy development to a portion of his land. 

Norfleet is one of 30 landowners working with NextEra Energy Resources, an energy developer from his home state of Florida, to bring wind turbines and solar panels to eastern Wyoming. The company is behind the Chugwater Energy Project, a development it claims could potentially produce an estimated 600 megawatts of power.

NextEra’s plan involves building up to 107 wind turbines and solar panels on about 47,000 acres in Platte County and 6,100 acres in Goshen County, according to data listed on its website. Onsite batteries will store some of the generated power for future use.

The company explains the region “has some of the nation’s highest quality-rated renewable energy potential.”

Should the project receive approval from state and local officials, it would proceed in December 2027.

'More Stuff to Look At'

Norfleet parks his truck in a grassy field where he begins pumping fresh water from the tank coupled to his vehicle. A herd of thirsty sheep rush up to the edge of their enclosure where a basin is filling with water.

As he works, one of Norfleet’s 13 dogs — a mud-covered fellow named Shady — rushes in for a pet.

With one hand on the dog, Norfleet explains the addition of wind turbines and solar panels to his landscape wouldn’t be offensive. It would simply be “adding more stuff to look at.”

“You hate to see things change,” Norfleet said. “People hate what windmills look like, but I didn’t realize there was opposition until all this.”

Norfleet said he’s heard from community members who are concerned the project could become an eyesore. They’ve also expressed worries the development could present a hazard to local wildlife.

But as the owner of hundreds of animals, including sheep, cows, turkeys, horses and dogs, Norfleet expects he’d be the first to suspect such a threat.

Norfleet sometimes brings his sheep to Colorado where they graze beneath solar panels. These structures, he said, provide shelter for the animals and can help accelerate the growth of some grasses.

When they happen to encounter wind turbines, Norfleet’s sheep enjoy the extra shade, he says.

“If there’s anything providing shade in this country, things are going to go behind it,” he says. “There's so much land in this country that it’s hard to affect [the animals] that much.”

The Letter Of The Law

Chugwater Mayor Josh Hopkins told Cowboy State Daily that he’s heard conflicting opinions from local residents about the project.

Regardless of their feelings, however, Chugwater’s town government will get no say in whether the project is permitted.

“This project will be 3 miles from our doorstep in the center of town,” Hopkins said. “This project will be right on top of our town, but we as a government we get absolutely no say on the permitting of the project.”

The decision to approve the project is instead up to county officials.

Chugwater’s only recourse, Hopkins said, is to request “impact assistance” funds from the state Loan and Investment Board to help the town offset the potential negative impacts of proximity to the development.

“It seems unfair because it’s such a large thing that will be passing through our town that we do or don’t get a say,” Hopkins said. “But because of these political boundaries it’s sort of the fact of the matter.”

Platte County Commissioner John Baker, one of the officials responsible for approving the Chugwater development, has a no-nonsense approach to the project.

He told Cowboy State Daily via phone that if the project remains within its legal boundaries, he sees no problem with it.

“This company is going to go through the siting council and Department of Environmental Quality in Cheyenne,” he said. “Then we’ve already got regulations in the county for wind and solar.”

“Basically, if this company, or any company — it could be dairy, it could be anything — if they come into the county and they pass the planning and zoning regulations, then they follow the letter of the law,” he added.

While Baker acknowledged he and his fellow Platte County commissioners have “a lot more power” over the project approval process than other local government leaders, at the end of the day he sees his responsibility as “just business.”

“As commissioners, all we can do is follow the law,” he said. “You know, whether we're for it, whether we're against it, it doesn't matter. We're not the good guys, we're not the bad guys. We're sitting there looking at the law.”

NextEra’s projected timeline would see the wind farm decommissioned, or removed from the land, within the next 20 to 30 years.

Baker said this time frame requires him to also consider how the project will impact land usage rights in the future, something he said has been a major priority for him.

“I won’t be here, I’ll be long since gone by then,” Baker said of the potential 30-year project lifespan. “Our focus is to do the right thing for the landowners and the people of the county.

"Because, you know, property rights are a big deal to me. They're a huge deal. Nobody should be able to tell another person what to do on their property if they fulfill the law.”

A New Truck

Back in the seat of his truck, Norfleet is now driving off to visit his cows. Norfleet said he knows there is community concerns about the development on his land. 

Their reactions, he suggested, are likely due to the visible nature of wind turbines compared to other more subtle developments, like oil rigs.

“Some people are just against everything,” he says. “Not everything that draws a fight is negative.”

Some of the backlash, Norfleet suspects, could also be due to highly polarized partisan politics.

The Trump administration has taken staunch opposition to wind and solar energy, departing from the pro-green energy policies of the previous Biden administration.

In his pasture, Norfleet drives past a black cow named Smokey, which he bottle fed from the time it was a calf. He explains the price of beef has risen to a “scary” level, leading some farmers to increase their meat production.

While Norfleet doesn’t want to contribute to over-saturating the market, he said money is sometimes tight around his ranch.

“Farming is so fickle,” he says. “We’re always looking for diversification any way we can get it.”

As a partner in the Chugwater Energy Project, Norfleet will receive regular payments from NextEra. That income, he said, could go toward buying him a new farm truck, which can cost upward of $90,000.

“Or maybe a Camaro,” he muses.

Concerned Community

Others throughout the area have also become hesitant to back the Chugwater Energy Project.

Torrington Mayor Herb Doby told Cowboy State Daily in June he remains skeptical about the hopeful promises made by NextEra.

“It does bring jobs, and it heats up the economy in a good way and all that,” Doby said. “But I think the thought is around here that that's just not our future.

"I'm 71 years old, and all I've ever heard was we're rich in coal and oil and natural gas and minerals. What we need to do is add value to that," Doby added. "And I can't think of a better way to add value to what we're rich in than turning it into electricity."

State Rep. Scott Smith, R-Lingle, also expressed frustration with NextEra after he attended a public open house event for the project in June.

"They didn't give any presentation,” Smith told Cowboy State Daily. “They just had, like, seven maps and boards and maybe a few different bullet points on each one saying how this is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

"Those constituents that have talked to me even at the open house the other week were not happy."

NextEra Communications Director Sara Cassidy told Cowboy State Daily she is also aware of these concerns and said the company is trying to cooperate with community members.

“We realize that any new development project can generate questions from some community members,” she wrote via email. “What we've found is that most questions come from those who may not have all the facts about how the energy project works or what it means for their community.

“When we hear concerns, we don't dismiss them. We listen, we engage and we share the facts.”

 NextEra, according to Cassidy, is aware of the deep tradition of Wyoming property rights. The company hopes to keep this front of mind throughout the approval process.

“This project is about two things Wyoming has always stood for — respecting private property rights and producing American energy,” she said. "Wyoming’s Constitution protects landowners' freedom to decide how to use their land to make a living, and that's exactly what's happening here.

“We have the experience to do this right, and we're committed to being good neighbors throughout the process."

NextEra predicts the project will have a nearly $1 billion impact on the state and create 450 construction jobs.

It also promises landowners will receive “stable, reliable income” in the form of payments regardless of how much energy the site ultimately produces.

The project is also prioritizing the hiring of recent Wyoming graduates to help jumpstart their professional careers.

All In A Day’s Work

Back at Norfleet’s home, there is still much work to get done. 

In a normal day, he will work from sunrise until sunset tending to his animals and the land. Then in the evenings he will cook dinner, maybe watch a movie, then head to bed.

If there’s a free moment throughout the day, Norfleet will sometimes visit his raspberry brambles where he can find a snack that’s tastier than anything he could buy at a grocery store.

The work is incredibly rewarding nonetheless, he said.

“It’s a lifestyle, it’s not so much about whether it’s hard work or not, it’s what you enjoy doing,” he said. “It’s quiet and peaceful and just seeing the creation of all that’s in nature, it’s a good way to go day by day.

“Every day is a reward in itself."

Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.