Energy & The Economy: Cedar Springs Wind Farm on schedule; workers arrive in county, filling hotels

Cedar Springs Wind Farm in Converse County

(photo courtesy Converse County)

This map shows the location of the NextEra Energy Resources Cedar Spring Wind Farm.

Cedar Springs Wind Farm, Converse County, Wind Energy

(Cinthia Stimson photo)

A handful of completed turbines, as yet offline, are still. The turbines are part of a 192 turbine, $600 million, 400 megawatt Cedar Springs Wind Farm project under construction outside Douglas by NextEra Energy Resources. The project will be completed by the end of December.

By: 
Cinthia Stimson, cinthia@glenrockind.com

Wyoming’s last operating gas rig was laid down two weeks ago in Sweetwater County, taking Wyoming’s rig count to zero – an historic low unseen since 1884. As of Aug. 10, the rig count grew 100% – back to one, according to Wyoming Oil and Gas Commissioner Mark Watson.

The state rig count a year ago sat at 36, with many of those in Converse and Sweetwater counties.

Low rig counts equals no jobs for Wyomingites working in the oil and gas industry. Rig counts are a fairly accurate indicator of the economic status of the current oil and gas boom and bust cycle, according to industry experts. One rig is estimated to equal 100 jobs.

A bright spot in this neck of the woods – and perhaps even Converse County’s economic savior this year – is NextEra Energy Resource’s $600 million Cedar Springs Wind Farm with its 192 turbines under construction about 10 miles outside of Douglas between WYO 59 and WYO 93. When completed, the project is expected to produce 400 megawatts.

Some area hotels are seeing a resurgence of near-capacity business, while operators at other hotels say they haven’t seen many of the wind farm construction and business people utilizing their rooms yet.

Holiday Inn Express General Manager Paula Fenton said the hotel was at about 70 percent capacity, including guests from the wind energy sector, although that was the day before the start of the Wyoming State Fair.

“We haven’t been filled up 100 percent for the last couple weeks. We’re occupied at about 70 percent. Oil and gas prices dropped (in Converse County) about the same time we started to be affected by COVID. Our (low volume) at that time was a combination of both of those things,” she said.

Hampton Inn & Suites General Manager Lori Moore said they’ve yet to see much traffic from the wind farm, but they do have a pretty large crew from Burlington Northern Railroad there.

“We may see it pick up after the railroad’s crews taper off for the summer. We do have one long-term guest staying through December with us who is from the wind farm. Every little bit helps,” she said.

NextEra Energy Resources Project Manager Ryan Fitzpatrick said his company is in Converse County doing what they can to help support the economy. The company is employing 400 workers at Cedar Springs, including 40 displaced oil and gas workers. NextEra began ramping up in the spring – the same time rigs were shutting down due to the coronavirus and the resulting poor economy.

“We’re utilizing workers from all over the country, but we’ve been able to hire a lot of local businesses to assist in the construction of the projects. It’s great to be able to provide local employment opportunities to so many people,” Fitzpatrick said.

NextEra began raising towers for the wind generators in May, sometimes during multiple shifts or at night when winds would die down. Right now the company is running single shifts.

Fitzpatrick said the wind generation plant is on schedule. Forty turbines are completely built. The remaining 152 turbines are being delivered beginning this week and running through October, and the project will be completed and online by the end of December. At that time, they intend to employ 20 employees full time, he said.

Company officials are utilizing local materials as often as possible for the wind project, which is adding a much needed boost to the county’s still-struggling economy.

NextEra is adding value to Converse County in other ways, too, Fitzpatrick said.

 “In addition to supporting the local economy by staying in hotels, buying local gas and food, (CS I, II, III) are making landowner payments, and (we) are paying tens of millions in sales tax right now.  We’re also supporting local organizations, like the King’s Portion Food Pantry and the Boys & Girls Club, in addition to buying a steer at this year’s county fair,” he elaborated.

“We’re excited to be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Converse County. The investment will ultimately pay over $100 million in taxes, funding local schools and public services. The community has been very welcoming, and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

 Construction manager Damon Steelman said NextEra is using quite a bit of “local stuff,” such as housing, hotels, apartments, RV park spaces, water, aggregate and other materials.

“Some of (the crews) have gone toward Casper for housing, but all of the local sourcing is coming out of Douglas,” Steelman said April 21.

Although news on the local economy tends to swing back and forth, revenue numbers reported for May are grim. Converse County Treasurer Joel Schell noted the county’s sales tax revenue had dropped again.

“County-wide sales tax collections for the month of May fell to $3.7 million, a 29% decrease from April and the lowest total since August 2017. Overall sales tax collections in Fiscal Year 2020 averaged $7.9 million, putting May collections at 53% below the average,” Schell said. The FY 20 sales tax collections were, however, among the highest the county has ever recorded.

The mining sector – which includes oil and gas as well as another sector on tough times (coal) – had the largest decrease, he said, falling to a three-year low of $1.2 million, down 54% from April, with a $3.7 million per month average during the fiscal year.

Oil prices fell into negative numbers in the spring, a combination of the pandemic and an ongoing dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Oil prices are hovering around $42 a barrel for several weeks now, a price which leaves oil and gas companies cautiously optimistic. Word is employees are slowly being brought back on site to Converse County oil rigs.

Sales tax in the retail sector dropped 19% from April to May, to a low of $935,000, he said.

Meanwhile, unemployment rates fell to just under 8 percent in June, Wyoming Department of Workforce Services (DWS) personnel reported last week. DWS economists said the state is continuing to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic-influenced economic crash and business and restaurant closures and restrictions.

 Wyoming’s unemployment rates went from 8.8 percent in May to 7.6 percent in June. There were 7,979 unemployment claims in June, down from 10,741 in May, a -25.7 percent decrease. This is the lowest monthly total since the start of COVID-19 in March, economist Sherry Wen stated.

DWS officials said they will release unemployment figures for July on Aug. 25.

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