Residents criticize state wind decision as Gray renews call to rescinding Pronghorn H2 lease

Facing a packed Converse County Library last week, the State Board of Land Commissioners mostly back-peddled on the controversial wind leases for the Pronghorn H2 project south of Glenrock.

Some even alluded to revisiting, and possibly rescinding, those leases and others around Wyoming that have run up against resident opposition. Monday, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray renewed his call for a vote on rescinding the leases, even though Gov. Mark Gordon last week told him that any motion at the special meeting was out of order and needs to be handled in early February at the board’s next official meeting.

For her part, State Auditor Kristi Racines even apologized Jan. 8 to the large crowd for the board’s actions surrounding the approval, and later appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court, of the wind farm leases.

The board gathered for a nearly five-and-a-half-hour-long special meeting to allow the public to comment on the Pronghorn H2 wind lease of state trust lands just outside of Glenrock. Those leases have been voided due to a decision by Eighth Judicial District Judge Scott Peasley last month.

Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz – at the direction of Gov. Mark Gordon – appealed Peasley’s decision, as did Pronghorn H2.
Racines said that as “politicians, we’re supposed to have thick skin, and we do, I do.”

“And, we can take a lot of arrows, and I expect that is part of the job, particularly in land board decisions, because we are often not deciding a conservative versus liberal issue. We are often having to choose rancher versus rancher, you know, and those things are tough. One of the complaints I’ve heard about this decision is that we aren’t willing to admit we made a mistake,” she said.

“Me personally, I am here today to tell you that I apologize. I apologize for the mess that this has become. I apologize for the meeting last month, for those of you that came to that and were not able to speak. I won’t bore you with the Public Meetings Act things that didn’t allow that, but I was horrified by the way that came out. It was very unsatisfying to everyone there.”

Racines said she is one of the people who requested a meeting in Douglas.
“I’m learning in public and it stinks. But I’m willing to do it, so I am here to listen. I am here for you to yell at me and tell me what I got wrong . . . and I’m trying to do better next time.”

And, while nothing was officially put on the agenda yet, the board alluded to possibly rescinding their approval of the Pronghorn H2 leases and cancelling its appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court over Peasley’s decision, according to comments made by Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Gordon and Racines. Gordon and others asked for time – specifically for next month’s Feb. 5 meeting in Cheyenne – to allow the board time to research and have state counsel weigh in.

Gordon did say the appeal of Peasley’s decision could impact state leases across Wyoming so pulling the appeal could have unintended consequences.

In addition to Gray, Gordon and Racines, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder and State Treasurer Curt Meier also sit on SBLC.

SPEAKING OUT AGAINST WIND FARMS
The majority of comments last Thursday were from Converse County residents with many from Cheyenne and rural areas, including Magoon Ranch General Manager Bobby Giesse, from north of Lusk.

Niobrara County is slated to be home to the clean hydrogen Sidewinder project. The firms behind it are the same ones leading the Pronghorn project. Focus Clean Energy is leading the overall development with land rights services support from Aspen Consulting and HDR. The Niobrara project is backed by ACCIONA & Nordex Green Hydrogen and is slated to be even bigger than the $1.7 billion Pronghorn effort.

“I was in front of you last April and I stated my concerns. I stated how the ranch goes back to 1886 and we have faced a lot,” Giesse said. “And quite frankly, I think this is one of the worst threats that we have ever encountered to this ranch, and it is a legacy ranch in the state of Wyoming. It’s the same family for almost 140 years. What concerns me the most though, is that this meeting’s been called . . . simply to appease us, because some people are starting to get a lot of flack from a lot of people, and they’re concerned for their political futures.”
The board wouldn’t listen to the people testifying in earlier meetings, Giesse charged, “not just on these two hydrogen projects, but windmills in general, I would say 90% of the people in the state of Wyoming are against (wind farm projects).”

“. . . Gov. Gordon, you wanted to take (the lease appeal)to the Supreme Court. I don’t understand why. I’ll tell you what, I’ve heard from a lot of people that I talk to, and I’m not pointing any fingers, but the big question is why? Why is it when 90% of the people are saying, ‘We don’t want this,’ it’s against things like the oil and gas industry. It’s against tourism. It is in direct conflict with agriculture.’ But yet it’s getting pushed down our throats and people aren’t listening.”

Fourth generation rancher Mike Stephens, and his granddaughter Adelaide Williams Bopp, spoke about the short- and long term effects of having multi-million dollar wind farm projects at their front door.

Bopp is pregnant with the family’s seventh generation child, Stephens said.

Stephens filed the original lawsuit against the SLBC.

Bopp implored the board to take a long-term view of the leases.

“We believe that Wyoming state land wind leasing procedures are in need of serious overhaul. If the board is going to approve wind leases on state land, it must have the courage to fully consider the rights of private landowners nearby, including those who do not want industrial development adjacent to their homes, ranches and communities. In some cases, denying the use of public land may be the most responsible decision. Wind leasing is not comparable to grazing leases that families have held for generations, leases where the land is stewarded as if it is their own,” Bopp stated.

Wind development, she said, is an industrial scale and (has) permanent impact, which must be evaluated accordingly.

“These opportunities do not come up every month and the consequences last farther far longer than a single-term lease. In many parts of Wyoming, wind development has reached a saturation point. The public is increasingly struggling to accept additional projects, particularly when they feel excluded from the process. Many wind developers are out of state and foreign owned entities are pursuing substantial tax credits and public subsidies,” she said.

“Ownership changes frequently. These companies will not live with the long-term impacts, the communities will. Too often the developer is first – and sometimes the only – voice that the board hears. They arrive early, they control the narrative and by the time the public becomes aware, the process is already moving forward. You cannot rely solely on developers to be the experts. Many proposed wind lease areas – areas, including the Pronghorn project – are located in critical winter range for mule deer, antelope, as well as sage-grouse habitat.”
Bopp questioned that if the SLBC cannot protect Wyoming’s natural resources for current and future generations, then who will?

“Not all Wyoming state land is open for business, and not all parcels are appropriate for wind development. Awarding leases and pushing the burdens onto counties, planning commissions and local government creates division, conflict and unnecessary expense, often for minimal return to the state land trust. To be clear, one oil and gas lease on state land north of Glenrock can generate more revenue in a single year than the entire Pronghorn wind lease will generate over its lifetime, with a footprint a fraction of the size.

“A few tanks and a vaporizer disappear from your view when you leave the site. 700-foot wind turbines do not. In fact, they’re in the back of my wedding pictures. We ask you, what is more palatable for Wyoming? Wyoming should be investing its time and effort into responsible oil and gas development while preserving landscapes, night skies, wildlife and heritage that define this state.”

Bopp said she and her family surveyed 62 landowners owning 40 acres or more within a 10-mile radius of the Pronghorn lease; 54 of them opposed the project, two were undecided and six were in favor.

Stephens invited the SLBC members to visit his ranch “and see Box Elder. We’ll go over to Box Elder, we’ll go over to Deer Creek and look at where this is going to be. I told you once, it’s our Big Horns, it’s our Tetons, and it’s a prime piece of real estate that (doesn’t) need to be ruined,” Stephens said.

WHAT ABOUT WATER?
Glenrock Mayor Bruce Roumell questioned the board as to where the water is going to come from for his community if the Pronghorn H2 project damages the water supply.

“Right in the middle of your wind farm lease of state land is the water source for the town of Glenrock. Two of the turbines in their first design stand right on top of well number one and well number seven. They also have the right to drill for water.

“In the future, is the town of Glenrock going to have to compete for water or have to . . . find a new water source? I hope you take that into consideration . . . for the use of the water and to make that type of hydrogen. Please, please consider that you’re affecting a community of 2,500 people in the future,” Roumell implored.

No answers were forthcoming. Although Pronghorn has projected estimates of how much water it will take to make hydrogen and, ultimately, jet fuel, no one knows exactly what the actual numbers are at this point. Pronghorn H2 issued statements that they will have town meetings with more information in Glenrock and Douglas, but to date they have not done so.

Others, including members from the Glenrock FFA club, spoke to the board about their concerns.

The meeting devolved when Gordon asked Gray if he wanted to “go outside” to settle their long-standing differences of opinion and Gray’s effort to have a board vote on rescinding the leases and dropping the appeal to the Supreme Court.

The governor’s office later explained that Gordon was asking Gray to go outside so that Gordon could better understand Gray’s desire to negate the Supreme Court appeal by not having the AG “undermine the board” before the Feb. 5 meeting.

Monday, Gray’s office issued a reply to Gordon: “It is unfortunate that rather than discussing these important issues, Gordon keeps resorting to incorrect statements, and now trying to use a fake tough guy persona when Gordon’s actions actually prove him to be the weakest man in the room.

“Rather than actually debating the issues, Gordon used the ‘step outside’ line that Biden used on multiple occasions to try to distract from the real issues . . .

“As the only member of the State Board of Land Commissioners to vote against this boondoggle wind proposal back in April, I am passionate in my opposition to these projects. The public comment at the SBLC meeting was so important. After the last meeting of the State Board of Land Commissioners, in which Gordon refused to take public comment, it was so important that we heard from the people of Wyoming and their opposition to this project. The people were clear – these woke wind projects are wrong for Wyoming. After public comment, I brought a motion to end the Pronghorn wind lease. We had a majority of the board that was willing to end this wind lease because it is inconsistent with the rules of the board. But unfortunately, the governor ruled the motion out of order. However, I plan to bring this motion to rescind the wind lease at the next meeting of the board.”