Wyoming

Legal Mess Ties Up $500 Million Wyoming Wind… | Cowboy State Daily

Published

1 year ago

June 24, 2024

Legal Mess Ties Up 0 Million Wyoming Wind… | Cowboy State Daily

An influential seven-member industrial siting group in Wyoming plans an early July meeting to sort out a legal mess that could determine the future of the $500 million Rail Tie wind farm development in Albany County.

The industrial siting group will likely head into a closed-door executive session July 10 to determine the “financial adequacy” of the former owner of the wind farm project and whether it was done legally by a Nov. 1 deadline, as well as whether the deep pockets of the new owner from Spain are sufficient to get the project built, according to sources involved in the meeting interviewed by Cowboy State Daily.

The cornerstone of the special meeting is to review financial adequacy statements of the wind farm development’s sponsors, according to an announcement issued by the Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siting Council, which is tasked with the job of examining new energy projects in Wyoming.

Dusty Spomer, chairman of the Siting Council, could not comment on the matter at press time.

The 504-megawatt Rail Tie project, which is located to the southeast of Laramie, is expected to benefit Albany County by generating $130 million in new tax revenues, according to figures provided by the new owner of the project to Cowboy State Daily.

The dust-up over the future of Rail Tie is the result of the Fish Creek Preserve Homeowners Association, which had filed a lawsuit to halt the development. The group claims that the bureaucratic mess on whether to build the project has been upended because of the Industrial Siting Council’s missteps.

“They don’t know what they are doing,” said John Davis, a homeowner in the Fish Creek Preserve area and a retired accountant and lawyer involved in the lawsuit to halt the wind farm development.

Ruins View

The Fish Creek Preserve homeowners oppose the development of the Rail Tie wind power project near Highway 287 outside of Tie Siding because it “diminishes the value” of the association’s properties in “the view scape” of the area, according to Davis.

Davis has an important role in the July 10 meeting.

He will participate because of his designation as an intervenor in the litigation filed against the project. He also signed a nondisclosure agreement to not discuss the financial muscle of Rail Tie’s developers.

However, Davis said that the previous owner could not have gotten the project built without the “credit enhancement” of its private equity parent.

As background, the special meeting July 10 relates to a Dec. 4, 2023, order by the Industrial Siting Council that approved the so-called Rail Tie wind project.

But Davis and his group said that the council approved the “financial adequacy” of the previous owner by not sharing the financial resource information with his group, which is an intervenor in the case. This was done outside of the legal bounds of how power projects are supposed to be approved, Davis said.

The legal mess has grown murkier because of the entrance into Wyoming of a new owner of the project. Davis claimed that the new entrant may have to start the Rail Tie permitting process all over because of his claim that the ConnectGen “financial adequacy” process wasn’t done properly last fall.

Spanish Connection

Last fall, Spanish energy giant Repsol broke into the U.S. market for onshore wind power with a $768 million deal to buy Houston-based renewable energy firm ConnectGen from private equity firm Quantum Capital Group. This is how Rail Tie came into the hands of Repsol.

Quantum’s renewable energy arm, 547 Energy, owned ConnectGen.

The deal to buy ConnectGen closed with regulators in March.

ConnectGen, founded in 2018, operates 278 megawatts of solar energy projects in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Its nationwide development pipeline features more than 20,000 megawatts of wind power, solar power and energy storage projects.

Repsol told Cowboy State Daily in a recent statement that it remains committed to the Rail Tie project.

“We continue to work on the development of this project, which is an important part of our portfolio in the U.S.,” a Repsol spokeswoman said in an email statement from Madrid, Spain, where the company is headquartered.

Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.

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Wyoming

Search for fugitive wanted for child-sex crimes leaves Wyoming town on alert

Published

12 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Search for fugitive wanted for child-sex crimes leaves Wyoming town on alert

With a population under 600, Byron, Wyo., is generally a quiet town. In recent weeks, streets have been even quieter as both local and federal law enforcement search for 39-year-old fugitive Anthony Pease, who is wanted for six counts of sexual assault involving a minor.

Authorities have been searching the area for weeks, and a reward for information leading to an arrest now sits at $2,000.

See how the search impacts the town:

Search for fugitive wanted for child sex crimes leaves Wyoming town on alert

Saturday morning, law enforcement shared there was a confirmed sighting of Pease near town and reminded residents to remain vigilant by locking their doors and reporting suspicious activity. According to Wyoming’s Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office, before the weekend sighting, Pease hasn’t been seen since Nov. 1.

The Big Horn County Schools Superintendent, Matt Davidson, told MTN News a school resource officer on staff stays up to date with the latest on search efforts, and some parents say they’ve been keeping their kids indoors when they’re not at school.

As the search continues, the mayor as well as some residents, say they are taking law enforcement’s advice while keeping a watchful eye.

“I never used to lock my house during the day. I didn’t even lock my vehicles at night. In fact, a lot of the time I’d leave the keys in them. I’ve talked to other people and there is quite a few people that are nervous. I would hope that a lot of us are nervous because this is a bad thing,” said Byron Mayor Allan Clark.

In fact, investigators could be seen around Byron knocking on doors and scanning land outside of town.

“There’s just so much area and a low population, so much area for him to hide and seek shelter,” Clark said.

With so many wide-open spaces and abandoned buildings in the area, Clark understands why the search has gone on so long.

According to the US Marshals Service, Pease is 5 feet 11 inches tall and may also be going by the name Abraham. They also ask that anyone nearby who has a collection of silver dollars to ensure they are still there, and if not, to report to authorities.

Marshals say Pease is considered dangerous, and the public is told to not approach him and instead call 9-1-1. As the search has stretched over six weeks, many residents hope a capture will bring life back to normal.

“I hope that they capture him soon, and I hope that us as community members and around the area keep our eyes open and report anything suspicious,” said Clark.

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Wyoming

Five takeaways from the Wyoming Legislature’s budget hearings

Published

24 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Five takeaways from the Wyoming Legislature’s budget hearings – County 17

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Wyoming

Shoshoni youth sets new world record with largemouth bass catch

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Shoshoni youth sets new world record with largemouth bass catch

SHOSHONI, Wyo. — A 12-year-old boy from Shoshoni is now the proud holder of the Junior 4-pound Line Class world record for bass after netting a 2-pound, 4-ounce largemouth in August. The boy, coincidentally with the last name Bass, caught the fish at Lake Cameahwait.

According to a release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Tucker Bass and his father were fishing over the lake on a two-person kayak when the young angler reeled in the record fish. He did so on a rod and reel given to him by his grandfather.

Bass is the first Wyoming resident to hold a world record in any category for largemouth. The International Game and Fish Association oversees all world records for fishing and officially approved Bass’s catch in November.

Wyoming’s state record largemouth was caught in 2018 near Sheridan. A comprehensive list of all Wyoming record fish can be found here.

“This is an exceptional accomplishment for a young angler,” WGF Lander Region fisheries supervisor Joe Deromedi said in the release. “Tucker’s record highlights not only his skill and dedication, but also the quality fishing opportunities we have in central Wyoming. It’s always exciting to see youth developing a lifelong passion for fishing.”

Bass, an avid fisherman, also earned Trophy Angler status in the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Master Angler program in August.

For more information on Tucker Bass’s record catch, see the Wyoming Game and Fish website.

Junior Line class 4-pound world record-holder Tucker Bass (WGF Department)

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