Public Notice...

Public Notice...

PUBLIC NOTICE

    Pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act and the Wyoming Public Service Commission’s (Commission) Procedural Rules, the Commission hereby gives notice of the Application of Rocky Mountain Power (RMP or the Company) for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to construct and acquire the Rock Creek I and Rock Creek II wind projects and ancillary facilities under a build-transfer agreement with Invenergy, a third-party developer, and to construct system upgrades to interconnect the wind projects as more fully described below:

    1.    RMP is a division of PacifiCorp, an Oregon corporation, engaged in the business of supplying electric utility service to customers throughout its six-state service territory, including Wyoming. RMP is a public utility, as defined by Wyo. Stat. § 37-l-101(a)(vi)(C), subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 37-2-112.

    2.    On August 9, 2022, the Company filed an Application together with supporting testimony and exhibits requesting CPCNs to: [i] acquire wind turbines and associated infrastructure for the Rock Creek I wind project, a new 190-megawatt wind energy facility; [ii] acquire wind turbines and associated infrastructure for the Rock Creek II wind project, a new 400-megawatt wind energy facility; [iii] construct upgrades to portions of its transmission system to interconnect the Rock Creek I and Rock Creek II wind projects. The Company included a Petition for Confidential Treatment and Protective Order with its Application.

    3.    The Company’s proposed Rock Creek I and Rock Creek II facilities are located in Carbon County and Albany County, Wyoming, East of the town of Arlington and South of the town of Rock River. The facilities are sited in the drainages of Cooper Creek and Four Mile Creek, which encompass Diamond Reservoir, King Reservoir Number 1, and Dutton Creek Reservoir, to the North of Interstate Highway 80. The proposed wind facilities each consist of: [i] wind turbine generators and tower structures; [ii] an electrical collector system; [iii] a collector substation; [iv] access roads; [v] wind turbine generator foundations with base pads; [vi] an operation and maintenance building; [vii] communication equipment; [viii] a supervisory control and operating status data acquisition control system; [ix] main power transformers; [x] meteorological evaluation towers; and [xi] 230-kilovolt transmission lines from the wind facilities to existing substations.

    4.       The Company proposes to interconnect the Rock Creek I facility via an approximately 9-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line beginning at the wind facility’s new collector substation and running generally northwest to the Company’s Foote Creek substation located approximately three miles north of Arlington, Wyoming. The Company proposes to interconnect the Rock Creek II facility via an approximately 38-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line beginning at the wind facility’s new collector substation and running generally north/northwest to the Company’s Aeolus substation located approximately 11 miles northwest of Medicine Bow.

    5.    The Company also proposes to construct upgrades to portions of its transmission system to interconnect the Rock Creek I and Rock Creek II wind facilities consisting of: [i] expansion of the existing Foote Creek substation; [ii] expansion of the existing Freezeout substation located approximately 10 miles northwest of Medicine Bow, Wyoming; [iii] expansion of the existing Aeolus substation; and [iv] construction of approximately 3.5 miles of 230-kilovolt transmission line from the Aeolus substation to the Freezeout substation.

    6.    The Company states the proposed wind projects are necessary resource additions, designed to fill short and long-term resource need, were selected as the least-cost, least-risk resources to meet the Company’s resource need, reduce the Company’s reliance on market purchases to meet load and are critical to ensure resource adequacy in the region. The Company estimates construction to begin in 2023, Rock Creek I to be in service in December 2024 and Rock Creek II to be in service in September 2025. The Company states the total cost of the wind projects and associated transmission system upgrades is expected to exceed one billion dollars. RMP states it intends to finance the proposed projects through its normal internal and external sources of capital.

    7.    This is not a complete description of RMP’s Application. You may review the Application at RMP’s Wyoming offices and at the Commission’s office in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during business hours or online at: https://dms.wyo.gov/external/publicusers.aspx (enter Record No. 17154).

    8.    Anyone desiring to file a statement, intervention petition, protest or request for a public hearing in this matter must do so, in writing, on or before October 12, 2022. Petitions shall set forth the grounds of the proposed intervention or request for hearing as well as the position and the interest of the petitioner in this proceeding. The Commission encourages the public’s participation and comments will be received throughout the entirety of this proceeding. The opportunity to present verbal comments will be available to anyone appearing, either in person or remotely, during future public proceedings related to this matter. Submitting written comments to the Commission by the deadline set forth above may allow for resolution of issues and/or concerns identified therein. Please mention Docket No. 20000-623-EN-22 in all correspondence with the Commission.

    9.    If you wish to participate in this matter and you require reasonable accommodation for a disability, please contact the Commission at (307) 777-7427, or write to the Commission at 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 300, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002, to make arrangements. Communications impaired persons may also contact the Commission by accessing Wyoming Relay at 711.

Publish: September 7 & 14, 2022    5524