Wyoming wind project trades safer power lines for federal eagle permits

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — One of the biggest wind energy projects under development in the U.S. got closer Thursday to securing a federal permit to kill a limited number of eagles without facing the prospect of a penalty.

A final plan released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would help ensure the Chokecherry-Sierra Madre wind farm in south-central Wyoming does not kill too many bald and golden eagles with its hundreds of spinning turbine blades.

Power Company of Wyoming could get two permits as soon as January if Fish and Wildlife gives final approval to the plan. One permit would allow removal of unoccupied eagle nests during construction of the first 500 of up to 1,000 turbines.

A five-year permit would allow up to 14 golden eagle deaths a year during operation. Power Company of Wyoming, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denver-based Anschutz Corp., would offset those deaths by retrofitting existing power lines so they cannot electrocute eagles.

The goal would be no net loss of golden eagles, if not a net benefit for the species.

“We know that golden eagles get electrocuted. There’s a way to estimate how frequently they get electrocuted by power lines that are not safe,” said Clint Riley, Fish and Wildlife assistant regional director for migratory birds.

Riley added: “They have to fix enough power poles to try to match up the number of eagles that would be saved by those actions compared to those that would be taken by the wind farm.”

The project’s 1,500-megawatt first phase — enough electricity to power up to 367,000 homes — would be larger than any other U.S. wind farm currently operating.

The biggest existing U.S. wind farm, the Alta Wind Energy Center in California, produces up to 1,320 megawatts.