Committee hears municipal solar and wind proposal; no action taken on Senate File 54
January 22, 2025 | Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions, Senate, Committees, Legislative, Wyoming
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At a committee hearing, proponents and utility representatives debated Senate File 54, which would authorize municipalities to develop electricity production facilities on municipal property under specified conditions.
The bill’s supporters said it would let cities make use of unusable land and create a modest new revenue stream. Mark Rennie, a Cheyenne City Council member, described a capped landfill site of roughly 100 acres west of Cheyenne that the city is exploring for solar arrays. Rennie said the city expects a small array could “produce 14 to 20 megawatts per year,” and argued local generation could reduce transmission losses and provide local backup during emergencies. Bob McLaren of WAM (Wyoming Association of Municipalities) told the committee, “We’re here to speak in favor of Senate File 54 … we see this as a potential opportunity for some cities to generate additional revenue.”
Utility representatives and business groups raised concerns. Austin Rademacher of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association said cooperatives are “very protective of their member owners’ certificated service territories,” and warned the bill could be a “camel’s nose under the tent.” David Bush of Black Hills Energy said utilities cannot “speculatively build generation” and described technical, transmission and regulatory hurdles for integrating new generation, including queues on transmission and federal rules. Dale Steenbergen, chief executive officer of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and Wyoming Chamber governmental affairs partnership, testified that private-sector competition and fairness to local businesses are concerns: “Whenever you go into the private sector and you start delivering a product that the private sector is delivering … that seems to be a problem.”
Committee members pressed proponents on technical and economic details. A senator corrected Rennie’s usage of “megawatts” versus energy units (megawatt‑hours) and Rennie said he would supply clarified figures later. Members also questioned whether municipal projects would effectively compete with third‑party developers or place negotiating pressure on franchised utilities that serve the same communities.
No formal motion to advance Senate File 54 was made during the hearing. Committee members asked the witnesses to remain available for follow-up and moved on to the next agenda item.
The bill’s supporters said it would let cities make use of unusable land and create a modest new revenue stream. Mark Rennie, a Cheyenne City Council member, described a capped landfill site of roughly 100 acres west of Cheyenne that the city is exploring for solar arrays. Rennie said the city expects a small array could “produce 14 to 20 megawatts per year,” and argued local generation could reduce transmission losses and provide local backup during emergencies. Bob McLaren of WAM (Wyoming Association of Municipalities) told the committee, “We’re here to speak in favor of Senate File 54 … we see this as a potential opportunity for some cities to generate additional revenue.”
Utility representatives and business groups raised concerns. Austin Rademacher of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association said cooperatives are “very protective of their member owners’ certificated service territories,” and warned the bill could be a “camel’s nose under the tent.” David Bush of Black Hills Energy said utilities cannot “speculatively build generation” and described technical, transmission and regulatory hurdles for integrating new generation, including queues on transmission and federal rules. Dale Steenbergen, chief executive officer of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and Wyoming Chamber governmental affairs partnership, testified that private-sector competition and fairness to local businesses are concerns: “Whenever you go into the private sector and you start delivering a product that the private sector is delivering … that seems to be a problem.”
Committee members pressed proponents on technical and economic details. A senator corrected Rennie’s usage of “megawatts” versus energy units (megawatt‑hours) and Rennie said he would supply clarified figures later. Members also questioned whether municipal projects would effectively compete with third‑party developers or place negotiating pressure on franchised utilities that serve the same communities.
No formal motion to advance Senate File 54 was made during the hearing. Committee members asked the witnesses to remain available for follow-up and moved on to the next agenda item.
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