A wind turbine farm owned by PacifiCorp near Glenrock, Wyoming.

(AP Photo/Matt Young, File)

At a Glance

Wyoming produces more coal than any other state and has long fought renewable energy. Legislators in Wyoming are trying to increase the state's wind tax.

A conservative billionaireplanning to build North America'slargest wind farm in Wyoming is facing a gale-force storm of backlash.

Despite his political leanings and millions in donations to the right, Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, who owns the conservative news outlets theWeekly Standardand theWashington Examiner, appears to be facing an uphill battle to convince legislators in the Cowboy State to get behind the project that would send enough clean energy to California to power both Los Angeles and San Francisco, .

In a state that produces more coal than all of Appalachia combined, many Wyoming lawmakers and residents share the opinion that proposals like Anschutz' will not only contribute to the slow death of the state's coal industry but will create an eyesore on the pristine landscape.

Anschutz has already invested nearly $100 million and a decade of his time developing the $8 billion, 1,000-turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm, located south of Sinclair and Rawlins in Carbon County,.

Bill Miller, chief executive of the two Anschutz-owned companies, Power Company of Wyoming and TransWest Express, the reason Anschutz decided toinvest in the project is simple:"It's the right project, in the right place, at the right time."

Deep-Rooted Aversion to Wind

There seems to be a palpable aversion to wind power in Wyoming, although it is perhaps the state with the .

In 2013, lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would fine utilities if they provide energy produced by wind or the sun. The bill failed but seemed to solidify Wyoming's reputation of being hostile to wind.

With no income tax and its greatest source of revenue declining from oil, gas and coal royalties, wind has become an enticing prospect in filling the budget gap left behind. Lawmakers like Republican Mike Maddenara are pressing hard for an increase in the Wyoming's wind tax — the only state to do so — from $1 per megawatt hour to $3 or $5. Although these efforts to raise the tax failed in committee, pushback continues to aggravate Anschutz and other developers.

Billionaire Philip Anschutz.

(Helen H. Richardson/Getty Images)

Those who oppose raising the wind tax cite the state's dire need to attract developers and create new jobs.

“Wyoming is perceived by many wind developers to be kind of anti-wind,” University of Wyoming economist Robert Godby told Nexus Media. “Suddenly the state is suggesting that we might raise the tax by four or five times? That’s not conducive to economic development. Tax uncertainty is almost as bad as having high taxes.”

Godby said the fear is that wind developers will choose to invest in another state rather than deal with the pushback that goes on in Wyoming.

"Imagine you’re in the board room of a major wind developer, and you’re suggesting a billion-dollar investment, and you say I’m going to put it in New Mexico or Nevada or Wyoming. The board might say, ‘Well, we’re not putting it in Wyoming,'" Godby said.

John Hensley, deputy director of industry data and analysis for the American Wind Energy Association, agrees that if Wyoming doesn't soon embrace wind development, it could lose an important opportunity.

“Wyoming is at a bit of a crossroads, where if it doesn’t get on board soon it’s going to miss out on an incredible economic development opportunity for the state,” he .“It’s an opportunity that is going to go elsewhere in the country if [Wyoming] doesn’t move forward.”

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