February 2, 2011
Wyoming

NLRA releases survey results, REAL responds

By BRENDAN BURNETT-KURIE, Reporter, Douglas Budget, www.douglas-budget.com 2 February 2011

The Northern Laramie Range Alliance (NLRA) is reporting significant opposition to a large-scale wind energy facility, according to a two-month county-wide survey the group commissioned.

County-wide, 69.2 percent of respondents opposed the project, with 72 percent of those in Glenrock against the idea of industrial-scale development in the mountains, according to an NLRA press release. The NLRA is a coalition of concerned citizens who oppose large-scale wind development in mountainous regions.

The questionnaire, which was sent to 6,000 homes in Converse County, asked the following question:

Are you in favor of Wasatch Wind’s proposed 30,000-acre industrial wind farm in the Converse County mountains?

• YES, I am in favor of Wasatch Wind’s proposed 30,000-acre industrial wind facility in the Converse County mountains.

• NO, I am opposed to the proposed wind facility in the mountains.

• NO OPINION – I have no view one way or the other.

“This is the first and, so far, the only all-households poll seeking public feedback on a wind-energy development proposal in Wyoming, and the Alliance believes it is the first poll of this kind in the United States,” the NLRA said. Wasatch Wind conducted a survey in Glenrock a short time later, but has not released the results of its poll yet.

Each card carried a unique number so results could be compiled by zip codes and to prevent double counting, but the cards did not ask respondents to include their names.

As of Dec. 31, 2010, 1,430 poll cards (23 percent) had been returned.

“Anyone familiar with polling of this kind knows that both the response rate and the dominance of the opposition among the responses are extraordinarily high,” the NLRA said.

County-wide, only 5.4 percent of all respondents had no opinion. Of those who expressed a view, 73.2 percent opposed the project, with that number rising to 77.2 percent in Glenrock and Rolling Hills.

Wasatch Wind, a Utah-based company, has proposed a Pioneer Wind Project of up to 66 turbines capable of 100mW and has leased around 22,000 acres in the Boxelder-Mormon Canyon area south of Glenrock. They have agreed to a power purchase agreement with Rocky Mountain Power.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/02/nlra-releases-survey-results-real-responds/