MONDAY, September 14, 2026|
Photo – Image of Seminoe Pumped Storage Project – Courtesy rPlus Hydro
State lawmakers continue to criticize the federal government’s handling of the Seminoe Pumped Storage Project.
Utah‑based rPlus Hydro, doing business as Black Canyon Hydro, has proposed a pumped storage facility at Seminoe Reservoir. The project involves the construction of a 13,000‑acre‑foot upper lake and an underground powerhouse. During periods of high wind-energy production, water will be pumped from the reservoir and stored in the upper lake. When additional power is needed, the water will flow downhill through an underground turbine, generating approximately 900 megawatts of electricity for up to 12 hours.
On June 12th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which is overseeing federal permitting for the facility, released its final Environmental Impact Statement for the Seminoe Pumped Storage Project. FERC concluded that the public benefits of the project outweigh the negative effects on the surrounding area, including the North Platte River and Miracle Mile blue ribbon trout fishery. FERC now has until Thursday, September 17th, to approve or deny the proposal.
As reported by Bigfoot99 and Bandit102, the Wyoming Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee submitted a letter to FERC on August 18th criticizing how the federal agency conducted the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, review. The committee members wrote that after hearing from stakeholders, local officials, agency directors, and residents, they concluded that the project will likely harm Wyoming’s people, natural resources, and wildlife.
During the September 8th Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee meeting, Legislative Service Office Attorney Savannah Collins provided the committee members with an overview of the National Environmental Policy Act process. Collins explained that Wyoming has agreements with the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to automatically collaborate on actions that may impact the environment.
However, Attorney Collins said Wyoming does not have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While the state itself isn’t a cooperating agency, Collins said many other federal, state, and local entities are taking part in the NEPA process.
Saratoga Encampment Rawlins Conservation District NEPA Consultant Leanne Correll testified that for roughly 20 years, she has served as a cooperating agency on many projects, adding that FERC’s NEPA process was very different than those conducted by the United States Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. While those entities typically work closely with cooperating agencies, Correll said FERC appeared to discourage them from participating in the environmental review.
Federal law requires FERC to evaluate “a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed action” when conducting a NEPA review. Correll accused the federal agency of ignoring requests to consider different water‑handling methods, such as a closed‑loop system, which would prevent water used for power generation from entering the North Platte River.
To dispute FERC’s environmental impact statement, Correll said cooperating agencies would need to provide proof that the federal agency did not have sufficient information to complete the report. However, she said FERC may simply disregard their objections and issue a final approval for the pumped storage project anyway.
With the September 17th deadline approaching, Correll said she expects FERC to approve the project. Even so, she said state and local agencies must still issue a variety of permits before work can begin. For example, Correll said the Bureau of Land Management must amend the Rawlins Resource Management Plan, which limits construction at Seminoe Reservoir to a four-month window to avoid disturbing the Seminoe-Ferris bighorn sheep herd. rPlus Hydro would need BLM to amend the plan to allow at least a nine‑month season. Correll said FERC considers its environmental impact statement sufficient basis to amend the resource management plan, but BLM does not agree.
Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee chairman Senator Bill Landen expressed his disappointment that state and local agencies were excluded from the NEPA review. Senator Landen said he was concerned that subsequent projects would follow the same pattern.
Travel Committee co-chairman Representative Andrew Byron announced that rPlus Hydro responded to the committee’s August 18th letter. Representative Byron said he was unsatisfied with the company’s reply.
In the response letter, rPlus Hyrdo General Council Kevin Baker wrote that the Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee was relying on concerns previously raised during the licensing process. Baker wrote that the committee ignored the environmental safeguards rPlus Hydro developed in response to those concerns. Baker added that the question is not if concerns were expressed, but if they received “careful review and meaningful consideration,” which he wrote, the record demonstrates they did.
In regard to the claim that FERC failed to consider alternative water-handling methods, Baker wrote that Black Canyon Hydro submitted a supplemental memorandum for a closed-loop system on March 9th, 2026, at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Joint Travel Committee contended that FERC relied on outdated information, including data from ten years ago, to complete its environmental review. General Council Baker wrote that the data was sufficient for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to determine that the project will comply with applicable state and federal water quality standards, adding that DEQ will require rPlus Hydro to collect two additional years of new baseline data prior to construction.
Baker concluded that the Seminoe Pumped Storage Project represents responsible energy development that benefits Wyoming and the region while preserving water quality, wildlife, recreation, and other environmental resources.
The Wyoming Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee will meet again in November to revisit the matter.
