A look inside Cheyenne's new hydroelectric facility
Oct. 7—On Saturday, the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities (BOPU) opened the doors of its new hydroelectric generation facility to the public.
It's located at the R.L. Sherard Water Treatment Plant where it provides more than enough energy to power the whole plant. The plant has been around since 2002 and no longer must solely rely on energy from the power grid. The $7.4 million hydroelectric project was recently constructed and went online in July.
Over its 50-year projected lifespan, the BOPU anticipates it to pay for itself and generate $31 million in net income. The money comes from the excess energy it produces.
"Today, we're producing 400 kilowatts and we're selling back 270 kilowatts to the grid," said water treatment plant supervisor Nick Dennis.
The energy not being used to power the plant is sold to Black Hills Energy. That leftover energy can power between 160 and 580 homes, depending on Cheyenne water demands.
At the open house, visitors were impressed by the new facility. The water flows in from Crystal Lake Reservoir in Curt Gowdy State Park and maintains enough pressure to travel the 13.5 miles and enter the generator at the top without a pump.
"It's kind of changing the horizon here west of Cheyenne. A lot of questions are coming in on what's going up out here." Dennis said, "And really, the open house is to invite people to see that this is just another aspect to reduce our footprint."
He said that, although the power source has changed, the work of the treatment facility hasn't changed much as a result.
"At the end of the day it's a motor, generator, pairings. A lot of stuff that we deal with in the plant already. So just trying to maximize the life (of the hydroelectric generator)." Dennis said.
When the facility hosted an estimated 90 visitors at the open house Saturday, the generator was handling around 8 million gallons per day at 720 rpm but has the capacity to handle up to 16 million gallons. It just depends on how much water Cheyenne is using and sending to the treatment facility.
The treatment plant only needs between 150 and 270 kilowatts (kW) to power. In the summer, the water flowing into the facility will produce around 850 kW but only around 340 kW in the winter. That's simply because Cheyenne uses less water in the winter. Dennis projects the generator may not produce enough power to completely power the treatment facility in the early months of the year.
"I can't tell you for sure right now, but our energy consumption is tracking that way where we'll be using this in addition to pulling off the grid." He said, "So, we won't be completely self-sustained all year round."
Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
