Laramie solar project on city land clears key grid connection milestone

A 160-megawatt solar project on Laramie’s Monolith Ranch has crossed a key grid-connection hurdle, with NextEra Energy reaching an agreement with Black Hills Power to deliver electricity to the power grid. For a project on city-owned land, that move matters well beyond energy policy: it is the step that can turn a proposed development into a real utility asset for Laramie and Albany County.

The project sits on about 1,300 acres of the Monolith Ranch, the 11,000-acre tract the City of Laramie bought in 1981. City records describe Sailors Solar as a 160-megawatt photovoltaic solar and storage energy center with 80 megawatts of battery storage. NextEra says the project is expected to begin operations as early as May 2028, while city briefing materials have described commercial operation in 2028.

Laramie’s tie to the project goes back to 2020, when the city put a lease option in place with NextEra for solar development on the ranch. City officials have framed the project as part of a net-zero, carbon-neutral future, and the city’s broader land holdings help explain why. Laramie also owns the 4,600-acre Hart Ranch, purchased in 2022, and together the two properties give the city majority water rights along the Dowlin Ditch, the primary water right in the Laramie River system. That makes the solar proposal part of a larger land and water strategy, not just a single lease.

The financial stakes are substantial. NextEra says the project could generate about $37.1 million in tax revenue and create 275 construction jobs. A city presentation put the figure differently, saying the project could bring more than $24 million in property and sales taxes over its life, about $9 million in payments to the city over 30 years, more than 140 construction jobs and about seven full-time jobs. If those numbers hold, the biggest visible effects for residents would likely come first in construction payrolls and city finances, not on electric bills.

The timing also gives the project added weight. Renewable-energy proposals across the West have faced more uncertainty, and NextEra canceled a 600-megawatt wind project in Sweetwater County just two months before this grid agreement. Against that backdrop, Sailors Solar stands out as one of the larger local developments still moving forward.

Still, the project remains contested. Todd Feezer has said the lease reflects Laramie’s commitment to efficient renewable energy sources and could put more electricity on the grid, while opponents including Anne Brande of the Albany County Conservancy have raised concerns about the timeline, bird impacts and broader environmental effects. For now, the Black Hills Power agreement marks the kind of technical milestone that often decides whether a project stays on paper or becomes part of Laramie’s future power supply.