Action: Start Small. Build Power.
The Short Version
You do not have to take on Black Hills Energy by yourself. Pick one action that matches the time, money or experience you have today.
Two Minutes: Help Someone Else See It
Share the Website
Send the Horse Creek Project to one nearby neighbor who may not know what is being planned.
Sign Up for Updates
Get notified when applications, meetings, comment periods or important documents appear.
Offer to Help
Tell us what you know how to do—even if it is answering emails, organizing files, taking photographs or making phone calls.
Send Us a Document or Tip
Share a public record, meeting notice, photograph, permit number or observation that may help complete the picture.
One Evening: Stay Ahead of the Process
Turn On Official Notices
Subscribe to Wyoming DEQ and PSC notices, monitor the County permitting portal and create a free County Clerk Document Alert for relevant names and legal descriptions. The Clerk’s alert system can notify subscribers when deeds, easements, liens or other records matching their criteria are filed.
Contact the Right Official
Use Wyoming’s Find My Legislator service to identify your state representative and senator, and contact County Commissioners or the agency responsible for the issue you care about. A water question belongs with the State Engineer; an air question belongs with DEQ; a utility filing belongs with the PSC.
Ask Black Hills One Clear Question
Questions are harder to avoid when they request one number, map, study, deadline or permit identifier.
Examples:
What is the maximum annual water demand?
What generating technology has been selected?
Where is the proposed gas-pipeline route?
What is the closest distance between major equipment and a home?
What permits have already been submitted?
File a Public-Records Request
Request emails, meeting notes, attachments, calendars, maps, jurisdictional decisions and pre-application communications from agencies involved with the project. Wyoming DEQ provides an online records-request process, although requesters may still need to review the records themselves.
Protect Your Own Baseline
Photograph Your Property and View
Take dated photographs of your home, landscaping, views, road frontage and the current night sky.
Document Nearby Roads
Photograph pavement, shoulders, drainage, cracks and entrances before major construction traffic begins.
Consider a Current Appraisal
A qualified independent appraisal can establish the value and condition of your property before the project changes local market perceptions.
Build a Complete Well File
Save your well permit, driller’s log, completion statement, total depth, screened interval, pump depth, repair history, water-quality results and any records of low production or sand.
The State Engineer’s ePermit system allows the public to search groundwater rights and well records.
Have Your Well Professionally Measured
A licensed well contractor or hydrogeologist can document static water level, pumping level, recovery and yield. Do not open or measure inside a wellhead yourself unless you are trained to do so.
The State Engineer also publishes Laramie County monitor-well information and hydrographs that may provide useful regional context.
Document Existing Sound, Light and Traffic
Keep a dated log of normal nighttime sound, lighting, traffic and unusual activity. A phone recording is not a professional study, but a consistent dated record is better than relying on memory later.
Preserve Insurance and Lending Information
Save current insurance policies, renewal notices, refinancing records and written answers from insurers or lenders about nearby industrial infrastructure.
Show Up When It Counts
Submit a Focused Public Comment
A strong comment identifies one concern, cites one fact or document and asks for one measurable solution.
Wyoming’s air-permit process generally provides a 30-day public-comment period after DEQ reaches a proposed decision, while PSC and Industrial Siting procedures have different deadlines. Do not assume every Horse Creek comment period will last 60 days.
Attend Meetings and Hearings
Public attendance shows that the issue affects more than a handful of people. Ask direct questions and submit written copies so your concerns become part of the record.
Volunteer a Skill
The project needs help with water, engineering, law, public records, GIS, construction, property valuation, writing, fundraising, photography and community outreach.
Help Fund Independent Work
Professional groundwater, air, noise, property-value and legal analysis will cost money. Even modest contributions become meaningful when many households participate.
Talk to Other Neighborhoods and HOAs
The plant, pipeline, transmission lines and construction traffic may affect more than Rocking Star Ranch. Help reach residents who may not know they are close to the project.
The Biggest Commitment
Become a Formal Party or Intervenor
When a qualifying case is publicly noticed, residents may have the option to seek party or intervenor status rather than submitting comments only. Formal participation can involve strict filing deadlines, testimony and required attendance, so legal guidance is strongly recommended. Current Industrial Siting notices distinguish between becoming a party and submitting a limited-appearance statement.
Help Hire Independent Experts
A technically credible case may require a hydrogeologist, acoustical engineer, air-quality specialist, appraiser, pipeline or transmission engineer and regulatory attorney.
Help Build the Administrative Record
Agency and court decisions are often based on the evidence placed into the official record. Expert reports, written comments, testimony, maps and clearly requested permit conditions must be submitted on time.
Support a Legal Challenge When the Evidence Supports It
The most demanding action may be helping fund or participate in a contested hearing, permit challenge or judicial review. That decision should be based on the final application, expert findings and advice from qualified Wyoming counsel—not on rumor alone.
Pick One Thing Today
Share the website, document your well, contact an official, offer a skill or help another neighbor understand what is happening.
One person does not have to do everything.
A community can.