Black Hills Energy acquired approximately 935 acres near 1720 Horse Creek Road for future power generation. The company has identified natural-gas generation and battery storage as technologies under consideration for the property.

An April 24 letter from Laramie County Planning to Black Hills Energy describes an industrial power generation hub that would convert natural gas into electricity. The letter identifies four project parcels: 15683030000100, 15683010000100, 15692510000200 and 15692510000300.

County Planning determined that the generating facility would be treated as an essential service utility. Under the County’s interpretation, the use itself is permitted in unincorporated Laramie County and would not require the usual approval or denial by the Planning Commission or Board of County Commissioners.

Black Hills must still submit a commercial site plan and comply with applicable setbacks, sight-distance requirements, access permits, building permits, floodplain requirements and other County regulations. The April letter also says the County understood that Black Hills intended to apply through the Wyoming Industrial Siting Division, and the County reserved the right to participate in that process.

The Industrial Siting Council reviews the environmental and socioeconomic effects of qualifying major industrial facilities before deciding whether to issue a construction permit. Whether the final Horse Creek project meets every applicable Industrial Siting threshold will depend on its cost and design.

Black Hills publicly described the proposal as being in the early stages of planning. The company has not publicly identified the final generating technology, capacity, number of engines or turbines, operating schedule, cooling system, water source, detailed site layout, pipeline route or transmission route.

The company’s first informational meeting was described as being for neighboring landowners only and was not open to the public. Residents who lived nearby but did not own directly adjoining property were not necessarily notified.

County Planning had already provided regulatory direction to Black Hills in April. Later, County staff told residents that no Horse Creek pre-application meeting or formal application had been submitted through the public permitting system, while County commissioners said they had not reviewed site plans or supporting studies. Both can be true: the County knew about the proposal before it had a formal public case file.

At the private meeting, a Black Hills representative reportedly discussed future open houses, at least 60 days for comments and a possible state application afterward. That was a company statement reported from the meeting—not a formal Horse Creek notice issued by an agency. Actual comment periods will depend on the permit involved; Wyoming’s standard air New Source Review process generally provides 30 days after DEQ reaches a proposed decision.

Black Hills representatives reportedly estimated that the company could break ground in approximately two years if its permits were approved. That supports a possible 2028 timeline, but it is not a final construction commitment or an approved schedule.

Rocking Star Ranch homes rely on private wells. The subdivision covenants require potable wells to reach at least 650 feet and to be screened within the confined zone of the High Plains aquifer. One neighborhood well record documents a 650-foot well with a reported static water level near 270 feet and production of approximately seven gallons per minute, but one well cannot represent the entire neighborhood.

The State Engineer’s Office explained that the formal water-supply-and-yield analysis used in the Industrial Siting process is required at 800 acre-feet per year, approximately 260.7 million gallons. If projected use is below that level, that specific analysis is not required through the cited process, although other well, water-right and environmental requirements may still apply.

Some neighbors have reported low-producing wells, seasonal problems, sand and the need for additional wells, but a verified neighborhood-wide baseline has not yet been assembled.

Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power’s 2026 resource plan identifies a 95 MW near-term capacity shortfall and considers natural-gas-fired reciprocating internal combustion engines and 50 MW of battery storage. The filing does not identify Horse Creek.

A later Black Hills presentation summarized the recommended resource mix as 36 MW of new natural-gas generation, 50 MW of battery storage and market purchases. That presentation also does not identify Horse Creek.

A 20-inch gas pipeline approaching from the north has been reported by a Black Hills employee, but we have not found a route map, operator name, pressure, easement list, permit number or construction filing that confirms it.

We also have no confirmed Horse Creek transmission route, voltage, substation location, point of interconnection or structure design. These facilities could extend the project’s footprint far beyond the generating property.

Black Hills is separately advancing a proposed 1.8 GW Cheyenne data-center energy project and has said generation equipment has been reserved for that effort. No reviewed public source identifies Horse Creek as its location.

Black Hills is also pursuing a 552 MW expansion of the existing Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station east-southeast of Cheyenne. That project involves three simple-cycle turbines and 24 RICE engines and is located within the existing Cheyenne Prairie property—not at Horse Creek.

We do not yet have a final Horse Creek air analysis, groundwater model, acoustic study, lighting plan, traffic study, emergency-response plan or viewshed analysis from Black Hills.

The maps on this website are preliminary community screening tools. The noise reports in the document library are studies of other RICE facilities used to understand possible issues and mitigation—not predictions of what will happen at Horse Creek.

HOA management correspondence says the board asked that project-related blast emails not be sent because the board believed these projects did not directly affect the HOA. The same correspondence states that management believed the projects could significantly affect the subdivision and supported sharing information.

The Horse Creek Project is therefore being organized independently by residents.