Stagecoach Wind Project on pause

Stagecoach Wind 1, LLC submitted a right-of-way application for the construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of a wind generation facility to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in February 2023. Chris Hanefeld at the BLM has now stated, “Stagecoach Wind is on pause while the BLM evaluates the project’s feasibility.” 

The BLM manages one in every 10 acres in the United States. In Nevada, it manages 48 million acres of public land, roughly 67 percent of the state’s land.

The Stagecoach Wind Project is a 600-megawatt installation in White Pine County, 18 miles east of Eureka. The average energy production from a project this size equates to the annual electricity needs of 145,000 households. Wind power is generated in the morning and evening hours. The project was started by Stagecoach Wind to “generate greenhouse gas-free electricity that would offset approximately 1,290,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and other emissions that would result from producing an equivalent amount of electricity.” 

Approximately 70,000 acres were set aside for two years, preventing new mining claims. The project was estimated to be completed near the end of 2025 at a cost of approximately $850,000,000. 

Many community members had strong opinions on the project. Basin Range and Watch co-founder Kevin Emmerich stated, “It would have caused huge impacts to visual resources and wildlife…It would have overlapped with priority habitat management areas for the greater sage grouse and would have ended up killing a variety of avian species, including golden eagles and ferruginous hawks. The project would have also harmed pronghorn and pygmy rabbits. The Spring Valley Wind Project located to the east has already killed eight golden eagles and several other avian species.”For status updates, visit https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/