A proposed pumped-storage hydropower project at Seminoe Reservoir will face an additional federal environmental review before regulators make a final licensing decision, extending the timetable for one of Wyoming’s largest prospective energy-storage developments. WyoFile reported that the Bureau of Land Management will prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement and consider an amendment to its Rawlins land-use plan, while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission holds its licensing decision.
The immediate public deadline is October 13 at 3 p.m. Mountain Time. FERC is accepting scoping comments identifying issues that BLM should study, and submissions should reference docket P-14787-004. Comments may be filed through FERC’s eComment system or mailed to the commission. This is a new opportunity for residents, local governments, state agencies and interested organizations to shape the scope of BLM’s analysis; it is not a final vote on the project.
BLM’s role matters because the proposal would require rights-of-way across federally managed land, including portions of a transmission corridor. The agency’s Rawlins Resource Management Plan governs 3.5 million acres of public land and 4.5 million acres of federal mineral estate across four Wyoming counties. An amendment can evaluate whether the project fits existing land-use direction and can consider alternatives involving visual resources, wildlife migration and other public-land values.
The underlying development is substantial. FERC’s 2025 draft environmental review describes a 972-megawatt project using Seminoe Reservoir as the lower basin, with a new upper reservoir, tunnels, an underground powerhouse, an access bridge and transmission work. FERC identified potential effects involving vegetation, water quality, fish, wildlife habitat, recreation, public access and views. The project footprint in that review included more than 1,000 acres managed by BLM, 77 acres managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and 830 acres of private land.
The developer presents pumped storage as a long-duration grid asset. On its project overview, rPlus Energies says the facility would store surplus electricity by pumping water uphill and release it when demand rises. The company says the design could provide up to 12 hours of peak electricity storage and support grid reliability. Those claims are part of the applicant’s case and remain subject to regulatory review and permit conditions.
Opponents and resource managers have focused on the Miracle Mile trout fishery, possible fish entrainment, bighorn sheep habitat and the effect of construction and new power lines on the surrounding landscape. Supporters point to energy storage, construction employment and long-term tax revenue. The supplemental review does not resolve those competing claims, but it changes the process: BLM must more closely assess the public-land consequences, and FERC is not expected to act before that work is complete.
For Wyoming residents, the practical next step is the October 13 scoping deadline. Comments that identify specific places, seasonal use, wildlife movement, water-quality concerns, recreation patterns or feasible alternatives are more likely to help define what the environmental analysis must address than general statements of support or opposition.
