Green River’s future was a hot topic of discussion during the city council and mayoral forums last week. Along with the usual subjects of bringing new businesses to town and the need for economic development, one comment was made that caught our attention: that Green River will have to choose between being a bedroom community or being similar to Rock Springs.
We believe Green River should position itself to become an economic power equal to Rock Springs. Yes, this does sound a bit farfetched, but hear us out.
In the coming future, Rock Springs will face a crisis involving the Jim Bridger Power Plant.
By 2032, two of the four units providing power generation are planned to closed, the first of which is anticipated to shut down in 2028. Rocky Mountain Power has also invested heavily in wind power generation, which we believe signal it’s longterm intentions.
Additionally, Rocky Mountain Power appears to be mulling over potential closing dates for its underground and surface mine operations.
The possible dates are redacted in the company’s March 2018 “Long-Term Fuel Supply Plan for the Jim Bridger Plant,” but it shows the company is looking towards its needs in 2032 and beyond.
We would anticipate one of the mine closures to occur sometime between 2028 and 2032 as the demand for coal would decrease significantly with the closure of two units.
The worst case scenario would be hundreds of jobs leaving the area. A majority of which would be directly related to Jim Bridger, but would include jobs in education and other positions directly related to Rock Springs’ population. Even a few hundred jobs can impact thousands.
While Green River would undoubtedly see some impact from this shift, our city’s reliance on the trona industry would also shield it from the more severe impacts. Unless something else were to happen, Rock Springs’ population would likely start declining in 2028, which would continue through 2032.
As unfortunate as this is for Rock Springs and Sweetwater County as a whole, we believe Green River can position itself to create more economic opportunities within the city, which would be more attractive as the city should have a more stable population once operations scale back at Jim Bridger.
By that time, Green River should have a new wastewater treatment plant online and will have hopefully made enough strides with the UP Depot building to house small businesses within it. The Tomahawk building should also serve as an anchor point for downtown Green River by 2028 and the currently vacant storefronts in the area should be much more attractive if they’re not already filled.
We’d hate to see operations at Jim Bridger cut back, but that event could benefit Green River in the future. Those looking for economic opportunities must look at what happens beyond 2028 and 2032.
Reader Comments(0)