Kemmerer races to build homes as TerraPower nuclear plant on fast track

This spring kicks off a race to build housing before a TerraPower nuclear power plant construction boom to keep as many of its long-term workers in Kemmerer as possible. That’s key to capturing the growth potential for the small Wyoming town of about 3,000 people.

All winter long, Kemmerer has been performing what looks like an illusion. By day, its hotel and motel parking lots appear empty. By nightfall, each lot has a truck in just about every spot. Most were work trucks for various projects: the Naughton Plant’s switchover from coal to gas, TerraPower’s Test and Fill facility, Lincoln County’s new Justice Center, and others. Ballpark, there were around 1,000 construction workers in the area between all the projects.

Now TerraPower has its construction permit in hand for the nuclear portion of the plant. At peak, the company expects to bring as many as 1,600 workers to the site at once to build it. Construction is projected to span five years, with the plant expected to begin operating sometime in 2030.

For Kemmerer, that timeline turns this spring into a race to have enough housing in place before the nuclear plant begins operating so the town can keep as many permanent, high-paid workers as possible. The outcome will determine how much of the boom Kemmerer keeps for itself.

Construction crews will be moving dirt within the next week or so at two of Kemmerer’s largest proposed housing developments, developer Mark Germain told Cowboy State Daily. First up will be the Gateway subdivision, where Germain plans to complete 25 homes by year’s end. “That project is 116 acres, and will ultimately have 275 new homes,” he said. A week or two after Gateway’s infrastructure starts, crews will move into Canyon Road, where they’ll start on that development’s first 240 apartments.

Even before construction starts, residents are already reporting price spikes for rent. Dakota Gordon had rented a “cute little house” for $650 a month until it was sold. She eventually moved into her own home, but has since heard the rent where she was is now closer to $2,500. Her coworker McKinley Chytka still lives at home with her parents, paying utilities and internet as her “rent” — a deal she notes out-of-towners aren’t likely to get.

Behind the scenes, the real brake on housing development isn’t framing crews or construction materials. It’s the capacity of sewer and water. “Being a small town, we don’t have a huge amount of population to help fund infrastructure repairs and upgrades,” Mayor Robert Bowen said. The city is still paying off a loan for its sewer treatment plant, a facility that has already exceeded its lifespan. “So we’re already in the hole on that plant,” Bowen said. A new plant could cost $70 million, which would add $100 to $200 to every person’s monthly bill.

Will-serve letters that have already been issued are putting the city right at its present capacity, Bowen said. “That’s another big challenge for us is, how do we get our infrastructure upgraded to accommodate more businesses, more industry, more people, without putting a burden so heavy on people who are already here that it will bankrupt them,” he said.

Inside downtown businesses, what many residents told Cowboy State Daily they want to see most is just forward movement on the obvious needs. There’s a widespread feeling that if the town can get the basics right — more housing, more places to eat, decent infrastructure and services — enough people will come and the rest will resolve on its own. Get those things wrong, and the plant still gets built and the power still flows, placing burdens on the community while the prosperity lands somewhere else.

TerraPower has been having conversations with community groups about these very kinds of issues. “Families can be reassured that their loved ones will go to work and come home safe every day,” said TerraPower Project Director Pat Young. “The salaries will be good. The work is good. It’s really good work.” Whether TerraPower’s strategy will include building some housing remains to be seen. “We’re not in the real estate business,” said TerraPower Director of Construction Andy Chrusciel. “We lit the fuse, and they’re going to continue to make sure that flame burns.”