Electrical power producers are in line to build 850 megawatts of new electrical generation in Wyoming -- and most of it will be wind energy, according to the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority.

One megawatt can power about 750 homes.

A monthlong open auction will begin at the end of the month for transmission space on the proposed Wyoming-Colorado Intertie, a 345-kilovolt power line that will deliver power from eastern Wyoming to the Colorado Front Range.

Steve Waddington, executive director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, said 12 different "bidders" successfully passed a financial credit check and are qualified to compete for transmission capacity on the proposed power line.

"It's not exclusively wind developers that are qualified to bid, but it is predominantly so," Waddington said. "The project looks pretty promising."

Feasibility, technical and corridor studies for the power line have been completed. The first phase of the project includes a 345-kilovolt line from north of the Laramie River Station coal-fired power plant at Wheatland to the Pawnee substation in Colorado. Additional 230-kilovolt segments may be strung to the Laramie River Station and Dave Johnston coal-fired power plants later, according to the Infrastructure Authority.

The project is expected to unleash a massive wind resource in Wyoming. By 2013, it could access up to 900 megawatts of class 6 and class 7 wind resources in the eastern part of the state for delivery to Colorado, where utilities are rushing to meet state-mandated deadlines for boosting renewable energy.

The Wyoming-Colorado Intertie project is a "development partnership" among the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, TransElect and the Western Area Power Administration.