The City of Kemmerer is working toward solving the housing needs of workers who will be building the Natrium nuclear power facility by TerraPower as well as those who will be staying in the area permanently. One of those methods is by utilizing funds from the State Loans and Investment Board (SLIB). The area infrastructure will be evolving to fill the needs of the influx of new residents. One such housing area previously known as Canyon River Holdings is now WY Development LLC.

“It’s looking like it will be anywhere from 200 to 250 multi-family apartments and town homes,” City of Kemmerer Administrator Brian Muir state. “That is the project that got a $1 million grant from SLIB for unmet housing needs. It was back in January when we submitted our application and got it approved by the council. That funding is going toward streets for that subdivision.”

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Muir explained that there was a total of $5 million available from SLIB for unmet housing and Kemmerer received its share as other communities also applied for portions of the money.  

“It does benefit the developer but it also benefits the city,” Muir added. “It helps the citizens of the City of Kemmerer. These will be city streets that they will build and we will take over. There will be permanent and workforce housing needs so it helps us get more housing options. More residents means we can expand our tax base as well. It’s a win for the whole area.”

Housing continues to be a big discussion for both permanent and temporary workers as Kemmerer undergoes big changes to handle what is the first nuclear plant constructed in the United States in decades. It is a fluid puzzle of a problem but one that Muir and others feel they are helping to solve. 

“A recent development is we also just passed the Gateway that will be about 20 homes,” Muir continued. “There are 20 pre-built homes that will be brought in that look like regular homes. Another part of the equation is a market of homes that people are investing in, the Cumberland Hills application will have 42 larger homes and lots. Just last week we got another subdivision application called Gateway PUD Phase 1B for 83 homes that are a little bigger that they are going to start on.”

Several contingency plans are part of the discussion.  

“The workforce housing hub is another option and we have been working with the council and zoning board for that contingency,” Muir added. “We may be peaking at 1,600 workers and we may not be able to do all of that here. It’s a hub as part of the Industrial Siting Application and that is being looked at as well. More RV parks are another option.”

Muir noted that after conversations with several counterparts he was informed that anywhere from 15-25% of the incoming workers may be using their own trailers or RVs.

“It’s another way of avoiding the boom and bust of these units,” Muir said. “I think the plan is coming together quite well. We have plenty of vacancies right now. It’s a complex problem to solve but I think we have several contingencies in place to handle it.”

He also added that Kemmerer is becoming part of a line of nuclear energy options in the region.  

“I’ll be speaking next week in Idaho Falls at the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium to try and elevate the Intermountain West nuclear energy corridor,” he concluded. “There’s a lot of uranium and supply chain issues that need to be dealt with. We’re all working together to create opportunities for the intermountain area.”