The life expectancy of coal plants in Wyoming has been given a significant bump, even if they won’t all be burning coal long into the future.
In its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) released last week, Rocky Mountain Power made critical delays that will extend the life of its four Wyoming coal plants by cancelling their retirements.
Rick Kaysen, a Wyoming lobbyist for Rocky Mountain Power, said the adjustments were based on changes in market forces since the last IRP was released in 2023.
“It is looking at what’s happening in the market with the cost of power, what is taking place from not only the federal level but state level with regards to laws,” Kaysen said. “What is happening with climatic change, what are our customers telling us with what is the source of power they need.”
The demands for specific types of energy, Kaysen said, also plays a significant factor in these types of decisions, as does the use-capabilities of the specific units operating to generate power.
Dave Johnston units 1, 2 and 4 in Glenrock, Jim Bridger Power Plant in Rock Springs, Naughton Power Plant in Kemmerer, Wyodak Power Plant in Gillette are all no longer scheduled for retirement. Most of these facilities are still slated to undergo a conversion to a different type of energy production.
State Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, said this is huge news for all of the communities where these facilities are located and their local economies. He said Dave Johnston alone employs hundreds of people. Boner credits the legislation passed in Wyoming over the last few years in playing a role in the coal plant extensions.
“It’s multi-faceted, there’s a lot of federal involvement, but certainly the state of Wyoming has done its share to protect our coal-fired plants and make sure they retain that generation capacity with baseload dispatchable power,” Boner said.
Boner also believes the future outlook for coal has actually improved since President Joe Biden took office, who has made a commitment to transitioning to alternative energies one of his major agendas. The reliability of these forms of energy wanes when the weather doesn’t align with their services.
“People are realizing you can’t just do away with coal,” he said. “It’s going to be an important part of the mix into the future, and wishful thinking for policymakers, whether it be with the Biden administration or some West Coast states, it doesn’t equal reality necessarily. There’s more discussion, more realization along the reliability concerns.”
What Were The Changes?
In the last IRP released two years ago, Dave Johnston units 1 and 2 had been scheduled for a 2028 decommissioning. These units are making a conversion to natural gas scheduled for 2029 and are no longer slated for retirement.
Dave Johnston Unit 4 was scheduled to shut down in 2039 but now has no retirement date for its coal production.
Dave Johnston Unit 3 will still shut down as previously scheduled in 2027 due to a settlement agreement in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency related to Rocky Mountain Power’s Regional Haze plan.
Jim Bridger Units 1 and 2 made a conversion to natural gas in 2024 and had been scheduled to shut down in 2037. Now, they have no retirement date. Units 3 and 4 at Jim Bridger, which is currently burning coal, had previously been scheduled for decommissioning in 2039, now have no retirement date. A total of 700 megawatts of energy at these units is scheduled to convert to carbon capture by 2030.
Naughton had been scheduled for retirement in 2036 after a gas conversion in 2026. Now, no retirement date is set.
Wyodak had been scheduled for retirement by 2039 but now has no retirement date.
The IRP outlines Rocky Mountain’s long-term vision for the company’s plans.
“The 2023 plan had some retirement dates but those retirements have been extended or do not exist right now for the next 20-year plan,” Kaysen said.
Kaysen cautioned that none of these changes are written in stone and could change again in the future.
“These are plans, nothing is set in concrete, these are plans, always subject to change,” he said.
State Rep. Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, believes the upcoming change in presidential administrations has at least partly influenced the scrapped closures.
“It’s certainly welcome news and I certainly expect that the Trump administration would respond much more favorably to extending coal-fired power plants than a Democratic administration,” Stith said.
How Will It Affect Utility Prices?
Kaysen said it’s unknown how these changes will affect utility prices moving forward.
“At the end of the day, we’re always cognizant about what the impact will be on customer rates,” Kaysen said.
Rocky Mountain Power came under significant fire in 2023 for a nearly 30% rate increase that many believed was a result of progressive environmental policies in other states. Since that time, the company has proposed more rate increases that will be heard before the Public Services Commission later this year.
The cost of bringing various forms of energy to consumers and their purchasing power in the market all impact their rates, as well their day-to-day operational costs, Kaysen said.
Carbon Capture Requirements
In 2020, the Wyoming Legislature passed a law requiring coal fired power plants to add carbon capture technology to their facilities by 2030 in order to help keep them open and insulated from changing market forces. That has since been pushed back to 2033.
“All of these things have had a very positive effect and we’ve been very clear you can’t retire these facilities without an adequate replacement when it comes to baseload power,” Boner said.
Kaysen said this law “goes both ways” with positives and negatives.
“Mandates are always difficult but there’s also some positives within that bill,” he said.
He said to date, no offers have been made to buy any units or entire power plants since the 2020 law was passed.
A bill has been drafted for the upcoming legislative session that would revoke these requirements.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
