Last week at the Governor's Business Forum in Laramie, Gov. Mark Gordon and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox made the case that America's energy future will be built in the Mountain West, not Washington, D.C.
Their message was clear: unprecedented demand is coming, and Wyoming can either position itself to lead or watch the opportunity move to states that act faster.
Cox recounted, "I had a guy from a company come in and say, 'We need 1.3, 1.4 gigawatts of power.' And I said, 'Excuse me? That can't be right.' The entire state of Utah runs on 4 gigawatts of power. One campus needs that? That's crazy."
Wyoming's already in the conversation. Gordon noted we produce about 12 times the energy we consume. That's an enviable position.
The question is what we do with it.
This state has energy advantages few places can match. We have natural gas that meets United Nations carbon protocols, the kind Asian countries seek. We have uranium in the ground just as the world is building nuclear plants again. We have coal paired with emerging carbon capture technology already running in Japan.
We have wind, solar potential, geothermal prospects, and enough open space to build infrastructure without putting a substation in the middle of a subdivision.
For decades, the model was simple. Dig it up, ship it out, collect the royalty check, then watch as the next generation moved to Denver or Boise for better opportunities. That model built roads, schools, and savings accounts. It did less to build long-term careers.
Gordon drew an important distinction. "How do you make a place that kids want to stay at? Make sure they have great education, that they have a job when that's done. Not only a job, but a career because a job can go anywhere. A career is where you want to stay and raise your family."
The opportunity in front of Wyoming isn't just more jobs in the same old pattern. It's a chance to build careers that anchor families in places like Rock Springs or Gillette.
That kind of future looks different from the old, extraction-only mindset. It means manufacturing components for reactors, turbines, and carbon capture systems instead of only shipping fuel. It means hosting data centers, research labs, and control rooms, not just the wells and the mines.
It means community colleges and the University of Wyoming building programs that turn welders, electricians, and computer techs into the backbone of a modern energy economy.
Cox was blunt about the stakes. "We have the wealthiest companies in the history of the world who need this power. They don't care how much it costs. They just need it. And we have a regulatory structure that isn't built for that world at all."
If we keep thinking like a place that just digs things up and ships them out, someone else will collect the higher-wage work. If we spend the next decade arguing about whether this moment is real, the capital and projects will find regions that act faster.
Our resources will still leave by rail and pipeline. Our kids will still leave by I-25 and I-80.
What does it take to seize this moment? It starts with clear state policy. Permitting that's predictable and timely, with firm protections for water, wildlife, and vistas. Siting that honors what people love about this landscape while recognizing that transmission lines and substations have to go somewhere.
Preference for projects that bring long-term operations, engineering, and maintenance work, not just a burst of construction wages.
We must be willing to talk like adults about tradeoffs. That means asking what a project does for the local tax base, the school district, and the housing market.
It means looking past slogans about being for or against energy and asking what kind of energy economy we want to build.
Do we want to be the place that builds the future or just fuels it?
Regionally, the Mountain West already behaves like an energy state the size of Texas when we work together. Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, and Colorado can compete with the Gulf if we coordinate infrastructure, marketing, and workforce. The tri-state work on nuclear is one example. Certified gas exports from the West Coast are another.
Earlier generations built Wyoming on extraction and grit. They did hard things in hard country and left us a foundation.
We now have to decide whether Wyoming will be a loading dock that ships raw energy to places that innovate, or a workshop that designs, builds, and runs the next century of power.
The money is here. The demand is here.
The opportunity won't wait while we make up our minds.
Readers may reach Gail Symons at Gailsymons@mac.com
