It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, June 23rd. I’m Mac Watson
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Black Hills Energy says it’s ready for data centers that draw as much power as small states. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Vice President Wes Ashton says its large-load tariff makes cost-causers pay their full cost, even as AI demand has jumped from megawatts to gigawatts.
“The question is, how well is it going to scale when we go from megawatt to orders of magnitude greater gigawatt scale? Black Hills tells me they're very confident that this large load tariff is going to scale, they're not worried about that at all. In fact, they think that folks might see that their rates are continuing to be held back, because as these large companies are building this infrastructure there's economy of scale there, and it's resulting in less cost for regular rate payers, because these guys are paying for ginormous upgrades to the right reliability and efficiency and overall capacity of the grid that serves everyone, and so they, they only see benefits from this down the line as we continue to build this out.”
Project Jade, as just one example, will come into Wyoming with a “bring-your-own-power” mentality for an initial 2.7 gigawatts of power, which is nearly three times what industry analysts have said Wyoming uses now.
Read the full story HERE.
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Demand for nuclear fuel, a ban on imports from Russia and booming data center-driven electricity needs are sending uranium producers back into Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that mining association chief Travis Deti says, “We need the fuel, and the fuel starts with Wyoming uranium.
“There's a renewed interest in this mineral nationwide, and the need globally is huge, and Wyoming has a lot of uranium and a lot of exploration to be done, so companies are at work in the Powder River Basin. I talked to the CEO of a smaller company, he is from Australia, but owns American Uranium Limited, and they have an operation in Wyoming that is ongoing and expects to be producing in the next few years. Uranium is key for energy development and could also play a role in data center build out in the future.”
Nuclear energy still supplies about 20% of the nation's electricity, and the United States operates more nuclear reactors than any other country in the world, according to the U.S. Energy Information Association.
Read the full story HERE.
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Almost a week after a semitruck carrying millions of bees flipped over in Yellowstone National Park and destroyed hundreds of hives, bees are still swarming on trees in the area. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that one Wyoming beekeeper calls it “ a swarming mechanism.”
“Bee trees are kind of like staging stations for bees, as they're trying to find new homes. So, when you see a tree covered with bees, it's most likely that there's a queen there, and the other bees are swarming around her, while scouts go out to find a suitable location to build a new hive. If you see those trees, beekeepers know that they can still collect that colony and relocate it to an apiary or another beehive safely, but if you stop seeing those trees, it means the bees have moved on.”
The fact that bee trees can still be seen along U.S. Highway 191 six days after the June 16 crash might indicate the bees are having trouble finding an ideal place for a new home. But it definitely means the colonies can be safely recovered.
Read the full story HERE.
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Data from the National Weather Service revealed the last three months have been the driest spring on record for most of Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that's following one of the driest winters on record, which doesn't bode well for the summer months ahead.
“After one of the driest winters in Wyoming's recorded history, it makes sad sense that it was one of the driest springs in recorded history. Many Wyoming communities got less than half, in some places barely more than a quarter of the moisture they typically receive between March 20-first and June 20, but there could be some potential salvation on the horizon. It's been a very active weather week in Wyoming, and there could be more moisture moving in. The downside to that is if we get that moisture, it's going to most likely come in the form of thunderstorms, and with the thunder comes the lightning, and if we get a thunderstorm that doesn't produce much rain but does produce some lightning, then we're talking about a heightened risk of wildfires on a landscape that's already deep in the drought.”
Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day tells Cowboy State Daily, “March was so bad, April was not great, May was really bad in places, and June has been a bust. Those months are so critical, and they didn’t come through for us.”
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily News continues now….
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When a bull moose wandered into Wheatland on Sunday, wildlife agents drugged it, then rolled the massive animal onto a tarp to move it into a waiting horse trailer. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that one fire-rescue responder said, “Once he woke back up, he was not too pleased.”
“The moose was getting spookily close to I-25 and a lieutenant from the Wheatland Fire and Rescue told me that they've had a lot of deer get hit in that same area, so they really don't want that moose hanging out there. So Game and Fish came in and tranquilized the moose, and they called in Wheatland Fire Rescue to assist. Then they managed to get it rolled onto a tarp, and they just had like eight or 10 guys getting a circle around the tarp, he lifted up and carried into a horse trailer, and then once it got in the horse trailer, they took it up to the Snowy Range Mountains and released it back out into the wild.”
Jeff Herb of Wheatland Fire-Rescue tells Cowboy State Daily that no one is sure where the moose came from. He speculates that the moose might have wandered out of the Laramie Range because it’s been so dry lately in those mountains.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Natrona County Commissioners approved an agreement to keep the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper for the next 10 years. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports the CEO of Visit Casper says the economic boost to Natrona county is huge.
“It's become a tradition. Annette Pitts with Visit Casper said that this brings about $3 million in economic impact to the Casper community. Casper College's head rodeo coach, Faith Anders, said that Casper is a great place for the CNFR because people in Central Wyoming really understand rodeo culture. In other states, there are some misconceptions about animal cruelty, whereas in Wyoming, there are ranchers, farmers, veterinarians, people who care about animals and really understand livestock production, so it's a great place to celebrate Western culture.”
The CNFR has been a fixture in Casper for more than a quarter-century, bringing hundreds of the nation's top college cowboys and cowgirls to Wyoming every June.
Read the full story HERE.
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Terlingua, Texas, crowns the world’s chili champions, but many say their favorite contest is in Chugwater, Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that for 40 years, the Chugwater Chili Cook-off has been a Father's Day bucket-list contest for the best chili cooks on the planet.
“Many of them are former Terlingua winners. Terlingua is the competition that crowns the world's chili champion every year, and talking with some of these guys who came up here from Texas, this is a bucket list competition for them right here in Little Old Chuck Water, Wyoming. A lot of these folks who do this, who are from Wyoming, do it as a family activity. They get together kind of like families do over the holidays for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well, they get together over chili, and there's some fantastic chilis here. If you don't find something that you like at this festival, well, then you just don't like chili, because there's some really good chili at this event.”
Many contestants pair their chili fest trip with subsequent Yellowstone and Devils Tower adventures.
Read the full story HERE.
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Mount Rushmore expects a huge turnout for the nation's 250th Independence Day celebration that will feature fireworks returning for the first time in six years. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that you’d better have a lottery ticket to get in.
“The idea of celebrating Fourth of July at Mount Rushmore for America's 250th birthday was so popular that the National Park Service had to implement a lottery system for tickets. Nearly 103,000 people vied for 4800 tickets, and the lottery closed in April. So there will be 4800 people at Mount Rushmore, and many more people who would love to be there. They are showing up all over the Black Hills and Keystone, which is the community nearest Mount Rushmore, has reported an increase of 127% in visitors over last year.”
There is also speculation that President Trump will attend this event, but the White House has not confirmed.
Read the full story HERE.
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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
