Renée Jean
Renée Jean is the business and tourism reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Cheyenne. Previously, Renée spent seven years covering energy and agriculture in North Dakota and Montana. She has won many writing awards over a 30-year career, and has written magazine articles for Guideposts.
Latest from Renée Jean
New Owner Of Meadowlark Ski Resort Says He Wants To Keep It Small
Rather than a luxury expansion, the new owners of Meadowlark Ski Resort in Washakie County plan to keep it small. “There are going to be some skeptics” because “you have a group from Florida who came in and bought a mountain,” the new owner said.
Renée JeanMay 15, 2026
Wyoming’s Fossil Cabin, ‘World’s Oldest Building,’ Moved To Medicine Bow Museum
Wyoming’s world-famous Fossil Cabin was built from more than 6,000 dinosaur bones, weighs 52 tons and was a target for vandals along U.S. Highway 30. It made a nail-biting, 7-mile crawl this week to a new permanent home at the Medicine Bow Museum.
Renée JeanMay 15, 2026
How Russia Controlled A Huge Chunk Of Wyoming Uranium, And How Wyoming Got It Back
Russia’s state-run nuclear company owned Wyoming uranium assets until 2021. How that happened remains murky, wrapped in closed federal reviews. “No one knows how they got permits,” says the CEO of the U.S. company that eventually bought out the Russians.
Renée JeanMay 14, 2026
Georgia 30 Million Gallon Water Grab Puts Cheyenne Data Centers Under New Scrutiny
When a Georgia data center quietly drew 30 million gallons of water during a drought, no one noticed until residents’ water pressure dropped. This controversy is causing concern in Cheyenne where 70-some data centers are in various stages of discussion.
Renée JeanMay 14, 2026
Wyoming Uranium Industry Could Boom With Taiwan's Embrace Of Nuclear
Wyoming’s already hot nuclear sector just went global, with Taiwan and Wyoming signing an agreement on modular nuclear reactors to serve the island’s surging, AI-driven demand. "This deal bodes well for Wyoming," said Wyoming mining honcho Travis Deti.
Renée JeanMay 12, 2026
Wyoming Man Hospitalized After Exposure To Fumes During Lithium-Ion Battery Fire
A Daniel, Wyoming man who narrowly averted a fire in his home last week after a lithium-ion battery spontaneously combusted, has landed in the hospital after inhaling fumes from the burning battery. "It literally blew up kind of in our faces," he said.
Renée JeanMay 12, 2026
Cheyenne Residents Push For 12-Month Moratorium On Data Centers
A surge of as many as 70 proposed data centers converging on Cheyenne has rallied residents and a councilman to propose a 12-month moratorium on new construction. However, “an outright moratorium or a ban, that’s not our way,” says Mayor Patrick Collins.
Renée JeanMay 11, 2026
Newlyweds On A Hike Find California Rescue Dog Lost In A Wyoming Whiteout
A couple in remote southeastern Wyoming thought they might never see their new rescue dog again after he disappeared in a spring snowstorm last week. But 24 hours later, a pair of newlyweds hiking through the area spotted the shivering dog and saved him.
Renée JeanMay 10, 2026
Saving The Forgotten 116-Year-Old Cabin Of Wyoming’s Copper Queen
The 116-year-old historic cabin of Sara Gillespie — aka Wyoming’s Copper Queen — was all but forgotten and crumbling until it was rediscovered in 2010. Now an urgent effort is underway to save what was known a century ago as “Gillespie Palace."
Renée JeanMay 09, 2026
As Data Centers Boom, Wyomingites Want To Know Where The Water’s Coming From
As the state’s data center industry booms, Wyomingites want to know where the water is coming from. The Select Water Committee dove into that Thursday, as critics clashed over property rights, supply, and impacts for one of the nation’s driest states.
Renée JeanMay 08, 2026
For Second Summer, Star Plunge Closure Kills Short-Term Bookings In Thermopolis
Tourism spending overall is up in Thermopolis, but short-term rental owners say the Star Plunge closure has gutted their bookings for a second summer. "We know it’s closed, so we’re just not going up there,” a potential visitor told a local Airbnb owner.
Renée JeanMay 07, 2026
Bridger Oil Pipeline Filling Fast, Has Commitments To Move 400,000 Barrels A Day
Bridger Pipeline says it already has commitments for around 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil. That’s roughly 89% of the volume the company has said it needs to green-light construction of the 650-mile pipeline which would terminate in Guernsey.
Renée JeanMay 07, 2026
"It Just Blew Up": Wyoming Couple Jolted Awake When Lithium-Ion Battery Catches Fire
A lithium-ion battery caught fire at a Daniel couple’s home as they were waking up on Tuesday. “The flames, my God, I couldn’t believe it,” Jack Morey said. “It just blew up and shot flames I’d say about a foot up.”
Renée JeanMay 06, 2026
BWXT Has First Customer, Partner For Its $500 Million Nuclear Fuel Plant In Gillette
BWXT has lined up its first customer for the $500 million TRISO nuclear fuel plant it’s building in Gillette. “Once you have a licensed nuclear facility, it’s a very powerful asset,” a company official said about the potential for more customers.
Renée JeanMay 06, 2026
Some Claim Foreign 'Dark Money' Is Funding Anti-Data Center Sentiment Across U.S.
A new study traces $39 million in foreign funding behind anti-data center campaigns across the U.S. Betsey Hale, the CEO of Cheyenne Leads, is concerned about it. "No one has complained about data centers until about the last month and a half,” she said.
Renée JeanMay 05, 2026
Rocky Mountain Power Joins Western Energy Market, Says It Could Lower Rates
After years of steep rate hikes in response to higher-than-expected energy costs, Rocky Mountain Power has joined a regional Western market to buy power. "Potentially, it could lower costs for Wyoming customers,” says state Sen. Cale Case about the deal.
Renée JeanMay 05, 2026
With Up To 70 Cheyenne-Area Data Centers In The Works, Petition Calls For Pause
With dozens of Cheyenne-Area data centers in various stages of discussion — one city councilman put the number at as many as 70 — some residents want to hit the brakes. A petition is circulating, calling for a data center moratorium.
Renée JeanMay 04, 2026
Entrepreneurs Say It's Easier To Do Business In Wyoming
The business community is bullish on Wyoming as the state is seeing more start-ups and venture capital deals — even without data centers. “Things are easier to do in Wyoming versus the rest of the world," said one business owner who relocated here.
Renée JeanMay 03, 2026
Riverton Inventor Building Device That Can See Your Heart Attack Coming
An accomplished inventor living in Riverton is building a wearable medical device that can see your heart attack coming before it happens. “You wear it as a patch … I don’t even feel it,” he says about the Bio Chest, which also can alert doctors.
Renée JeanMay 03, 2026
Wyoming Lands Rare Super Magnet To Power Up Advanced Rare Earths Research
Wyoming has landed one of only three super magnets of its kind in the U.S. that will power up advanced research on rare earths and trona. It's a room-sized contraption that can generate a magnetic field a million times stronger than Earth’s.
Renée JeanMay 03, 2026
Rural Tourism: Torrington’s Short-Term Rentals Take 97% Leap, Other Small Towns Spike Too
Teton County is the king of Wyoming tourism, but rural Wyoming towns are showing a spike in visitors. Torrington officials are stunned by the town’s 97% increase in visitors — much of that driven by archaeology. Rawlins and Powell are seeing it too.
Renée JeanMay 02, 2026