Energy
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
House Committee Kills Bill To Store Radioactive Waste In Wyoming
A House committee rejected a proposal Wednesday to build small nuclear power plants. Assurances that the legislation would not bring radioactive “green slime” to Wyoming weren’t enough to convince committee members.
David MadisonFebruary 19, 2025
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Virginia Company Scouting Wyoming For Spot To Build Uranium Fuel Plant
Virginia-based BWX Technologies is not just looking to deploy small micro nuclear reactors in Wyoming. It’s scouting the state for possible sites to build a uranium fuel plant.
Renée JeanFebruary 19, 2025
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Despite Chilly Climate, It’s Business As Usual For Wind, Solar Energy In Wyoming
Wind and solar energy projects in Wyoming are moving ahead with their projects, despite the recent chill from both federal and state lawmakers. Most of the projects are on private property, project managers say, which helps de-risk the projects.
Renée JeanFebruary 09, 2025
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Wyoming Family Learns Solar Panels Aren’t For The Faint Of Heart
A Happy Valley family who lives near Cheyenne found out the hard way that solar panels aren’t for the faint of heart. They do work, and they do defray energy costs, but there are a lot of headaches that go along with it. It helps if you have the patience of a saint.
Renée JeanFebruary 09, 2025
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USGS Using A Helicopter Hula Hoop To See What's Buried Under Southeast Wyoming
The United States Geological Survey has started flying helicopters between 100 to 200 feet above the ground with a giant electromagnetic sensor to identify water, minerals and metals buried up to 1,500 feet underground in southeast Wyoming.
Andrew RossiFebruary 07, 2025

TerraPower Nuclear Training Center In Kemmerer Will Be One-Of-A-Kind In The World
The 35,000-square-foot nuclear training center TerraPower is building in Kemmerer, Wyoming, will be the only one of its kind in the world. Plans are for it to train all the company’s nuclear techs wherever in the world their Natrium reactors are.
Renée JeanFebruary 04, 2025
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If Cow Belches Are So Bad, Why Didn’t The U.S. West's 60M Bison Kill The Planet?
If cow belches and farts are so bad, why didn’t the vast herds of 60 million bison roaming the U.S. West before the 1880s kill the planet? The nonprofit Western Justice wants to know, but science suggests they’re not comparable.
Andrew RossiJanuary 29, 2025

Kemmerer Officials Hope TerraPower Deal Could Attract AI Data Center
As Bill Gates-backed TerraPower continues building a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, it has struck a deal with the nation’s largest independent data center provider. Local officials hope that could lead to an AI data center there.
Renée JeanJanuary 22, 2025

Wyoming's Powder River Basin Sitting On Untapped Oil And Gas Potential
The oil and gas industry has been talking up the potential of the Powder River Basin for 20 years. Even so, Wyoming’s busiest play still only has about 11 rigs running. It’s going to take more than an oil-friendly administration to increase production.
Renée JeanJanuary 14, 2025
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Feds OK Wyoming Idea To Use Old Wind Turbines To Fill In Coal Mines
Wyoming’s innovative plan to allow coal mines to accept wind turbine blades as fill material has cleared the Biden administration, almost four years after the state approved it.
Renée JeanJanuary 14, 2025

Rocky Mountain Power To Cancel Planned Retirements Of Its Wyoming Coal Plants
Rocky Mountain Power announced last week that it’s cancelling the retirements of its Wyoming coal-fired power plants. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be burning coal long into the future.
Leo WolfsonJanuary 09, 2025
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Industry: Court Ruling BLM Illegally Halted Oil And Gas Lease Sales Is Too Late
A judge ruled Tuesday that the BLM illegally suspended a 2022 Wyoming oil and gas lease. While pleased with the decision, the governor and industry officials said Friday it’s too little, too late to reverse the damage done by the Biden administration.
Renée JeanJanuary 03, 2025
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Wyoming Project Gets Boost In Race To Be First For U.S. Rare Earths Production
What could be one of the world’s richest rare earths deposits announced Friday a partnership for a Wyoming pilot plant. It’s a boost for Wyoming to be first in the U.S. to help stand up domestic rare earths production sooner.
Renée JeanDecember 21, 2024
Cluster Of Wind Turbines Sitting Idle Outside Casper Won’t Turn Anytime Soon
A cluster of turbines sitting idle in the December winds outside Casper will remain idle into the next year. Chevron is citing “telemetry issues” with PacificCorp for why they’ve not been used for much of the past few years.
Dale KillingbeckDecember 20, 2024
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Barrasso Says Targeting Gas Exports Act Of A “Bitter Administration On Its Way Out”
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso doesn’t like a Tuesday U.S. Department of Energy report calling for fewer exports of liquified natural gas. He calls it “a biased study from a bitter administration on its way out the door.”
David MadisonDecember 19, 2024

Innovative Short Wind Turbines Are In For A Tough Test — Wyoming Winter
Airloom Energy will test its innovative wind turbines in winter — the perfect shakedown for an 80- to 100-foot-tall invention born in Wyoming. The novel Bill Gates-backed concept could make today’s 500-foot-tall wind towers obsolete.
Renée JeanDecember 18, 2024

John Bear Thinks Micro Plants Could Help Wyoming Coal, Create Power Autonomy
State Rep. John Bear is promoting the development of micro coal-fired power plants to serve Wyoming communities across the state. It’s a concept he says could help stabilize coal, attract industry and create power autonomy.
Leo WolfsonDecember 17, 2024
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Wyoming Trona Mine Closer To Being Powered By 8 Tiny Nuclear Reactors
Tata Chemicals announced Friday that it has signed a new letter of intent for using up to eight nuclear microreactors to power its Green River trona operation. Tata is the first company in the U.S. to pursue small-scale industrial nuclear power.
Leo WolfsonDecember 13, 2024

Uranium Energy Corp. Finalizes $175M Buyout Of Wyoming Processing Plant
Uranium Energy Corp. has finalized a $175 million buyout of Rio Tinto’s Wyoming assets, which includes its Sweetwater County processing plant. The sale gives Uranium Energy the nation’s largest production capacity of uranium.
Renée JeanDecember 09, 2024

China’s Ban On Rare Earth Exports Good News For Huge Wyoming Projects
China issued a ban Tuesday on exporting to the U.S. critical rare earth minerals for semiconductors, infrared, fiber optics and military explosives. But representatives of Wyoming’s huge rare earths projects say the ban is good news for them.
Renée JeanDecember 04, 2024
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Turkish Company Offers $285 Million To Buy Interest In Huge Wyoming Trona Mine
Sisecam, a Turkish company, is offering $285 million to buy out a minority stake in one of Wyoming’s huge new trona mines.
Renée JeanDecember 02, 2024
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BLM Outlaws Coal In Powder River Basin; Gordon Says Prepare For A Fight
The BLM has made it official Tuesday — it’s ending new coal leases in the Powder River Basin, with an eye to producing no more coal after 2041. Gov. Mark Gordon says those are fighting words.
Renée JeanNovember 27, 2024

Bill Gates-Backed TerraPower Strikes Deal To Get Laser-Enriched Uranium
Bill Gates-backed TerraPower and the nuclear plant it's building in southwest Wyoming have secured another potential source of uranium. It’s struck a deal to get laser-enriched uranium.
Renée JeanNovember 24, 2024
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F.E. Warren Air Force Base Exploring Geothermal Power To Boost Resiliency Against Catastrophe
Cheyenne’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base, which houses the nation’s nuclear missiles, is exploring geothermal energy to build up the military base’s resiliency. Geothermal power could ensure the base is functional, even if the overall power grid goes down.
Renée JeanNovember 23, 2024