Energy
News
14-Year-Old Casper Wind Farm Has Not Turned A Blade In At Least 3 Years
The 11 wind turbines on the northeast side of Casper once represented the region’s first step into renewable energy. Now, some say they are an eyesore that has idled for at least three years.
Dale KillingbeckNovember 20, 2024
Wyoming Coal Jobs Down Nearly 8% Over Last Nine Months, 25% Since 2017
Wyoming’s coal workforce is down nearly 8% over the last nine months. And since 2017, there are 25% fewer people working coal jobs.
Greg JohnsonNovember 20, 2024
Barring “A Miracle,” Wyoming Coal Will Miss 200M Tons For First Time Since 1992
Wyoming is on track to miss producing 200 million tons of coal for the first time since 1992. “Short of a miracle,” that’s what’s going to happen, says one of the nation’s leading energy economists.
Greg JohnsonNovember 17, 2024
Natrona County Planners OK 2,000-Acre Solar Farm West Of Casper
A proposal to put a 2,000-acre solar farm and battery storage facility west of Casper was OK’d by Natrona County Planners on Tuesday. The 199 MW facility with 100 MW of storage would be on private ranch land.
Dale KillingbeckNovember 14, 2024
Enhanced Oil Recovery Is Coming To Wyoming To Unlock Trapped Oil and Gas
Oil and gas wells typically leave behind 85% or so of available resources. Enhanced oil and gas recovery is key to more economical wells, and several companies are eyeing field tests in Wyoming for that.
Renée JeanNovember 12, 2024
More Details Emerge About Blockbuster Anschutz PRB Oil And Gas Deal
Occidental Petroleum has offered more details to Cowboy State Daily about the blockbuster oil and gas deal that has Anschutz acquiring Oxy/Anadarko assets in the PPB. Occidental says it’s keeping 150,000 acres it considers “core."
Renée JeanNovember 07, 2024
Trump Signals Huge Support For Oil & Gas During Victory Speech, Wyoming Industry Leaders Thrilled
It didn’t take long for former President Donald Trump to hype up America's oil and gas industry after he won the 2024 presidential election Tuesday. Wyoming industry leaders say Trump's victory is also a win for U.S. oil and gas.
Renée JeanNovember 06, 2024
Blockbuster Deal Has Anschutz Getting Oxy/Anadarko Oil And Gas Interests In PRB
The Powder River Basin’s largest private oil and gas operator is getting a lot bigger. In a blockbuster deal, Anschutz has sent notices to Powder River Basin operators that it’s acquired the working interests in Oxy/Anadarko in the PRB.
Renée JeanNovember 05, 2024
If Iceland Can Tap Volcano For Energy, Would That Work In Yellowstone?
Scientists will be drilling a 1.3-mile-deep borehole into an active volcano to tap into the potentially limitless energy from the magma underneath Iceland. The same could work in Yellowstone but will likely never happen.
Andrew RossiNovember 03, 2024
Upton’s China-Busting Rare Earths Demonstration Plant Is Officially Underway
Rare Element Resources has already started operations at its rare earths demonstration plant in Upton, Wyoming, with what’s known as a “shakedown.” The real shakedown will be perfecting a process that could help break China’s stranglehold on rare earths.
Renée JeanNovember 02, 2024
TerraPower Strikes Deal With South African Company For Steady Uranium Source
A stable source of uranium has been a big question mark for the TerraPower nuclear plant in Kemmerer. The company appears to have answered that question with a new agreement with a South African company.
Renée JeanOctober 31, 2024
$80 Million Bet Says Wyoming Can Unlock Secret To Getting More Oil From "Tight Rocks"
ThermoFisher Scientific is laying a $40 million bet, matched by $40 million from the Legislature, that Wyoming can get more oil from so-called "tight rocks." Squeezing even 1% more from those rocks is worth billions of dollars.
Renée JeanOctober 29, 2024
Construction Underway On Testing Facility At TerraPower’s Wyoming Nuclear Plant Site
Construction is happening in Kemmerer at the site of the future TerraPower nuclear plant site. But it’s not the actual plant that’s being built, it’s a test and fill facility, the first step of many before the plant finally opens in 2030.
Renée JeanOctober 22, 2024
Wyoming Rare Earths Producer Close To Completing $53 Million Processing Plant
Rare Element Resources needs one more thumbs-up from a federal agency to complete its $53 million rare earth demonstration plant in Upton. The rare earth refinery is billed as a game-changer not just for Wyoming, but America.
Renée JeanOctober 21, 2024
Hundreds Of Wyoming Coal Jobs Threatened By Federal Regulation, Legislator Says
A state legislator says the future of a coal mine that employs hundreds of Sheridan County people is threatened by proposed federal regulation. Cyrus Western is worried the feds will cut the Spring Creek mine’s available coal by half because of a proposed revision to an environmental impact statement.
Leo WolfsonOctober 20, 2024
Uranium Energy Corp. To Increase Wyoming Production Capacity To 8.1 Million Pounds
Wyoming has approved a Uranium Energy Corps. application to double capacity at its plant in the Powder River Basin. That gives the company capacity to process 12.1 million pounds of uranium, 8.1 million pounds of which are in Wyoming.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2024
Huge Wyoming Rare Earth Project Gets $450 Million Loan From Feds
Wyoming Rare (USA) will get more than $450 million in financing for its huge Halleck Creek Project in southeast Wyoming from a federal bank. It’s a loud message that America is serious about rare earth minerals and Wyoming’s potential to supply them.
Renée JeanSeptember 27, 2024
Wyoming’s Tiny 80-Acre Oil And Gas Lease Sale A Bust Waiting To Happen
A miniscule 80 acres sold in Wednesday’s federal oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming. The throttling of oil and gas production has state industry officials worry it’s a bust waiting to happen.
Renée JeanSeptember 27, 2024
Texas-Based Uranium Energy Buys Wyoming Processing Plant For $175 Million
Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp. is making yet another acquisition in Wyoming, snapping up the state’s only conventional uranium mill for $175 million. The move sets it up to be the largest domestic producer of uranium.
Renée JeanSeptember 24, 2024
Biden’s BLM Puts Up 159 Acres For Oil And Gas Lease Sale, Record Low For Wyoming
The 159 acres available in Wednesday’s BLM oil and gas lease sale is a record low for Wyoming. Under the Biden administration, hundreds of thousands of acres have become unavailable.
Renée JeanSeptember 23, 2024
Gordon: Wyoming Can Make Carbon Capture Work If Feds Would Get Out Of The Way
Gov. Mark Gordon and a Campbell County commissioner in the heart of Wyoming coal country said Tuesday that local industry can make carbon capture work. But that won’t happen unless the federal government gets out of the way.
Leo WolfsonSeptember 18, 2024
Judge Gives Wyoming, Other States A Win Against Biden-Harris Methane Rules
A North Dakota judge has ruled for Wyoming and other states suing the BLM over its new methane rules. The Biden-Harris administration have been pushing the new rules as part of their anti-fossil fuels agenda, says Sen. John Barrasso.
Renée JeanSeptember 17, 2024
Judge Puts Massive 5,000-Well Wyoming Oil And Gas Project In Limbo
A massive oil and gas project that calls for up to 5,000 wells in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin is in limbo after a Friday ruling by a federal judge. The decision doesn’t affect existing drilling permits, but blocks future ones.
Renée JeanSeptember 16, 2024
Kemmerer Coal Mine Sold To Southern California Real Estate Company
The Kemmerer, Wyoming, coal mining operation has been quietly sold to a Southern California real estate investment company. No word yet on what the new owner, ECC Capital Corp., wants to do with it.
Pat MaioSeptember 13, 2024
No More Coal Road: Project To Move Highway To Access Kemmerer Coal Stopped
Work has stopped on a $30 million project to move 3 miles U.S. Highway 30 near Kemmerer to access more than 9 million tons of coal. The coal mine's owner blames declining demand.
Pat MaioSeptember 12, 2024
Wyoming Energy Officials Don't Buy Kamala's Claim She's Okay With Fracking
During Tuesday's presidential debate, Kamala Harris doubled down on her new promise not to ban fracking, but energy industry officials in Wyoming and the region don’t buy it.
Pat MaioSeptember 11, 2024
Huge $5 Billion Proposed Trona Mine Set For Review By Wyoming Regulators
Construction on a huge $5 billion trona mining project near Green River, Wyoming, is scheduled to begin in mid-2025. It will employ 2,100 construction workers annually before becoming operational in early 2029.
Pat MaioSeptember 10, 2024
Tri-State Gets $679 Million From Feds For Transition From Coal-Fired Plants
Tri-State Generation has received $679 million from a federal program to boost renewables to support the retirement of coal-fired power plants. Laramie River Station in Wyoming, however, is not set for closure.
Pat MaioSeptember 09, 2024
Former Top Colorado Regulator Predicts A Shakeup For Wyoming Power Co-ops
Raymond Gifford, a former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, says a shakeup is coming for Wyoming’s power cooperatives. He's also the lawyer helping electricity co-ops leave Tri-State Generation.
Pat MaioSeptember 07, 2024
Wyoming Rare Earth Miner Expands Global Reach, Buys Australian Company
Energy Fuels Inc., which is preparing to ramp up its Nichols Ranch uranium mine near Kaycee, Wyoming, is expanding. It’s close to buying a critical rare earth minerals company in Australia.
Pat MaioSeptember 06, 2024
After Hedge Fund Buys 10% Of Peabody, It Wants Company To Buy Back $1.4B In Stock
At the urging of a hedge fund in Texas that bought nearly 10% of Peabody Energy, the company is accelerating efforts to develop “existing assets.” That includes urging the company to spend $1.46 billion on buying back shares of its stock.
Pat MaioSeptember 05, 2024
Growing Energy Supplier Eyes Larger Toehold In Wyoming's Shifting Power Market
Guzman Energy, a Denver-based wholesale power provider with funding from a Walmart heir, eyes gaining a larger toehold in Wyoming and the Western U.S. Guzman also refutes claims by some critics who worry the company can’t deliver on promises.
Pat MaioSeptember 05, 2024
California Grid Operator’s Expansion Into Wyoming Includes Black Hills Energy
The California power operator that manages the flow of electricity across 26,000 miles of high-voltage power lines has added Black Hills Corp. in Wyoming to its system.
Pat MaioSeptember 04, 2024
Wyoming High Court Reverses PSC On Rules For Buying Excess Power From Customers
The Wyoming Supreme Court has reversed a Wyoming Public Service Commission decision about how customers sell their excess green power back to the grid.
Pat MaioSeptember 03, 2024
Giant Wyoming Carbon Capture Project Pulls Plug For Lack Of Clean Power
CarbonCapture had planned to build one of the world’s largest direct air CO2 capture projects in southwest Wyoming. Now it’s pulling the plug because there’s not enough clean power to run it.
Pat MaioSeptember 03, 2024
Wyoming's Electricity Industry On The Cusp Of Transmission Shakeup
The Wyoming Public Service Commission has begun studying how electricity is delivered over hundreds of miles of transmission lines. The outcome could lead to a major shakeup for Wyoming.
Pat MaioAugust 30, 2024